Hollenderbyen: Flekkefjord's Dutch Quarter

Hollenderbyen is the old Dutch quarter in the northern part of Flekkefjord, where traders and fishermen from the Netherlands settled from the 1500s onwards. The well-preserved white wooden houses along narrow lanes date mainly from the 18th century. The Dutch connection was deep: they exported herring, timber, and stone, and much of Amsterdam's 19th-century foundations were built from pine shipped out of Flekkefjord. Over 11,000 Norwegians married in the Netherlands between 1626 and 1800, and Dutch-influenced words survive in the local dialect. The quarter is small enough to see in a short walk but rich in atmosphere.