Aug 17, 2026
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Tracing Your South Holland Heritage
Find your Dutch ancestors and plan a meaningful return to Rotterdam, Leiden, and Delft.
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Love Netherlands
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Dear Netherlands,
It’s easy to miss the thing that makes the Netherlands special. It isn’t the windmills or the tulips or the canals, though all of those are real and beautiful. It’s a particular kind of attention — the way a Dutch baker arranges the croissants, the way a Dutch cycle lane goes exactly where you need it, the way a brown café has the same four regulars in the same four seats for forty years. Pay attention to that, and you’ll start to love the Netherlands in a way most visitors never do.
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Photo via Love Netherlands
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In today’s email:
- Discover Your South Holland Roots: Heritage, Diaspora, and Family History
- At The Café — In de Wildeman — Amsterdam’s Quietest Beer Cathedral
- Around The Web — Maastricht, Netherlands: The Complete Visitor’s Guide (2026), Best Time to Visit the Netherlands: A Month-by-Month Guide (2026), Discover Your North Holland Roots: Heritage, Diaspora, and Family History + more
- From Love Netherlands — Tracing Your Dutch-Indonesian Roots: A Heritage Guide for the Indo Diaspora
- Dutch Food You Will Love — Tompouce — The Dutch Pastry Built Like a Sandwich
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Discover Your South Holland Roots: Heritage, Diaspora, and Family History
👉 Read the full story
Your family may have come from South Holland. You might not know it yet. South Holland is the most populous province in the Netherlands. It holds Rotterdam, The Hague, Leiden, Delft, and Dordrecht. For three centuries, it was also the place most Dutch emigrants called home before they left. If you have Dutch roots in South Africa, America, or Indonesia, there is a good chance your story begins in South Holland. This guide will help you find it. Why South Holland Matters for Dutch Diaspora Families South Holland was the centre of Dutch power for hundreds of years. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) built its largest harbour in Rotterdam. The States General met in The Hague. Leiden trained doctors, lawyers, and clergy who went on to shape new worlds. When Dutch families emigrated, they often left through Rotterdam. The port was one of the busiest in Europe for centuries. Ships carrying…
👉 Read the full story
Have you been there? Do you have a memory of this corner of the Netherlands? Hit reply and tell us — we’d love to hear your story.
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At The Café
In de Wildeman — Amsterdam’s Quietest Beer Cathedral
In de Wildeman is hidden down an alley off the Nieuwendijk, a former 18th-century distillery turned proeflokaal — a tasting room. The room is dark wood, low ceilings, brass taps, and a wall lined with hundreds of glass bottles. There’s no music. No televisions. The menu has more than 250 beers including 18 on tap, and the staff genuinely know which one to put in your hand based on what you’ve eaten that day. Order a Trappist, take a stool at the back bar, and listen to a city you thought you couldn’t escape.
👉 Visit the café
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Around The Web
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From Love Netherlands
Your opa spoke Dutch at home. Your grandmother cooked rijsttafel every Sunday. You grew up hearing stories about a place across the ocean. Now you want to find out more about where your family really came from. If you have Dutch-Indonesian roots, you are part of a large and proud community. Millions of people around the world share this heritage. Many are now searching for their family history. The good news is that the Netherlands holds many of…
👉 Read the full story
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Photo via Love Netherlands
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Dutch Food You Will Love
Tompouce — The Dutch Pastry Built Like a Sandwich
A tompouce is two crisp layers of puff pastry sandwiching a slab of vanilla pastry cream, topped with a layer of bright pink fondant icing. It’s the dessert that signals minor celebration in the Netherlands — birthdays at the office, retirements, Friday afternoons. On King’s Day the icing turns orange instead of pink. The tompouce is impossible to eat tidily and the Dutch love arguing about whether you should attack it from the side with a fork or just give in and eat it with your hands. The official answer is: there is no official answer.
👉 Read the full story
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