NIJMEGEN, HOLLAND

NIJMEGEN (ny men gen)

Romans had a military camp in what is now the city of Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands. Close to the German border, the city is situated on a range of hills near the River Waal. The surrounding area of hills, woods and polders, creates a varied countryside. The waterfront set against the backdrop of the city center is a splendid sight. Past and present gracefully mingle where historic buildings are interspersed with fine examples of modern architecture.

We were docked in the Waal River. Modern apartments lined the river front. We walked through flood gates that were installed after a 1982 flood.

Before starting up the hill our guide told us, “During Operation Market Garden in WW II, 20,000 paratroopers were dropped into the city to secure the bridges. It was a very foggy night, and with the troopers everywhere it was pretty much a fiasco, but they did secure one bridge. Later Allied bombers mistaking the city lights for Cologne bombed the city killing 3000 people and leveling one-third of the city.”

Everywhere we went we found a clock on each side of the towers in the cities /villages. The double eagle goes back to Roman times.

The hill was not a steep climb. We stopped at a wartime Jewish memorial at the equivalent of a small traffic circle on the narrow cobbled streets.

With a university and a higher educational vocational school much of its 160,000 residents are young.

Stopping at St Steven’s Church, it was explained, “Notice there is no statuary on the church façade. When all the churches were being destroyed the priest removed all the statues and buried them. Years later they were recovered and put on the school/ monastery across the street. See the twelve apostles standing proud there.”

Construction on St Steven’s Church began around 1254. The building started in Romanesque style but was completed in Gothic style. The Renaissance-style tower was built in the mid fourteenth century and has dominated the city skyline for centuries.

Along the way the guide stopped in front of a coffee shop with sign of a marijuana leaf over the door. I immediately recalled on my first trip to Amsterdam that we were told, in Holland pot and soft drugs are legal. But beware--you buy coffee in a café and pot in a coffee shop, where there is no coffee.

In the pedestrian square we stopped by a statue across from the weigh house. The statue is of a young orphaned girl who lived with a stepmom and sister in the woods. Each market day she was sent to market to sell goods they had scrounged in the forest. One day she was told not to return until everything was sold.

Going through the woods a highwayman robbed her of the goods. She sat down and cried. Then suddenly the devil appeared and gave her money. She ran off and lived with him for seven years. She returned to the village one day to see a play that turned out to be a religious one, and she realized what a sin she had committed. She went to the priest to confess and was sentenced to wear a chain around each leg until they fell off. Seven years later the chains fell off, and she spent the rest of her life as a nun.

The Dutch seem to have stories or legends for many of their statues.

Behind the statue is the ornate Gothic 15^th century town hall. I understand the inside is not remarkable.

After the walking tour we spent some time wandering the huge Saturday market that extended for blocks. Showers were intermittent, so we scooted into a store or two along the way to wait them out. The main street ran parallel to the harbor, so at any perpendicular up street we had a nice view of the harbor below.

One vendor gave us a stroopwafel sample. They were yummy, and we each bought a package to bring home. I actually managed to get them home unbroken to share with friends.

Nijmegen is an interesting and sweet little town where we found very friendly people.

LAKE MINNEWATER

                   Beguines and Lake Minnewater
 

            In 1488 the people of Bruges, Belgium executed one of the town administrators belonging to the court of Maximilian of Austria. Legend says Maximilian punished Bruges by obliging the population to keep swans on their lakes and canals for eternity. The swans are a lovely addition to Minnewater. Such a punishment!

            Minnewater is a lake at the southern end of the city. It wasn’t  far; I had a good walking map  so we took off in that direction. En route we had to stop to enjoy a famous Belgium waffle.

            Legend says that the lake was named after a girl named Minna. In Roman times two lovers were separated while the young warrior went off to war. Minna promised to wait for him, but during his long absence her father gave her in marriage to someone else. On the eve of her marriage Minna desperately ran away and hid in the woods.

            When the warrior returned he went looking for Minna, but when he found her she was exhausted and died in his arms. He built a dam in the creek near the tower, let the water drain out and buried Minna in the center. Then he broke the dam and again flooded the lake. Minna remains in the bottom of her beautiful lake.

            We missed the proper turn and entered the Beguinhof through the far gate.  The oldest remaining houses of the close date to the 15^th century. It has been a place of residence for women for 750 years!

            “What is a Beguine?” my friend asked.   

            I read what our information said: In the 12^th and 13^th centuries the crusades and other wars required that men take up arms and were often gone for long periods of time. Single women were in the majority but had little control over their lives. Women of some nobility could not marry outside their class and had little freedom or purpose in life, often with no chance of a decent livelihood.

            There were women who wanted to do good, help others but were restricted by the rules of society. About the beginning of the 13^th century some of them with common bonds and ideals grouped together and lived in cabins close to one another. This community was called a Beguinage.  These women were not nuns, took no vows, could return to city life and wed if she wished and did not have to give up her property.

            If she were poor, she could neither ask for nor accept alms, but could support herself by manual labor or teaching the children of the burghers—a citizen of the town, especially one of middle class. When first joining the community she lived with the Grand Mistress, but later had her own dwelling. Praying and mysticism were important aspects, but each Beguinage had its own rules, but no common ruler. There might be a meeting hall, chapel and assignments of certain duties.

            Beguines were influential in providing the populace with help and religious understanding that priests and ministers might not have been able to convey.

            The community was surrounded by a wall, and at night the gate was closed, and men were not allowed inside. The Grand Dame lived in the largest and most beautiful house. People generally like the Beguines, but it is a society of the past. Today they are part of the Catholic Church.

The Bruges Close

            From the gate it was only a few hundred yards to a gorgeous large courtyard filled with blooming daffodils and narcissus. Paths led one around the courtyard that also had many trees for shade. Walking toward the inner wall I was struck by all the clean sparkling windows. I don’t know why that attracted my attention but they just shone---maybe it was the sunshine.

            After awhile we entered the gift shop and talked to the lady inside who was one of the remaining 15 women living at this facility.

            She told us, “The Countess of Flanders, daughter of Count Baldwin, who conquered Constantinople, founded this close in 1245. In 1299 Philip the Beautiful placed the Beguinage under his rule, thus withdrawing it from magistrate influence. A fire in 1584 destroyed the chapel, but it was rebuilt in 1609 and later renovated in its present baroque architecture. In 1937 this became a monastery for Benedictine nuns.”

            It was a lovely quiet respite in the middle of a busy city. I was glad we had found it and learned something about a culture I never knew existed. There are several beguinages in Belgium, but this is the only one we had a chance to visit.