OVERIJSSEL
- 18 hours ago
- 7 min read
Overijssel, a province of Hanseatic cities, ancient manors, river valleys and unique water landscapes, where medieval history, nature and Dutch ingenuity live in amazing harmony.
OVERIJSSEL: ICONIC LANDMARKS
Where bells have been counting down the centuries since the times of the Hanseatic League, and the boat remains as familiar a means of transport as the car.
If Flevoland is a story about a land created by man, Overijssel is more like an old Dutch family album.
Here, it looks as if the country decided to keep a few of its most successful versions and didn't change anything.
A great place to start exploring is Zwolle, one of the most beautiful Hanseatic cities in the country. The medieval Sassenpoort gate, ancient streets, and the Peperbus tower create the impression that time moves a little slower here than it should.
Nearby is Deventer, another Hanseatic veteran, known for its book fairs, historic facades, and the atmosphere of a city that welcomes merchants, students, and dreamers alike.
But it was the village of Giethoorn that brought Overijssel true world fame. There are no ordinary streets here, but there are canals, bridges, and boats. Tourists call it the "Dutch Venice," although locals will surely point out that Giethoorn existed long before anyone else compared it to anyone else.
Weerribben-Wieden National Park, the largest wetland landscape in Northwestern Europe, has a completely different character. Reeds, lakes, mist over the water, and rare birds create a landscape that resembles the setting of an old legend more than a densely populated country.
And it's worth continuing in Twente — a region of manors, castles, and ancient oak avenues. Here, you especially understand one important characteristic of Overijssel: this province never tries to impress at first glance, but lingers in the memory much longer.
OVERIJSSEL: COAT OF ARMS' HISTORY
Who learned to live on both sides of the river, although perhaps he would have preferred to live on a quiet, cozy island in the middle of the river.
Overijssel's history began long before its name. During the Roman Empire, these lands lay north of the Romans' perceived borders of the civilized world.
Here lived the Salii tribes or Salic Franks, who played a decisive role in the history of Europe, founding the Frankish Kingdom, issuing a written code of laws, the Lex Salica, and generally becoming the basis for the formation of such modern nations as the Dutch and Flemings.
Even then, local residents were accustomed to existing between water, forests, and swamps — a circumstance that would later become decisive for the entire history of the region.
In the Middle Ages, the northwestern part of the modern-day Netherlands was part of the Bishopric of Utrecht and was called Oversticht. The word "sticht " signified the bishop's domain, and the prefix "over-" literally referred to the lands "beyond" the rivers and forests of Utrecht. From the cathedral's bell tower, all this lay somewhere far beyond the IJssel.
The region's coat of arms was then the coat of arms of the bishopric itself: a white cross on a red field. Bishops governed not only souls but also lands, collecting taxes, building castles, waging war against rebellious nobles, and periodically settling scores with neighbors. Events were particularly turbulent in Drenthe, where local residents regularly reminded church authorities that the word "submission" could be interpreted quite creatively. The most famous was the Battle of Ane in 1227, where rebellious Drentheans managed to defeat the army of the Bishop of Utrecht himself. For a cleric, this was an extremely unpleasant way to enter history.
In 1528, the last prince-bishop of Utrecht sold his secular possessions to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Thus ended the history of Oversticht and began the history of Overijssel. For the Habsburgs, it was yet another territory in the complex mosaic of the Netherlands. For the locals, it was the beginning of a new political biography. 1528 is now considered the official birthday of the province.
The new owner of the lands was also the Count of Holland, so the famous red Dutch lion formed the basis of the new coat of arms. To distinguish the territory from Holland itself, a blue stripe — the IJssel River — was drawn across the shield. This coat of arms first appeared on the seal of the Court of Audit as early as 1528. The result was surprisingly succinct: one lion and one river told the entire political history of the region better than many chronicles.
It would seem that if a river became a symbol, it should be drawn as a meandering river. But heraldry favors order more than geography. Therefore, in early versions of the coat of arms, the IJssel was often depicted as a simple, straight beam, as if it weren't a river, but a carefully constructed canal. It wasn't until 1532 that the stripe finally became wavy. However, artists periodically returned it to a straight line for several centuries. Perhaps they simply wanted to believe that at least one Dutch river behaved with discipline.
