Placetime #1 — Marken: When the Water Came

About this event

📅 Sunday, 4 October 2026 🕝 14:30 📍 Bus stop Marken Centrum For the first event in our new series Placetime, we head to Marken. If Pastime is about the big history of the Netherlands, Placetime is about stories that belong to a particular place — stories that may not define an entire country, but profoundly shaped the places where they happened. Our first Placetime season is dedicated to the relationship between the Netherlands and water — and to the places where water has left its mark on the landscape, on communities and on history. And few places tell that kind of story better than Marken. Today it is a picturesque village, famous for its wooden houses, harbour and former-island charm. But in January 1916, Marken stood in the path of one of the most devastating storm surges in modern Dutch history. A northwesterly storm drove the water up with enormous force. Houses were damaged, destroyed or swept away. Parts of the island were inundated, lives were lost, and Marken became one of the places most brutally affected by the disaster. But the story does not end there. The flood of 1916 helped convince the Netherlands that the Zuiderzee could no longer be left to chance. In the decades that followed came some of the defining hydraulic works of the 20th century: the closing off of the sea, the great engineering projects that reshaped the Dutch relationship with water, and eventually the connection that meant Marken would no longer remain an island. For this first Placetime, we’ll walk through Marken looking for traces of that story — through the harbour, the village and the different werven that once offered refuge when the water rose. We’ll return to a deadly night in 1916, but also to the moment when catastrophe became the beginning of an entirely new future. 🍺 And afterwards... After the walk, we’ll stop at Land en Zeezicht, one of Marken’s most interesting cafés. It has something of a Belgian beer-café character, with a selection that goes beyond the usual suspects, and it also serves its own locally brewed witbier. A fitting place to finish an afternoon devoted to a village whose entire history has been shaped by what lies between land and sea. 👟 Practical information We meet at 14:30 at the bus stop Marken Centrum. Expect a proper walk through the village, so comfortable shoes are recommended. As always, the exact walking route will remain a surprise. Drinks at Land en Zeezicht are optional and paid individually. See you on Marken — while it is still dry.