Ontvangershuis Assen

The 'ontvangershuis' (lit: 'reception house') is the oldest private residence in Assen and can be found at the Brink. Once it was one of the buildings of the Maria in Campis Monastery and has most likely been the home of a priest. Many years later the local authoroties used it as an office as well as a guesthouse for important guests.
The province of Drenthe bought the house in 1955, and soon after that it became a part of the Drents Museum. It still is today.

Look at the pretty fence on both sides of the steps leading to the front door. The fence once belonged to a manor in Zuidlaren.

  

##    Gelukkig nieuwjaar!   Happy New Year everyone!!    ##

Dead Sea Scrolls / Drents Museum

Entering the exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls, only there for a few more days in the Drents Museum in Assen so hurry if you happen to be around and want to go! The museum shows original Biblical manuscripts and objects from the 3rd century BC till the 1st century AD. Imagine that.

Part of the exhibition is a 'research lab', with lots of side information as well as translations of the texts on the scrolls. As you can see, I wasn't the only one there to see -what is called-  'one of the greatest archaeological discoveries from the 20th century'. 

The original historical fragments are kept in special conditions regarding light, humidity, temperature etc. It wasn't allowed to make photo's of the actual scrolls, however to see them and to realise how old they are, was quite impressive.

Sellingen church

The Reformed Church in Sellingen dates from the 14th century.

Leeuwarden train station

The central train station of Leeuwarden opened in 1863. See here how it looks inside the main building. Note the Art Nouveau tiles!

lines

.. going downstairs in the Fries Museum.

Wijvebrug in Sellingen

When we were in Sellingen we passed this bridge, I thought the name -Wijvebrug is Dutch for Broad's Bridge- sounded rather negative and awkward so I googled it when we returned home again. 

I found an old folktale that tells about this place in dark nights with thunder and lightning, when wisps of fog came from a piece of low land nearby and went over the road near the bridge. In the past people thought they saw ghostly figures when it lightened. These images were known as 'witte wievn', or 'weird sisters' in English. Spooky!  

winter walk in Westerwolde

A typical Dutch landscape in winter, without snow though, seen here last Sunday in the south of the province Groningen.

Merry Christmas!

Groningen train station

open atelier

Meet Wynolt Visser, a Dutch artist that I found working on the 3rd floor of the Fries Museum last Friday. Amongst many other things, Wynolt makes wonderful creations combining photographs with textile and colorful yarn. He told me he enjoyed working on this special location very much, and kindly agreed with a photo and a blogpost here.

Each third week of the month the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden invites (local) artists to come and stay for several days. Visitors to the museum can watch them while they are working, ask questions if they like, and learn how their art is created.

wannahaves

One of the current exhibitions in the Fries Museum is 'Oud Geld' (lit. 'Old Money', meaning inherited wealth), about the Friesian 'old boys network' in the Dutch Golden Age -the 17th century in

which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world.

'Oud Geld' shows old ánd new wannahaves..

Serious Fruitmachine

Before and during this week's Serious Request fund raising event (see yesterday's blogpost), also a great many private initiatives are taken to collect money for the Red Cross. How about this one in the centre of Leeuwarden: a living fruitmachine! Just pull the large black and yellow handle on the right side, like a real fruit machine, and ..

.. when all 3 hold the same object high, you are a winner!!

3FM Serious Request

"Serious Request" is a benefit event in the week before Christmas each year by Dutch radio station 3FM. The project collects money for Red Cross initiatives. During 6 days (it started last Wednesday) 3 dj's live in a glass house without food, they only drink juices. They broadcast on the radio 24 hours per day throughout the whole 6 days, and it is also being transmitted on tv. Each day Dutch celebrities visit the glass house. 

The dj's play songs requested by internet or visitors standing in front of the glass house. When requesting a song, you are expected to donate money to the project. This year's main theme for the campaign is 'let's clean this shit up' and the money will be used to stop children dying from diarrhea.

Serious Request as a benefit event is a huge succes: in 2012 more than 12 million euro's (!) was raised. Each year it is in different city, and this year it's all happening in Leeuwarden. I took this last picture looking out on the glass house from inside the Fries Museum this morning. As you can see it wasn't very crowded yet at that time. By the way, the units forming the glass house only have glass on the front side, so there's a bit of privacy left for the dj's.

Warme Bakker

I found this mural of a baker on the side wall of a house at the Poststraat in Stadskanaal, so it's very likely that this was once a bakery. A search on the web brought up the name 'Wolthuis' (?). 

In my country the Netherlands we call a bakery that bakes it's own bread a "warme bakker", lit. "warm bakery".

  

CAUTION

Seen on a Christmas fair earlier this month.

Linking to Lesley's signs, signs.

a church made of sugar

The ingredients for the sugar (!) church in this bakery's show window were icing sugar, water and gelatine. But how much sugar was used, any idea? They decided to make a competition of that, and the winner will receive a Christmas cake.

So it is the Poststraat church in Stadskanaal in a miniature version. The details are impressive..

a ride with the steam train

Taking the steam train was also part of the Dickens style-Christmas fair in Stadskanaal, yesterday afternoon.

A steam train leaving is spectacular for eyes and ears!

The Museum Stadskanaal Railway (S.T.A.R) rides on special days between the towns of Veendam and Musselkanaal. Stadskanaal is halfway.

Christmas carols

A local choir singing at the Dickens style-Christmas fair in Stadskanaal

info cube

This is the top of a cube showing a historical map of the north east region of the province Groningen, now known as the Reiderwolderpolder. The blue stone cube with the porcelain enamel top, mentioning the small villages Drieborg and Nieuwe Statenzijl, can be found at a parking place along the road to Drieborg.

It was created by sculptor Juul Sadée, and is one of the objects belonging to the art project "3-BORG UNPLUGGED" from 1996.