How do we attract tourists?
During the fifties, there was little to do in the polder. During Spring and Summer, the nearby dunes and beaches attracted strings of tourists. So close and yet so far, for they rarely strayed into the polder. How do we get those people to leave the beaches behind and visit us? That is the question that plagued the Henk Jonker, Dick op ‘t Veld, Jan Kortehaas and Koos Onderwater, the then members of the VVV-board. Their solution? Organizing the Flower Days!
Storing hyacinths
Hyacinths have been distributed from one central point for about 25 years. This practice started when one year the hyacinths flowered much earlier than usual. To make sure the Flower Days could continue, a kind-hearted farmer made one of his cold stores available for storage so the Flower Days could go ahead as planned. Poor weather has as times plagued the Flower Days, but it is a rare occasion when the event doesn’t go ahead as planned.
Anna Paulowna was the name of the consort of King Willem II. She gave her name to the polder. What covers about 193 square miles. The plot between the mainland and the former island Wieringen was enclosed by dykes and laid dry between 1845 and 1846, during king Willem IIs reign. Therefore the Anna Paulowna polder is still relatively young.
The county Anna Paulowna was established on August 1, 1870. Before this, it was part of county Zijpe. Since January 1, 2012, Anna Paulowna was merged with Wieringen, Wieringermeer and Niedorp to make up the county Hollands Kroon.
A former, current channel, the Oude Veer, sanded out by centuries of ebb and flow, divides the county into on Eastpolder and a Westpolder. Other stream channels are Kromme Tocht, Lage Oude Veer, Lotmeer and Amstermeer. Sea fish can still be found in the Amstelmeer such as flounder, shrimp and mussels.
In the past, there was a ferry service in Wieringen, when this was still was an island. There also was a tram that drove from Van Ewijcksluis to Schagen. The tall building of the Seed and seed potato growers Association Anna Paulowna in Van Ewijcksluis reminds us of this.
In 1916 the Eastpolder and some parts of the Westpolder were flooded after a storm surge. The dyke had broken through at the landfill site. This storm surge, which flooded several parts of the Zuiderzee coast, prompted the construction of the Afsluitdijk.
As of January 1, 2012, the counties of Anna Paulowna, Niedorp, Wieringen and Wieringermeer formed the county of Hollands Kroon. The new county has 22 village centres, 47,000 inhabitants and an area of 620 km2. This makes Hollands Kroon the fourth-largest county in the Netherlands in terms of area. The former county of Anna Paulowna is 7,881 ha and has over 14,000 inhabitants.