HOLLANDS TOWN

HOLLANDS TOWN

The history of MadurodamMadurodam was opened officially on 2 July 1952.

This amusement park has a very interesting history. It was established for two reasons: as a war monument and as a charity foundation .The joint initiators were Mrs B. Boon-Van der Starp and Mr and Mrs J.M.L. Maduro.

Mrs. Boon-Van der Starp was a member of the Society for the Support of the Dutch Student Sanatorium in Laren . The sanatorium was founded in 1947 and offered students suffering from tuberculosis the opportunity to recover, while at the same time continuing with their studies. The costs of construction and patient care were high. Therefore the initiators were looking for a way of acquiring financial support. Mrs Boon-Van der Starp took the English miniature city in Beaconsfield as an example. Its revenues were so high that the owner was able to make large annual donations to hospitals in London .

This is not the attack of the 50 foot bird. The photo was taken at Madurodam which is a miniature city within a city. It is made up of replicas of many buildings and interesting sites around Holland and is scaled to 1:25 of the original. The entire area has "streets" which you can walk down to view the buildings up close.

We were just lucky enough when taking photos of the little "Queen's Coach" that this bird landed so that we could have a reference of the size of the buildings and people. You'll learn some history of Madurodam and see lots of pictures from our first visit in 2000 as well as photos from Chinese Ice Exhibit that was going on when we were there again in April, 2001.

Madurodam was opened in July, 1952 and was named after George Maduro. He was a reserve cavalry lieutenant in the Second World War and died a POW in 1945. It was built as a commemoration to him by his mother together with Mrs. Boon-Van der Starp, a member of the Society for the Suport of the Dutch Student Sanatorium. The "Madurodam Support Fund Foundation" still supports charities, benefits going to young people.

Interesting facts.  Everything in Madurodam is constructed on the premises. Even the plants are grown and trimmed to scale. Some buildings have taken over four years to build and must be constantly maintained because of weathering and age. Every effort is made to keep the buildings up to date even undergoing remodelling when the actual building or monument is repaired or remodelled. Care is also taken to the clothes worn by the more than 13,000 model people so that they change with current fashions. This is quite an undertaking since some of the attractions included are over 50,000 lights, 2,000 + cars and trucks, 4,000 meters of railways and tramways, over 1,100 scale models, almost 5,000 miniture trees - and much more.

Madurodam also has an exhibit hall where various attractions are changed throughout the year. When we visited in 2000, there was an exhibit of miniature buildings from Israel. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures but the mosques, wailing wall, and other buildings were breathtaking. This year when we were there with our friends from California, there was a Chinese Ice Exhibit. On the next page we have some photos we took to share with you.

The history of MadurodamMadurodam was opened officially on 2 July 1952. This amusement park has a

very interesting history. It was established for two reasons: as a war monument and as a charity foundation .The joint initiators were Mrs B. Boon-Van der Starp and Mr and Mrs J.M.L. Maduro.

Mrs. Boon-Van der Starp was a member of the Society for the Support of the Dutch Student Sanatorium in Laren . The sanatorium was founded in 1947 and offered students suffering from tuberculosis the opportunity to recover, while at the same time continuing with their studies. The costs of construction and patient care were high. Therefore the initiators were looking for a way of acquiring financial support. Mrs Boon-Van der Starp took the English miniature city in Beaconsfield as an example. Its revenues were so high that the owner was able to make large annual donations to hospitals in London .

Mr. and Mrs. Maduro from Willemstad, Curaçao were eager to erect a monument in honour of their only son George, who died as a POW in Dachau in February 1945. For his heroic deeds in the first days of the war he posthumously received the Military Order of William I. Before the war, George J.L. Maduro had been a law student in the city of Leiden.After they met Mrs Boon-Van der Starp, Mr. and Mrs. Maduro decided to donate a sum of money for the construction of a miniature city as a monument in commemoration of their son, instead of erecting a regular monument .

Architect S.J. Bouma, who in those days managed the Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen, was happy to contribute to building a miniature city. After visiting Beaconsfield, he worked out a plan to reconstruct a Dutch town as it would have developed in the course of the centuries, on a 1:25 scale. The central theme was: the small town with a smile. Bouma's plans and drawings were used to approach the managers of a number of major companies for financial support. Most of them reacted enthusiastically, so that a petrol station,  a nodding donkey pump, a motorway, a railway and an airport were made.  The mayor of The Hague was also willing to contribute to this unique plan and arranged for a piece of land in the Scheveningse Bosjes to be handed over on the basis of a long lease. The grounds were cleared by enthusiastic students from the Delft Technical University. The exploitation was carried out by the  Society for the Support of the Dutch Student Sanatorium and specialists in many fields.

THE ROYAL FAMILYTHE ROYAL FAMILY

Madurodam has always had a special relationship with the Dutch royal family. It was a great surprise when the then Queen of the Netherlands, Juliana, consented that her daughter, the 14-year old Crown Princess Beatrix, should become  mayor of the miniature city. Until her accession to the throne in 1980 she fulfilled her job as mayor. Through the years, many members of the royal family have attended special events in Madurodam. On 2 July 2002 Queen Beatrix revealed the new Golden Coach on the occasion of the 50h anniversary of Madurodam .

YOUNG PEOPLEYOUNG PEOPLE

To tie young people to Madurodam, there To tie young people to Madurodam, there was decided in 1952 to appoint a Youth was decided in 1952 to appoint a Youth City Council. Every year schools in The City Council. Every year schools in The Hague elect representatives for the City Hague elect representatives for the City Council. The members stay in the council Council. The members stay in the council for two years and s ince 1980 they choose for two years and s ince 1980 they choose a mayor from among themselves . The a mayor from among themselves . The mayor and aldermen attend all official mayor and aldermen attend all official ceremonies and officially accept new scale ceremonies and officially accept new scale modelsmodels . .

SUPPORT FUND SOCIETY OF SUPPORT FUND SOCIETY OF MADURODAMMADURODAM

As mentioned above, Madurodam has always donated its profits after taxes to the Dutch Student Sanatorium.  In 1964, when tuberculosis no longer occurred among Dutch students, the sanatorium closed its gates. Since that year, Madurodam has a Support Fund Society, which financially supports social and cultural inistutions for young people, healthy and disabled alike .

SCALE MODEL BUILDINGSCALE MODEL BUILDING

All the models, railway lines and decoration are manufactured by Madurodam itself. A lot of work goes into readying a model to be installed in the miniature town. For example, the model of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol took two years and four months to complete. Madurodam staff calculate the scaled down dimensions on the basis of architectural drawings. Moreover, detailed photographs are taken of the real building. The plastic (it used to be wood) is cut to the right shape and dimensions using a moulding cutter. Then the decorators and technicians finish the building. Because the models have to spend an average of 30 years outside they receive regular maintenance. To show the Dutch street image as realistic as possible, a great attention is given to the surroundings of the scale models. Plants are an important part of that. Madurodam primarily uses small-leafed trees and shrubs and frequent pruning is the only way we can keep these trees down to sixty centimetres when they normally grow to be fifteen metres high. Some trees have been here since the miniature city was opened .

THE ENDTHE END