In Zeigst there is an establishment of the Moravian brethren.
CHAPTER III.
Zaandam.—The little Village of Broeck, celebrated for its Cleanliness.—Strange Head-dresses.—The Hague.—Celebrated Pictures.—Leyden.—Rotterdam.—Departure from Holland.
On my return from Utrecht to Amsterdam, Herr van Rees took me to Zaandam and Broeck, an excursion which can be accomplished in a carriage in one day.
Zaandam is famous as the place where Peter the Great worked for several months as a carpenter in order to learn the art of ship-building. They still show the wooden hut where he dwelt, and this is kept in the same condition in which the great emperor left it. It consists of two plain little rooms with a few wooden chairs and tables. To defend it from the effects of the weather, a roof of brick-work has been built over it, and in winter this is covered in at the sides with wooden planks. Zaandam, with its thirteen thousand inhabitants, is a very cheerful little town. Nearly every house is surrounded by its garden.
No less celebrated than Zaandam, but for another cause, is the little village of Broeck, which has acquired fame by its exceeding cleanliness, and that, moreover, in a country where the streets of the towns are often cleaner than the interior of the houses in many other lands. I expected, of course, to see something extraordinary, but must confess that the reality surpassed my expectations.
The houses are all built of wood, and painted of some dark color. The roofs are covered with glazed tiles, and the windows adorned with handsome curtains, while every door-lock is so brightly polished as to look as if it had been just fixed. All the houses stand in little gardens, and each has three doors. One of these is never used but on the most important events of life: when the bridegroom and bride go forth to be married; when the child is carried to the font; and when man is borne forth to take possession of his last earthly dwelling. This strange fashion is found nowhere except in this village. Of the two remaining doors, one is used for daily purposes of entrance and exit; the other leads to the stable, which forms part of the building.
The somewhat narrow streets are bordered by wooden palings; behind the houses room is left to drive in the cattle, to stack the harvest of hay, etc. The streets were washed and swept so clean that, though they are skirted by trees, I did not see a single leaf on the ground. The people, I believe, keep no domestic animals except oxen and cows, for fear the streets should be dirtied. Verily, this is carrying cleanliness to extremes.
We went into several of the houses. The rooms showed the perfection of cleanliness and adornment. The floors were covered with plain carpets or mats, and every piece of furniture polished so highly that it looked like new, though, to judge from the shape of the different pieces, they evidently dated from the last century. The interior arrangements were handsome enough, with plenty of glazed cupboards, full of all kinds of rarities, particularly china, among which I noticed specimens of Chinese and Japanese manufacture. I saw no beds; their place was supplied by false cupboards in all the rooms, which are metamorphosed into couches at night; but great was the store of bed and table linen. The floors of these rooms must not be desecrated by shoes; like the Oriental, the Dutch peasant leaves his slippers at the door. It certainly does not cost him much trouble to divest himself of them, for they are of wood, and he has only to kick them off. Not but that he has better ones for Sundays and visiting days; it is only at his work that he is shod with wood.
The cow-stables were far handsomer than those I had seen at Herr Muysken’s establishment in the Lake of Haarlem. They consist of long halls, with handsome ceilings, resting on pillars of wood. But a stable of this kind is, in fact, only half a stable, for the cattle only live in it during the winter. On the first of May the beasts are driven to pasture, and there they remain until the first of November, and during this time the farmer may be said to make a summer residence of his stable. The hall is divided into compartments or rooms by partitions four feet high, and in these rooms the family lives the whole of the day, only using the real dwelling-house at night. The walls and pillars of the hall are hung with glittering paraphernalia of china, plates, dishes, and metal cans, and even pictures are seen there. The implements for making butter and cheese are ranged in perfect order in the various compartments, and every thing glistens and gleams as brightly as if it had never been used. Not a stain, not an atom of dust is tolerated any where.