The name Overijssel literally means "beyond the IJssel." It would be logical to expect the lion to be across the river. But in old depictions, it sometimes appears before the strip, sometimes behind it, and sometimes even appears to pass through it. Historians attribute this to artistic license. However, a tempting conspiracy theory remains: local artists were simply trying to figure out which side of the river the real Overijssel begins on. A debate that could well have continued for generations in the Netherlands.
The final version of the coat of arms was approved by royal decree in 1950. The wavy blue river took its place, the lion stopped wandering along the banks, and supporters and a count's crown appeared.
After four centuries of experimentation, the composition has found stability. There's something very Dutch about this: even the symbols are given time to mature calmly. And if the river continues to flow, and the lion continues to stand guard, then history is still moving in the right direction.
OVERIJSSEL: FUN FACTS
On the philosophical approach to "Beyond the Rivers, Beyond the Seas" and blue fingers.
The name Overijssel literally translates as "land beyond the IJssel ." It sounds almost romantic. Just hearing the phrase "beyond the river" immediately conjures up something special: greener meadows, richer cities, and perhaps slightly happier people. However, humanity has been doing this for several thousand years. The English put it this way: "The grass is always greener on the other side".
The Dutch, as usual, took a more practical approach. Het is het sop de kool niet waard — literally, "The brew is not worth the cabbage": the costs outweigh the benefits. And there's also the old saying, "Ver weg te gaan, om te bedriegen staan" — "You go far to be disappointed." Perhaps that's why Overijssel turned out to be such a cozy place: its residents long ago realized that it's better to look for happiness not across the river, but on this side of the bridge.
And yet, people remain people. Even when they philosophize about the meaning of life, they find time for centuries-old neighborly banter. The best example is the ancient feud between Zwolle and Kampen. Residents of Zwolle called their neighbors offensive nicknames, and the neighbors responded in kind. This is how the legend of the "blue fingers" (Blauwvingers) was born.
According to the most famous story, after selling their church bells, the residents of Kampen brought payment in small copper coins. Zwolle's residents had to count them so long and carefully that their fingers turned blue from the copper. Perhaps the story is apocryphal, perhaps not. But several centuries have passed, and the nickname has remained, evolving from a joke into a source of pride. It seems to be another old Dutch saying: if you're laughed at long enough, one day you can just steal the joke.
OVERIJSSEL: LOCAL HERALDRY
Between swamps and old spells.
Giethoorn is known today as the "Dutch Venice," which sends tourists scrambling for tickets to Overijssel. But the history of this place began far more prosaically — among swamps and peat bogs, where for centuries industrious people lived, literally building the land around themselves. This makes Giethoorn's old coat of arms all the more striking. Formally, it's all explainable: the village's name is associated with goat horns found by the first settlers after a medieval flood. Therefore, the coat of arms depicts two goat horns. A cross was later added between them, presumably to reassure impressionable observers.
But let's be honest: two horns connected by part of a skull, and set against a gold background, give the impression not so much of a rural settlement as of the title page of an ancient treatise on witchcraft. The cross tries to give the composition a pious air, but it works more like a "nothing suspicious going on here" sign on the door of an alchemy lab.
Haaksbergen is located in the easternmost part of Overijssel, near the border with the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Today, it's a quiet town with a Hanseatic past, a textile industry, and old farming communities. Its official explanation for its coat of arms is quite rational: an inverted golden pentagram symbolizes the unification of several farmsteads around Haaksbergen. It's all logical, documented, and confirmed by archives. But then the coat of arms of Giethoorn, complete with goat horns, appears nearby, and the situation begins to look somewhat different.
The pentagram itself has a rich history — from a symbol of harmony to the Seal of Solomon and numerous occult treatises. And if you look across the border at the coat of arms of the German town of Vreden, where two saints cautiously peer out from behind a shield, you get the feeling they know a little more about their neighbors than they're willing to reveal. Coincidence? But it's precisely these coincidences that make up the best part of old heraldry: when an official explanation exists, but raises serious doubts.
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