Category: Customs & Traditions
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Moving house
“On the rare occasion that a farmer moved, this took place on ‘Saint Peter’s Day’, February 22nd.”
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Bredevoort Anthem
‘Long live my beloved little town, long live my Bredevoort!’
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Aalten Anthem
‘That is ever-praised Aalten, the little town I never forget!’
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Easter Bonfire
G.H. Rots described the Aalten Easter bonfire tradition in 1937.
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Naoberschap
In 1874, J. ter Gouw described the customs and duties of naoberschap.
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New Year’s Eve & Day
In 1937, G.H. Rots described how New Year’s Eve and Day used to be celebrated in Aalten.
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Home Slaughtering
In November, home slaughterers used to have their hands full
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Why are the bells tolling?
What does it mean when the bells of Old St Helen’s Church toll?
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Oorman
A room or annex attached to a farmhouse where the elderly or single people lived
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Tourists Enjoyed a ‘Boerenbroedlachte’
In the 1950s and 1960s, Aalten’s tourist office organised old-fashioned ‘boerenbroedlachten’ — staged traditional farmers’ weddings — for visitors during the summer. They featured a ‘broedspaar in kistentuug’ (a bridal couple in traditional dress), attendants in folkloric costume, beautifully decorated farm carts and a bridal cow adorned with numerous little roses. Folklore event (1959) On…
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Old Christmas Traditions
About old customs on Christmas Eve in Aalten and the Achterhoek
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The Ghost on the Bridge in Dijkstraat
But ghost stories were not the only tales to be heard in the local history museum.
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Children’s Games in Old Aalten
What games did our grandparents and great-grandparents play as children?
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Witchcraft
“They flew on broomsticks and gathered in the Aalter Es.”
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Carnival / Shrovetide
There was music in a few cafés, and only a few people appeared on the streets in jester costumes.
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Farm Life
In 1937, G.H. Rots wrote about farm life in Aalten in the past.
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The Role of Women
Most women in earlier times had to carry out a great deal of heavy work.
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A Wedding in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century
They had been courting for a long time. ‘It had to happen.’
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A Visit to Old Doortjen at Slaughter Time
She could tell you exactly what metworst was and how it was made (1934).
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East Gelderland in 1741
This is how the Deventer scholar Dumbar viewed the old lands of the County.