Norwegian emigration to the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries

By Hans Nicolai Nissen

From the late 16th century onwards, the Netherlands rose to prominence as the leading trading nation in the world. Together with several other factors, this led to an influx of foreigners from all over Europe, and many of these immigrants were Norwegians.

The reason for the strong growth in the Dutch economy was shipping and trade. For centuries, the Dutch had traded with the Baltic countries, buying timber and grain. They had a great need for timber for the construction of ships and buildings.

Looking East

The Baltic trade formed the basis for the further expansion of the Dutch. They set their sights on new continents, and expeditions were prepared to explore trade opportunities in East Asia and the Americas. They could do this with little interference from others, since the European great powers were engaged in wars. The English had sunk the Spanish Armada in 1588, and the Spaniards were focused on the conflict with England and France.

These first expeditions to the East were highly profitable. Despite the fact that over two-thirds of the crews died, new expeditions were organised. The Dutch trade now threatened Portugal, which until then had been the leading nation in the spice trade with the East. Increased trade with spices led to higher prices in the East and lower selling prices in Europe.

The VOC

After a few years, the Dutch government realised that the various trading companies needed to be merged. In 1602, the Verenigde Nederlandse Geoctroyeerde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) was founded. The VOC, also known as the East India Company, was to become the driving force in the Dutch Golden Age. It was not merely a trading company, but also a military force that could build forts, enlist soldiers and sign agreements. To staff their trading posts, forts and ships, the VOC needed crews. Foreigners accounted for a large portion of these. It is difficult to obtain exact figures on the number of Norwegians involved, but estimates based on VOC ships’ service records indicate that as many as 17 000 Norwegians worked for the company from 1600 to about 1800.

A similar company was established in 1621 to engage in trade with the Americas. But the Dutch West India Company did not have the same powers as the VOC.

A corporation

The VOC is considered to be the first corporation with freely traded shares in the world. Some would even compare it to today’s multinationals. The VOC had operations in three continents and employed thousands of people. They were also actively engaged in warfare in the early years to secure trade monopolies for important goods. The overseas trade was a major factor for the Norwegian men and women who emigrated to the Netherlands. The women worked as maidservants in well-off trading families, and the men readily found work with the VOC as sailors or soldiers.

Huge immigration

There are many reasons for the high immigration to the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries. For many, the religious freedom in the Netherlands was the decisive factor. But probably more important was the rapidly-growing economy, built on trade, shipping and banking. Some people were attracted by the opportunities in a country that was also a leader in science. Although the Netherlands had very limited natural resources and a small area, it was Europe’s fastest growing country in terms of both economy and population.

Timber trade and contact

Contact between the Netherlands and Norwegian coastal towns was already well established through the timber trade. Scottish, English and Dutch ships fetched timber from Norway. Many of the ships in the timber trade were from Amsterdam; the city was growing and timber was needed for buildings. The challenging soil conditions in the area required huge numbers of wooden poles for the foundations. The poles were hammered down into the loose soil, and “Amsterdam stands on Norway” was a saying of the time.

For an adventurous young Norwegian, it was easy to sail to the Netherlands. Men and boys joined a Norwegian or foreign ship and worked their passage. One could also travel as a passenger, but that cost money. Women had no other option than to travel as passengers. Prices varied, but the trip could cost a year’s wages for a maid in Norway.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was the city where most Norwegian immigrants arrived. One important reason for this was that many Norwegians knew someone who had been there or who lived there. In the city, the immigrants could meet compatriots in the Lutheran churches and get advice from Norwegians already working in the city. Amsterdam itself was also attractive, mainly due to its high standard of living, which was probably the highest in Europe in the 17th century. The population of Amsterdam in 1620 was 100 000, while Bergen in comparison had only 13 600 in 1769 (the year of the first census in Denmark-Norway).

A fair idea of how many Norwegian immigrants there were can be obtained from the records of marriage announcements (lists of people who got married) and the lists of members of the Lutheran churches in Dutch towns. Between 1601 and 1800, we see that about 12 000 Norwegians were married in Amsterdam.

Wages

In spite of great wealth and many possibilities, most immigrants ended up in low-paid jobs. Norwegians who came to the Netherlands generally began work as sailors, soldiers or maids.

Although foreigners were at the bottom of the economic ladder, their wages were very high compared to Norway and other European countries. To illustrate this, we can look at the wages of an ordinary maid in the Netherlands. A Norwegian girl working as a maid in a family in Amsterdam could earn around 120 guilders a year, equivalent to about 48 Norwegian riksdaler. In Norway, the pay for the same job was 1¼ riksdaler, including clothing, board and lodging.

Sailors and soldiers earned about the same as maids. This reveals huge differences in income between countries and points to a well-developed monetary society very different from that of Norway. In this era, Norway lagged far behind the Dutch cash economy.

The opportunity to earn good money was probably the main reason why so many Norwegians found their way to the Netherlands.

Sailors

As mentioned, the VOC had a great need for sailors and soldiers for their ships and their various trading posts. Most Norwegian men ended up in these jobs after their arrival in the Netherlands. The Dutch themselves did not find this overseas work equally attractive, probably partly because of the great health risk involved. There was a high risk of catching tropical and deficiency diseases both on the journey to the East and at the trading posts. Only a third of those who travelled with the East India Company survived. The company was aware of this, and their ships were therefore overstaffed to replace those who died. There were crowded conditions on board and infectious diseases, dysentery and typhoid could spread rapidly.

