Prince Hendrik Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz

Getting around

Efficient Canal Travel by Trekschuit

The trekschuit (horse-drawn barge) was the most common way to travel between towns, with a trip from Delft to Rotterdam taking one hour and forty-five minutes. Passengers could choose between the cheaper hold or the more comfortable cabin, with services running on strict, reliable schedules.

Daily life

Keeping food fresh using ventilated cupboards

To keep food fresh without refrigeration, families used a spinde, a cupboard with ventilation grilles that allowed air to circulate. Alternatively, families stored food in cellars or relied on daily consumption, as items like bread were essential staples.

What people wore

Practical daily dress for women

Ordinary women typically wore a practical two-piece dress featuring a bodice, often stiffened with reeds or felt, over an undergarment. Their skirts were often not floor-length to remain functional during daily work, and clothing colors remained sober with black, white, red, brown, and gray tones.

Music

Church towers as musical instruments

Carillon bells, technically refined by the Hemony brothers around 1640, turned church towers into massive musical instruments that could be heard throughout the city.

At the table

Bread as the Dietary Cornerstone

Bread was the essential element of the diet, sometimes eaten as sop—a mixture of bread and vegetables—or as sweet treats like poffertjes and oliekoecken. Poor families often relied on dense, dark rye bread as their primary source of calories.