Summer in Elburg

We have returned to the moated and walled city of Elburg, having briefly stayed here last year on our way to Harlingen. The weather has improved and it seems by all the flowers throughout the city that summer has arrived. Perhaps we will stay a few days.

Archeological digs in the region have uncovered stone tools and pottery shards, giving evidence that Elburg had been a Neolithic settlement. Also among the pottery shards are Roman earthenware, which show that this had once been a Roman army camp. The earliest written record of Elburg was in 796 AD.

In the thirteenth century the town was rebuild much like it is today, with a moat and a walled city. The community was affluent during medieval times and it was granted city status in the early part of the fourteenth century. Around the same time, fishing rights were granted and the city, which sat on the shores of the old Zuider Zee, became part of the Hanseatic League.

In 1863 the city turned-down a railway connection because of the outlandish prices the farmers were asking  for right-of-way through their properties. This meant the city of Elburg would remain a backwater fishing and farming centre. With the Utrecht-Amersfoort-Zwolle train connection passing them by, manufacturing and development went to other areas. The closing of the Zuider Zee and the desalination of the water meant the end of their fishing industry.

In 1956 the city concluded that tourism would be the most viable trade for this medieval city. There are several festivals held here each year, such as "Botterdagen" with the old fishing fleet on display, and with their Christmas celebrations in the old walled city, they attract more than 30,000 visitors.