I’m feeling a little low

God created the world, but the Dutch created Holland. This Dutch expression proclaims how the people of the Netherlands defied nature to become one of the most influential powers in Europe during the 17th century. This wasn’t an easy accomplishment when considering what they went through. Holland finds its self as the largest of the three Low Countries, including Belgium and Luxembourg. These countries are “low” because a significant portion of the land is under sea level, about half in the Netherlands. In fact, Schipol International Airport is 15 feet below sea level, add that to your descent.

The improbable story of Amsterdam begins as a fishing village around 1200. Much like the Jamestown settlement in colonial Virgina, Amsterdam was built on a delta. In order to cultivate and maintain the land, early Dutch farmers utilized windmill technology and pumped the water back into the sea. Each windmill would push the water to the next and so forth, eventually bleeding the land of its marshes and lakes. Hydraulic engineers were highly revered in their time and are still celebrated today. A memorial can be found in the Grote Kerk (Old Church) in central Haarlem, a 15 minute train west of Amsterdam.

As Holland was built, so were the dikes. Two main dikes serve as the defense against the North Sea and construction of a third is on the way. This buffer systems has created several pockets of water: fresh water, half-and-half, and of course the salty North Sea. These dikes run for miles and traveling across them gives you an pretty good idea of how hard it is to keep a sinking country afloat. But Netherlanders have always kept their heads above water and Holland’s history has paralleled its success with fighting the sea; for centuries pushing enemy lines further back and expanding it’s territory.