In April 2024, I was blessed to spend two weeks in Holland on a Viking riverboat cruise. Besides learning that Gouda cheese is “wunnerful,” I eagerly soaked up lots of Dutch history. Since many family historians find that they have a family line going back to the Netherlands (proper name of that little country), I thought I’d share some of the Dutch history bits that I learned.

I learned that tulips did not originate in Holland but in Turkey (Persia then). The word tulip is the Persian word for “turban.” Some thought tulips looked like turbans.

Tulips were first introduced into Europe and Holland in the 1550s as a gift from the Ottoman Emperor.  The Dutch went crazy for tulips; the waxy flower became so wildly popular that an economy of trading known as “tulip mania” exploded overnight. At the peak of tulip mania, some SINGLE bulbs sold for more than ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman! 

At first tulips were mono-colored but about 1600 a non-fatal virus caused mutations that resulted in the splotched colored and curly leaves we love today.