Netherlands
Veere
Veere: Scotland's Old Wool Port on the Veerse Meer
Veere sits on the former island of Walcheren in Zeeland, beside the Veerse Meer, a brackish lake created by the Delta Works. Its wealth came from Scottish wool, and pleasure boats now fill its old harbor.
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Arriving in Veere
How you arrive in Veere depends on your ship: your cruise line will tell you where it ties up or how the transfer into town runs. The town itself is small.
- Veere lies northeast of Middelburg.
- Two locks at Veere link the Veerse Meer with the Walcheren Canal, which carries shipping across Walcheren to the Western Scheldt at Vlissingen.
Veere on Your Own
Veere is a small town, and its main sights are the tower on the harbor, the Scottish merchants' houses on the quay called the Kaai, the town hall on the Markt and the Grote Kerk. A slow walk between them is the whole plan.
- The harbor tower: The Campveerse Toren was built to defend the harbor and stands partly in the water. It has housed an inn since the 16th century, said to be one of the oldest in the country.
- The Kaai: Two 16th-century houses on the quay, Het Lammeken and In den Struys, were built by wealthy Scottish merchants and are now part of Museum Veere.
- The Markt: The late Gothic town hall has statues of the lords and ladies of Veere on its front and a carillon of 47 bells in its tower.
- The Grote Kerk: Building stopped after 1521, so the huge church never got its planned stone vault and still has a wooden ceiling, and its west tower ends after a single stage.
- The Cisterne: This old well dates from 1551.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.
Food in Zeeland
Zeeland's own treat is the bolus, a sticky spiral bun rolled in dark brown sugar and cinnamon and often eaten with coffee. It was brought to the province by Sephardic Jewish bakers who came from Portugal and Spain in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
- The flatter underside of a bolus is often spread with butter.
Tipping in the Netherlands
Dutch law requires service charges and taxes to be included in prices, so tipping is not necessary, although it is appreciated. The Netherlands uses the euro.
- For a small bill, rounding up to the next euro is already acceptable.
- On a restaurant bill, a tip of 5 to 10 percent counts as generous.
Culture and Local Life
From about 1870 to 1970 Veere was home to an international artists' colony, and Museum Veere still shows its work. The town is one of seventeen protected townscapes in Zeeland.
- A group of women painters known as the Veerse Joffers belonged to the colony.
- The Dutch king carries the title Marquis of Veere and Vlissingen.
- Queen Beatrix celebrated her first Queen's Day in Veere on April 30, 1981, and opened a bridge in the marina that day.
- Hendrik Willem van Loon set his 1942 book Van Loon's Lives in Veere, writing from the United States while the Netherlands was under German occupation.
- The Scottish songwriter Brian McNeill wrote "The Holland Trade" about the ties between Veere and Scotland.
A Brief History
Veere grew from a ferry landing into a rich port after 1541, when it became the staple port for Scottish trade with the Low Countries. The staple ended in 1799, and the damming of the sea channel in 1961 ended the town's days as a fishing port.
- 1281: Wolfert van Borselen started a ferry here across to Noord-Beveland, and the town's name means "ferry".
- 1444: Wolfert VI van Borselen married Mary Stewart, a daughter of King James I of Scotland. That marriage lay behind the town's later role as the Scottish staple.
- 1470s: The town hall was built to designs by the Flemish master builder Evert Spoorwater.
- 1541: Veere became the staple port for Scottish wool. By 1600 about 300 of its 3,000 inhabitants were Scots, with their own officials, their own church and, from 1613, their own inn.
- 1572: Veere joined the revolt against Spanish rule, and a Spanish force that landed nearby and threatened the town was driven back within a week.
- 1799: The Scottish staple came to an end.
- 1809: A British army landed on Walcheren, and the garrison of Veere surrendered after an attack by land and fire from British gunboats. The British withdrew in December.
- 1940 to 1944: German troops took Walcheren in May 1940. Scottish soldiers of the British 52nd (Lowland) Division liberated Veere on November 7, 1944, and the town came through the fighting almost undamaged.
- 1961: The Veerse Gat dam, the third structure of the Delta Works, closed the sea channel on April 27, 1961, and Veere's fishing fleet moved to Colijnsplaat.
- To learn more ashore: Museum Veere, in the Scottish houses on the Kaai and in the town hall, covers the town's Scottish trade, regional costume and the artists' colony. Its prize piece is a gilded cup made around 1546 for Maximilian of Egmond.
Veere with Children
With children, Veere works as a short walking visit around the water. The big story nearby, of floods and the dams built against them, suits older children best.
- Younger children: The Veerse Meer is brackish, and it is one of the few places in the Netherlands where the little Zuiderzee crab lives.
- School age: The Veerse Gat dam, 2.8 km long, was closed in a single moment on April 27, 1961, when the gates of seven sunken caissons were lowered all at once.
- Teenagers: In October 1944, Allied bombers breached the dike between Veere and Vrouwenpolder to flood Walcheren and drive out the German army. The gap grew to 975 m before it was closed in October 1945, and old flood channels can still be seen just northwest of the town.
- A bigger outing: The storm surge barrier on the Oosterschelde, in the same municipality, is the most popular visitor attraction in Zeeland.
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