Conditions for workers on the ships were very brutal. Carl Peter Tunberg, a student of the famous scientist Carl Linnaeus, travelled with the VOC in the 1770s. In his travel account, he wrote that sailors were treated worse than slaves. The company cared little about their workers, and a common saying was that the VOC could easily get a new soldier or sailor for nine guilders anyway.

Volkhouders

Since the Dutch showed little interest in service for the East India Company, there were many opportunities for foreigners. But how were sailors recruited? In England, people could risk being shanghaied! That meant being attacked and forced to join a crew.

In the Netherlands, there were agents whose job was to recruit people for the East and West India Companies, known as volkhouders. Their business activity took place in inns and bars and their victims were often unemployed sailors and poor foreigners. Many Norwegians was lured by the volkhouder’s exciting and exotic tales from the East. The prospect of earning good money was also a crucial factor.

When the person had been persuaded, he was taken under the wing of the agent, who offered him board and lodging until the contract with the company was signed. The agent would also help in obtaining equipment needed by the sailor or soldier for the journey. This meant that the enlisted person had big debts even before he started work. These debts were paid back to the agent at the company office when the person had earned what he owed. He also received an advance from the company, so that all in all it might take him more than a year to pay back everything and began to earn money himself. Sailors and soldiers usually enlisted for three to five years.

Recruitment in Norway

This type of recruitment also took place in other European countries, including Norway. When Dutch ships were in Norwegian ports, recruitment of Norwegian sailors took place. The ships often arrived in Norway during conflicts with other countries or due to accidents. During the war with England in 1665, many VOC vessels sought safe haven in Norway. Eventually, the authorities in Copenhagen became concerned about this recruitment. There was also a great need for sailors to serve in the Dano-Norwegian merchant fleet and navy. From 1692, both the agent and the enlisted person risked the death penalty if the enlistment took place in Denmark-Norway.

Good prospects for survivors

If the person who worked for the companies survived, he could earn a good sum of money if he looked after it properly. By selling goods they took with them, many sailors earned some extra guilders. The Norwegian Fredrik Anders Bolling who sailed for VOC between 1669 and 1673 sold goods in Cape Town in South Africa for a profit of 61 riksdaler. This was actually forbidden by the company, but probably not enforced.

Some sailors who had completed their service with the company could collect their salary on arrival back in the Netherlands. In 1695, Roelof Roelofsz from Trondheim received the huge sum of 2013 guilders in this way.

However, many of those who had completed their period of service lived recklessly for a few weeks until their money had run out. They spent it all in bars and brothels and other short-term enjoyment. These were often called the “six-week big guys” or heeren varensgasten. Soon they were penniless again and soon found their way to the nearest volkhouder.

Marriage

There was a large surplus of men in cities like Amsterdam. A Norwegian woman therefore had good possibilities in the marriage market. Records in Amsterdam show that there were 150 Norwegian men to every 100 Norwegian women.

Men who had completed their service for one of the companies and made money were no doubt a good match. As mentioned, the records show that 12 000 Norwegians got married in Amsterdam; it was therefore not only financial happiness that many Norwegians sought in the Netherlands.

In most Norwegian marriages in the Netherlands, the husband and wife were from different places in Norway. This suggests that the women did not emigrate to follow the men they wanted to marry. The average age of marriage was also higher than in Norway. We may therefore assume that marriage was a consequence of labour migration.

The Lutheran churches in cities like Amsterdam were meeting places for Norwegians and other Scandinavians. Here one could meet a potential spouse and also get married.

Married women often lived in the shadow of their husbands in terms of economic activity. But many husbands died in service for one of the companies, and as widows, the women were more noticeable. Tax records for Amsterdam in 1742 indicate large numbers of women who ran shops or lived off investments. Some women also rented out rooms and looked after valuables and other items for sailors and soldiers in the East or West Indies. The Netherlands was a land of opportunity for women, while Norway had offered few possibilities.

Other reasons for emigrating

In the Norwegian court records, we can find information on people who travelled to the Netherlands to escape prosecution. This could be women who were convicted of having illegitimate children, which was a serious crime in Denmark-Norway at the time. Some of these women appear in the Dutch marriage records. These women had thus been able to marry and start a family after some time in the Netherlands, despite the hopelessness and persecution they had experienced in Norway.

Many men went to the Netherlands to avoid military service. Both Christian V and Fredrik IV enlisted large numbers of men for the wars Denmark-Norway was involved in. During the Great Northern War of 1709-1719, there was considerable emigration to the Netherlands. Many of the men who emigrated during this period were presumably escaping military service.

Coming home with new knowledge

Many of those returning to Norway after several years in the service of the Dutch brought with them new knowledge. Sailors had learned seamanship and navigation from the Dutch, which was very important knowledge in the Dano-Norwegian merchant fleet and navy. Sons of merchants had learnt the trade in Amsterdam and came home with new ideas about business and finance. Both women and men brought influences from another culture in dress, hygiene and language.

Towards the end of the 18th century, the repatriated emigrant women were known as holændsker, and stood out with long coats and strange headgear. It became popular to employ these women as maids in affluent homes.