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Oud Aalten > Culture & Sports > Customs & Traditions

Customs & Traditions

From neighbourly customs and dialect to farm life, weddings, funerals and folk beliefs in witches.

Spiekerdijk 5, Haart ('t Winkel)

Aalten farm names explained

More than 300 Aalten farm names explained in detail.

Carnival society 'De Olde Mölle' (The Old Mill), Aalten

Carnival / Shrovetide

There was music in a few cafés, and only a few people appeared on the

Saxon farmhouse

East Gelderland in 1741

This is how the Deventer scholar Dumbar viewed the old lands of the County.

Easter bonfire 1934, Piet te Lintum

Easter Bonfire

G.H. Rots described the Aalten Easter bonfire tradition in 1937.

Saxon farmhouse

Farm Life

In 1937, G.H. Rots wrote about farm life in Aalten in the past.

Drika Wijnveen-Stapelkamp and home slaughterer Bertus ter Maat

Home Slaughtering

In the month of November, home slaughterers used to have their hands full.

Klepperklumpkes van 't Walfort

Klepperklumpkes van ‘t Walfort

Folkloristic dance group from Aalten, established in 1954.

Witch undergoing the water ordeal, 1613 (source: Wellcome Collection)

Marry’s Witch Trial

Bredevoort, 1675

Naoberschap, moving house

Moving house

“On the rare occasion that a farmer moved, this took place on ‘Saint Peter’s Day’,

'Foezel' as thanks for the (naober) help

Naoberschap

In 1874, J. ter Gouw described the customs and duties of naoberschap.

Gelukzaolig Niejaor, Piet te Lintum

New Year’s Eve & Day

In 1937, G.H. Rots described how New Year’s Eve and Day used to be celebrated

Old Christmas traditions – Java-bode, 22 December 1956

Old Christmas Traditions

Regarding old customs on Christmas Eve in Aalten and the Achterhoek.

Tolling of the bells Oude Helenakerk Aalten

Why are the bells tolling?

What does it mean when the bells of the Oude Helenakerk toll?

Witch – Aaltensche Courant, 18 March 1938

Witchcraft

“They flew on broomsticks and gathered in the Aalter Es.”