Page 301 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - The Netherlands

FRIESLAND  299

The hamlet of Bartlehiem is famous for its foot-
bridge over the Finkumervaart. Bartlehiem is the
best-known skating area in all of Holland and is a
psychological milestone for the skaters. Those who
still must get to Dokkum may pass skaters travelling
in the opposite direction, having already won their
stamp from the northernmost point on the route.
Many skaters have to take the Bartlehiem–Dokkum
section in the dark. The Northern Lights seen at this
time of year also attract thousands of spectators.

Dokkum
Dokkumer Ee All winners
of the
Elfstedentocht
Bartlehiem are national
heroes, but
Evert van
Benthem even
more so. A Two-time winner Evert van Benthem
farmer from
Start Sint-Jansklooster, he managed to cross the finishing
Ljouwert line at the Bonkevaart in Leeuwarden in first place
Frjentsjer (Leeuwarden) twice in a row (1985 and 1986). Van Benthem’s
(Franeker) double victory gave him a legendary status
throughout the Netherlands. The prize itself is
a laurel wreath, both for men and for women.
The names of the winners are engraved on the
Elfstedenrijder monument in Leeuwarden.
The Eerste Friese Schaatsmuseum
Boalsert
(Bolsward) The Eerste Friese Schaatsmuseum (first Frisian
skating museum) in Hindeloopen (see p302) has
among its exhibits such items as antique skates,
Snits original workshops, sleds and historical documents
(Sneek) covering the 90 or so years that the Elfstedentocht
has been held. Displays on innumerable winners,
including Reinier Paping, Jeen van den Berg and
Henk Angenet, are also featured here. Among the
highlights of the museum’s collection are the
skating packs of various heroes of the event, the
skates of two-time winner Evert van Benthem and
the starter’s card of WA van Buren. One of the most
moving exhibits in the collection is the right big
toe of Tinus Udding, which he lost to frostbite
during the harsh race in
the cold winter of 1963.

Long before sunrise, tens of
Sleat thousands of skaters start off
(Sloten) from the FEC (Frisian Exhibition
Centre) in Leeuwarden.

Key
Route of the Elfstedentocht
Road Willem-Alexander, alias WA van Buren, in the arms of his
mother, Queen Beatrix, after the 1985 race

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