Gelderland Attractions

An opinion poll has shown that this province with its very varied topography is regarded by more than half the population of the Netherlands as the area they would most like to live in.

According to legend this hilly region in a country which is otherwise flat was created by giants walking through the area who got sand in their clogs and emptied it out here. The scientific explanation is different. During the second-last ice age (the Saale/Riss glacial) ice from the North Pole traveled into northern Gelderland and thrust the land surface up into a range of hills up to 100m/330ft high. To the south of the hills the broad forest-covered valley of the Rhine and the Maas came into being.

In prehistoric times Gelderland was inhabited by Celts, and later, like the rest of the country, by a Germanic people, the Batavians, who were then driven north by the Romans at the beginning of the Christian era. After a period of Frankish rule (11th C.) the area passed into the hands of the Counts (from 1339 Dukes) of Gelderland. Their ancestral castle was in the town of Geldern (now in Germany), which gave its name to the duchy of Gelre and the province of Gelderland. The lion which was the heraldic animal of the Dukes of Gelderland still features in the coat of arms of the province.

During the Middle Ages several towns in Gelderland belonging to the Hanseatic League (Elburg, Harderwijk, Kampen, Zutphen, Arnhem and Nijmegen) enjoyed a considerable measure of prosperity, carrying on trade with the Baltic countries (fish), Belgium (cloth) and England (wool). When trade declined in the 15th century Gelderland became involved in a struggle with Burgundy to maintain its independence, but after bitter fighting during the reign of Duke Charles it fell to Burgundy (the last of the Dutch provinces to do so) and was incorporated in the empire of Charles V.

Gelderland is divided by three great rivers into three regions. The Rhine separates the Veluwe from the Gelderland river country, which is bounded on the south by the Maas. The IJssel, a tributary of the Rhine, forms the boundary between the Veluwe to the northwest and the Achterhoek to the east. During the Middle Ages the IJssel was an important commercial waterway; nowadays, with its subsidiary arms and inlets, it offers magnificent facilities for water sports.

Agriculture makes a major contribution to the economy of Gelderland. In addition to the fruit growing and stock farming of the river country there is much horticulture (vegetables, pot plants, cut flowers, mushrooms) in the rest of the province, and stock farming is also of importance - calves, pigs, poultry. There is an important college of agriculture at Wageningen.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, however, the province's main source of income has been industry. Although no tobacco is now grown in Gelderland, as it was in the 18th century, it has retained its tobacco processing industry. The iron formerly worked in the Achterhoek provided the raw material for the development of metallurgical industry.

More recently new branches of industry have been established around Arnhem, Nijmegen and the smaller town of Ede, including the multinational AKZO chemical corporation, which began in 1911 as a small firm producing artificial silk, and the large newsprint plant at Renkum. The province's third largest town, Apeldoorn, has developed in a different direction, as an administrative center and a residential town favored by retired people.