A schrikkeljaar is a leap year. Before 1582, the entire region that is now the Netherlands used the Julian calendar, in which every fourth year is a leap year. Between 1582 and 1700, the different provinces switched to the Gregorian calendar, in which centurial years are not leap years except when they are divisible by 400. This corrected the length of the year by 0.002% compared to the Julian calendar. Read more about the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in a tale of two calendars. … [Read more...]

Wintermaand (literally: Winter month) is the old word for December. … [Read more...]

Slachtmaand literally means "slaughter month" and is the old word for November. … [Read more...]

Wijnmaand literally means "wine month" and is the old word for October. … [Read more...]

Herfstmaand (literally: Autumn month) is the old word for September. … [Read more...]

Oogstmaand literally means "harvest month" and is the old word for August. … [Read more...]

Hooimaand (literally: hay month) is the old word for July. … [Read more...]

The word 'Pinksteren' is Dutch for Pentacost, a religious holiday. In the Netherlands is it celebrated on Pentacost Sunday and the following day. Pentacost Monday is an official holiday and most of the people in the country have the day off. Nowadays, many people take the opportunity to go to a music festival, go to the beach or attend some traditional fairs. In earlier times, Pinksteren was a typical time when people became confessed members of the Dutch reformed church, together with … [Read more...]

Zomermaand literally means "Summer month" and is the old word for June. … [Read more...]