BREUKELEN 375 BROOKLYN

On May 21, 2021 it was exactly 375 years ago that the urban district of Brooklyn (New York) was officially founded. It was then that the residents of the town of Nieuw-Breuckelen in the colony of New Netherland chose their first two governors.

To remember the foundation of Brooklyn in 1646 and to strengthen the relation between the municipality of Stichtse Vecht and the urban district of Brooklyn, Ap Reinders, mayor of Stichtse Vecht, and Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President Brooklyn, signed the ‘Protocol of partnership, historic connection and future relation’. This year, this historic connection will be remembered with numerous activities. The signing of the protocol of partnership marks the beginning of this remembrance year.

This Memorial Seal also includes the official Brooklyn motto: Eendraght Maeckt Maght, prominently used in all communication around Brooklyn to this day (in old Dutch!). A beautifully appropriate motto for this anniversary year as well.

The area where the Dutch town of Breukelen was built, was called Brocklede. ‘Brock’ means ‘swampy land with alder tree and birch tree forest’, ‘lede’ refers to ‘watercourse’. The river The Vecht coursed through the swampy area. At the location where The Vecht branches off into the river The Aa, there was a mound (a ‘brokel’ in Dutch). This is where the settlement was built, which was called Breukelen later on. Nowadays, ‘Brocklede’ is only used in given names.

The bond between Brooklyn and Breukelen was revived in the 20th century. In 1927 American journalist Marguerite Salomon discovered the village of Breukelen during a trip through Europe. Just like many of her fellow countrymen she was fond of history. She was thrilled by the idea that she was now visiting the town her ancestors might have come from.

In 1929 she organized a visit to Breukelen for the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and after World War II she started a large-scale fundraiser called ‘Brooklyn adopts Breukelen, Holland’. In 1948 Salomon returned to Breukelen to execute her own ‘Marshall Aid’ and to distribute commodities such as clothes, gramophone records and food. In the following years she returned a few more times.

Every American wants to have his picture taken on the characteristic drawbridge in Breukelen; the ‘Brooklyn Bridge’. This fascination with this bridge has historical roots. When Dutch immigrants decided to try their luck in the ‘New World’ (the Americas) in the 17th century, they founded settlements which they named after their hometowns.

The names of Amsterdam, Haarlem, Vlissingen and Breukelen nowadays still echo in the names of New York City neighborhoods. New Amsterdam is now New York, Haarlem has changed into Harlem, Vlissingen into Flushing and Breuckelen (todays Breukelen) is now called Brooklyn. Brooklyn’s Dutch roots are also visible in its motto ‘Eendraght maeckt maght’ (Unity makes Strength).

When the Dutch arrived in the Americas, they settled at the location which is now New York City. The area was undeveloped land. The settlement of New Amsterdam, as they called it, was said to have functioned as an orientation point.

There were no maps of the newly conquered areas yet, and it was claimed that the Dutch settlers used a map of the Netherlands to orient themselves. The location of a new farm or settlement was indicated by its relative position to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. A settlement southeast of New Amsterdam was given the same name as the town southeast of Amsterdam in The Netherlands: Breukelen. And that is how Brooklyn got its name.

YouTube: Start of rememberance year 375 years Brooklyn - Breukelen