Visit Holland - The Netherlands

Glossary

Term Definition
Begijnhof

The Begijnhof is one of the oldest inner courts in the city of Amsterdam. A group of historic buildings, mostly private dwellings, centre on it. As the name suggests, it was originally a Béguinage. Today it is also the site of the English Reformed Church.

Benelux

Benelux is a union of states comprising three neighbouring countries in northwestern Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The union's name is formed from joining the first two or three letters of each country's name – Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg – and was first used to name the customs agreement that initiated the union (signed in 1944). It is now used in a more general way to refer to the geographic, economic and cultural grouping of the three countries.

Beurs van Berlage

The Beurs van Berlage is a building on the Damrak, in the center of Amsterdam. It was designed as a commodity exchange by architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage and constructed between 1896 and 1903. It influenced many modernist architects, in particular functionalists and the Amsterdam School. It is now used as a venue for concerts, exhibitions and conferences. The building is constructed of red brick, with an iron and glass roof and stone piers, lintels and corbels. Its entrance is under a 40m high clock tower, while inside lie three large multi-story halls formerly used as trading floors, with offices and communal facilities grouped around them.

Biesbosch

De Biesbosch ('forest of sedges' or 'rushwoods'), is one of the largest national parks of the Netherlands and one of the last freshwater tide areas in Europe. The Biesbosch consists of a rather large network of rivers and smaller and larger creeks with islands. The vegetation is mostly willow forests, although wet grasslands and fields of reed are common as well. The Biesbosch is an important wetland area for waterfowl and has a rich flora and fauna. It is especially important for migrating geese.

Bijenkorf

De Bijenkorf (literally, "the beehive" is a chain of high-end department stores in the Netherlands with its flagship store on Dam Square, Amsterdam. It was founded by Simon Philip Goudsmit (1845–1889). De Bijenkorf was owned by Maxeda (formerly known as VendexKBB), but at the end of 2010 was sold to the Weston family that also owns Britain's Selfridges, Canada's Holt Renfrew and Ireland's Brown Thomas. The Weston family also owns 54.5% of Associated British Foods which in turn is the parent company of Primark.

Bijlmerbajes

The Bijlmerbajes is a prison complex in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, near the Amsterdam Amstel railway station. The official name is Penitentiaire Inrichting Over-Amstel, although it is also known as Penitentiaire Inrichting De Stadspoort or Penitentiaire Inrichtingen Amsterdam. Bijlmerbajes is part of the Custodial Institutions Agency (Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen, DJI) of the Dutch Ministry of Justice within the Dutch criminal justice system.

Bimhuis

The Bimhuis is a concert hall for jazz and improvised music in Amsterdam. With an average of 150 performances a year the Bimhuis is the main stage for these musical genres in the Netherlands. The Bimhuis was founded in 1973. Until the summer of 2004 it was located at Oude Schans 73-77 in the centre of the city. Since January 2005 it is housed in a new building at the Piet Heinkade 3, next to the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, on the southern bank of the IJ river.

Binnenhof

The Binnenhof (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɪnənɦɔf], inner court), is a complex of buildings in The Hague. It has been the location of meetings of the Staten-Generaal, the Dutch parliament, since 1446, and has been the centre of Dutch politics for many centuries. The grounds on which the Binnenhof now stands were purchased by Count Floris IV of Holland in 1229, where he built his mansion, next to the little lake that has been called Hofvijver or 'Court Pond' since the 13th century. More buildings were constructed around the court, several of which are well known in their own right, such as the Ridderzaal (Great hall; literally Knight's Hall), where the queen holds her annual speech at Prinsjesdag. One of the towers, simply known as het Torentje ('the Little Tower'; directly next to the Mauritshuis museum) has been the office of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 1982.

Blauwbrug

The Blauwbrug (literally, "blue bridge") is an historic bridge in Amsterdam. It connects the Rembrandtplein area with the Waterlooplein area. Blauwbrug The bridge owes its name to a wooden "blue bridge" that was there from around 1600 but no longer exists and which was painted the characteristic blue of the Dutch flag. It kept the name after 1883 when it was replaced by the spans of a new bridge which is inspired by the architecture of several of the bridges over the Seine in Paris.

Bloemenmarkt

The Bloemenmarkt is the world's only floating flower market. Founded in 1862, it is sited in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Singel between Muntplein and Koningsplein in the city's southern canal belt. It includes 15 florists and garden shops as well as a range of souvenir gifts. The market is one of the main suppliers of flowers to central Amsterdam

Boijmans Van Beuningen museum

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is the main art museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The museum began in 1847 with the collection of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans (1767–1847). Much of the museum's original collection was destroyed in a disastrous 1864 fire. In 1958, the collection of businessman Daniël George van Beuningen (1877–1955) was added to the museum, and the museum acquired its current name.

Bonnefanten Museum

The Bonnefanten Museum is a museum of fine art in Maastricht, Netherlands.The museum was founded in 1884 as the historical and archaeological museum of the Dutch province of Limburg. The name Bonnefanten Museum is derived from the French 'bons enfants' ('good children'), the popular name of a former convent that housed the museum from 1951 until 1978. In 1995, the museum moved to its present location, a former industrial site named 'Céramique'. The new building was designed by the Italian architect Aldo Rossi. With its rocket-shaped cupola overlooking the river Maas, it is one of Maastricht's most prominent modern buildings.[1] Since 1999, the museum has become exclusively an art museum. The historical and archaeological collections were housed elsewhere. The museum is largely funded by the province of Limburg.

Botlek

The Botlek originally was the name of a stretch of the Nieuwe Maas river, part of the Rhine-Meuse delta near the Dutch cities of Vlaardingen and Spijkenisse in the province of Zuid-Holland. Specifically, it was the name of the strait that separated the island of Rozenburg from the sand bar of Welplaat. The strait itself was merely the continuation of the Nieuwe Maas, and the stretch of the river south of Rozenburg continued to be called Nieuwe Maas until the confluence with het Scheur formed the Brielse Maas estuary. Major waterway regulation works were carried out in the Netherlands in the 19th and 20th centuries to improve water management and stop the delta from silting up; the Botlek was dammed off at its southern end (connecting Rozenburg and Welplaat) and remodelled into one of the largest of the Rotterdam seaports (see also Europoort).

Bulb Region or Bollenstreek

The Bollenstreek (Dutch for "Bulb Region") is a region in the Netherlands consisting of areas in North and South Holland that feature the cultivation of flower bulbs. The colourful flower fields that have come to symbolise Holland can be seen in these areas around April.

Burgers' Zoo

Burgers' Zoo is a 45-hectare (110-acre) zoo in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and is one of the biggest zoos in the country. Arnhem is a city that lies within the Veluwe, a nature park in the east of the Netherlands. The zoo is popular with both Dutch and German people, and receives about 1.5 million visitors annually.