Enkhuizen - Holland ~ E.E.Jansen Sr

Good day everybody in Kaohsiung
Today I will tell you something about a lake that was many years ago connected with the open sea and village situated around this sea were very important ports at that time.

Now a day’s most of those places are no longer commercial ports,but places that are a tourist attraction due the history. In the time that it was a sea we call it ZUIDERZEE.

In 1920, following a disastrous North Sea storm which broke dikes and inundated 32,000 acres of lowland, the Dutch embarked upon an ambitious plan to build a dike and closing this part of sea off from the North Sea. They came up with this plan for two reasons; One the silting of our land became more and more and the farmers complaining that the harvest became every year worth due to the silting of the land due to the flood disasters.

2nd. To creating more new land for the farmers and other economical reasons.

We had a genius civil engineer who launce the plan how it where possible to create and build this dike. In 1927 the works starts and by 1932 the dike were realized.

The length of the dike is 32 km around 19 miles in length. The dike was laid between the places
Zurich and DEN OEVER. In Den OEVER the build also a lock it was for the shipping still possible to reach open sea. The water became in a several years from salt to fresh.

For the reason a several rivers ended up in the lake. In years that follow they creating new land in the former see what we called now Lake Ijsselmeer. The first polder was named N.E. Polder. The second polder the called it Flevo Polder. New village new farmland arising.

Due to the reason that the water became fresh all salt water fish moved away fresh water fish came back for it one kind became very famous and well the eel.

Places like VOLENDAM; MARKEN; MONNIKKENDAM and ENKHUIZEN making good

business on it . These places had already a good reputation and people who were working and living in these places were not poor at all. Due to commercial shipping, and fishing industry.

If you visit these places now a days you can still see how rich those village were in 1800 and 1900. Ships becoming bigger and bigger and those ports became to small to berth these new vessel and the distance from the main sea in to the port became too long.

Other ports who are situated close to the North Sea taken over the business,One of these harbors are named Rotterdam many years the biggest port in the world.

Eel becoming over the years less and less and the smoking factory’s has to close down.

Now a day’s smoked eel is one of the most expensive fish kinds who you can buy in the Netherlands the price is incredible high for one kilo you have to pay around 42 euro per kilo in Taiwan currency about NT$4,000. The eel is exported to many countries over the world.
Next month I will write over the history of Marken. In the IJsselmeer.
May GOD BLESS YOUR ALL.
Regards Evert.