Dutch Outings: Parks


Figure 1.--Here Amsterdam teachers ate taking what looks like Kindergarteners to a park near the school in 1955. The name of the park is Weizichtpark. The children are walking on the pathway. We are not sure just what they are going to do in the park. They seem to have the park to themselves.

City children might enjoy outings to the local parks. They would be the only green areas available for city children. As far as we know, Dutch parks are almost all urban parks. There are no wilderness areas set aside for national parks. We do not know much about specific Dutch parks, but all major cities surely must have had plesant parks. One problem for children is that parks are often for strolling and sitting on benches. Play ativities were often limited. A Dutch reader writes, "Most cities in Germany have parks. What they also have are signs with the warning "walking on the lawn is verboten". We also had such signs in Holland. The word verboten in Dutch is verboden. I remember a sign in an Utrecht city park, 'Verboden zich buiten de paden te begeven.' (Forbidden to leave the paths.) When I went to England for the first time I was amazed that people in the parks were allowed to walk, sit and lie on the grass. That was against the law in Holland and even more so in Germany." Hopefully Dutch readers can tell us about some of the parks that they enjoy. This was very common in Europe. Schools also sometimes used the parks because most city schools had very limited outside play areas. Younger children enjoyed walks with their parents, often their mothers and grandmothers.

Types

City children might enjoy outings to the local parks. They would be the only green areas available for city children. As far as we know, Dutch parks are almost all urban parks. There are no wilderness areas set aside for national parks as in larger less fully developed countries. They seem to have the park to themselves.

Individual Parks

We do not know much about specific Dutch parks, but all major cities surely must have had plesant parks. We note a group of boys in a Rotterdam park at the turn-of-the 20th century. The park is not identified other than the location. We would guess it is the city's largest park or at least one of them so our Dutch readers may recognize it. They seem to be a group, perhaps a school group. It seems to be a weekend. The boys are all dressed up for the park visit. We are not sure why they are in the park. Perhaps to enjoy an open-air concert. Notice the boys and the adulkts bring devices that they can used to sit on, suggesting that some entertainment was being offered. Here we see the Weizichpark in Amsterdam during 1955 (figure 1). The children are walking on the pathway. We are not sure just what they are going to do in the park. They seem to have the park to themselves.

Activities

One problem for children is that parks are often for strolling and sitting on benches. Play ativities were often limited. A Dutch reader writes, "Most cities in Germany have parks. What they also have are signs with the warning "walking on the lawn is verboten". We also had such signs in Holland. The word verboten in Dutch is verboden. I remember a sign in an Utrecht city park, 'Verboden zich buiten de paden te begeven.' (Forbidden to leave the paths.) When I went to England for the first time I was amazed that people in the parks were allowed to walk, sit and lie on the grass. That was against the law in Holland and even more so in Germany." Hopefully Dutch readers can tell us about some of the parks that they enjoy. This was very common in Europe. Schools also sometimes used the parks because most city schools had very limited outside play areas. Younger children enjoyed walks with their parents, often their mothers and grandmothers. This may have changed in recent years.









HBC





Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main Dutch outings page]
[Return to the Main country parks page]
[Return to the Main Dutch activities page]
[Return to the Main Dutch page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Dutch glossary] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Dutch pages:
[Maiken Island] [Dutch boys bangs] [Dutch choirs] [Dutch school uniform] [Dutch catalogs] [Dutch post cards] [Dutch royals] [Dutch youth groups]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing national pages:
[Return to the Main countries page]
[Australia] [Belgium] [England] [France] [Germany] [Ireland] [Italy] [Japan] [Korea] [Mexico] [Netherlands] [Scotland] [United States]



Created: December 27, 2001
Last updated: 7:25 AM 10/7/2011