Heeg (Netherlands)

Heeg – in the Frisian language spelled Heech – used to be a small fishing village in what is now the Súdwest Fryslân municipality in the province Friesland in the northern part of the Netherlands. In January 2017, the village had a population of around 2,175 The village is not one of the eleven cities (“elf steden”) in Friesland.

The village was famous for its eel (“paling”) but nowadays tourism is the most important source of income and during the summer months the population of the village swells considerably beyond the official number of 2,175. Because of its location on the shores of the Heegermeer, boating and especially sailing is a major attraction.

In the early 1970s my parents bought a vacation home in the center of town. At the time we were living in Eindhoven, home of the Philips factories at whose Research Division my dad used to work, in the southern part of the Netherlands, close to the Belgian border. But my dad, who was born and raised in Friesland, was looking for ways to keep ties with It Heitelân (“home country”) and when some friends decided to sell their vacation home in Heeg my parents purchased it. After a few summers, in 1976 they bought another vacation home in a recreation park that was being built. The arrows in the topographic map shown below point to both locations.

Fast forward half a century to the summer of 2024, when I visited my sister and brother in the Netherlands. Among the many nostalgic destinations those two weeks was a brief visit to Heeg. The village certainly has changed and become even more tourist-oriented than it used to be when I was a teenager spending my summers sailing on the waters of Friesland. The tiny center of town has remained mostly unaltered, but in the surrounding areas marinas and vacation parks have sprung up everywhere. Progress, I guess.

This map shows a comparison between topographic maps from 2023 and from 1980. You can find these maps on the website http://www.topotijdreis.nl, maintained by the Dutch Topographic Bureau, established in 1815. The town’s expansion is quite obvious, in particular the many marinas on the east side of Heeg. The entire area between the lake and Osingahuizen has been developed with a mix of industry, marinas, and residences.

As is clearly visible in the photographs, on the afternoon we visited the skies were rather ominous and there was some drizzle at times. Not how I remember the town – but then again, the whole town had changed almost beyond my recognition.

Koaldyk 4 was our vacation home for several years in the 1970s. It was quite small: essentially a kitchen and one room (used for dining, sitting, and sleeping) downstairs, and an attic on the second floor (where the three kids slept). The house has since been remodeled, including adding the front door in what used to be the kitchen, and the dormer on the roof. The small roof window that is partially open is original.

Koaldyk as seen from our house. Despite their vintage appearance, several of the houses are new – or at least new since the 1970s. There used to be a grocery store about halfway down the street but that has since moved farther down the street and the old location has been replaced by a residence.

Shown in this photograph is the side that faces the main quay or boat landing in Heeg. The part with the lower pitched roof has been added; the storage space to the left used to be a wooden structure. The dormer on the building next to our house was not there half a century ago. The old well right next to the house that was used to collect rainwater from the roof is gone.

The house to the right is new. This used to be another small house where Mr. and Mrs. Veenstra lived – not that we saw them much because Mr. Veenstra was retired and they spent most of the summer in the small motorboat putzing around the many small lakes around Heeg.

We spent many hours sitting in front of the barndoor on the right, which belonged to a farm owned by Mr. and Mrs. Dijkstra, another retired couple. The building to the left (with the new dormer) used to be the tourist office (“V.V.V.”) but is now a jewelry store (according to Google Maps).

The main landing, called De Syl, as seen from our house.

Nestled between the former V.V.V. and the new construction, our house is barely visible. In the foreground is the swing bridge that had to be opened by manpower every time a boat wanted to pass through, which did not happen very often; mostly when one of the local sailing schools wanted to venture onto the big lake (“Heegermeer”).

Next to the bridge is the Hotel-Restaurant “De Watersport” – the white building in the center of this photograph looking down De Syl. Surprisingly, perhaps, even though we spent our summers in close proximity of this establishment, I cannot recall that we ever went there for coffee, a drink, or something to eat.

The main shopping street, the Harinxmastrjitte, shown in the photographs above, has not changed much over the last half century. This is part of the old town, as explained on the following historical plaque.

This plaque gives some information about the history of Heeg – in Dutch! The topographic map shown below dates from 1815, when the town was essentially one block of houses surrounding the Hagha Church. The entire town was surrounded by water.

The photographs below were taken in this old part of Heeg.

Despite the cloudy skies and intermittent rain there were a few sailboats on the Heegermeer when we visited. The poles in the foreground, some of which are marked by black flags, indicate location of fishing nets. Due to loss of habitat and lack of access for eel to travel back and forth to the North Sea, the eel population has decreased quite drastically and only a handful of licensed fishermen are allowed to harvest a small amount of eel.

After spending several summers in Heeg, my parents decided to purchase a somewhat larger vacation home on the other side of the Heegermeer, in a recreation park on what used to be the outskirts of Woudsend. At least now they didn’t have to sleep in the dining/living room, as they did in the house in Heeg.

These days, vacation homes have been built in the grasslands where once cows used to roam, as shown by the comparison of the two topographic maps shown below.

My parents bought this house when the park was developed, in 1975. If I remember correctly, the first summer we spent in the new house was 1976. At that time, there was hardly any vegetation, let alone hedges separating neighbors. The master bedroom with balcony had an unobstructed view towards the Woudsender Rakken and the Heegermeer.

This view shows the back of the house. The two windows on the second floor indicate two small bedrooms. The dormer on the roof was built later.

The door in the photograph on the left gives access to a small storage shed with another door on the inside, connecting to the dining area and kitchen in the back of the house. The neighboring house had a similar storage shed so the two houses did not adjoin directly.

You can get some idea of what the interior looks like at the following site for Vakantiehuis Nespola – Sailing in the heart of Friesland, one of the houses that is offered for rent when not in use by the owners. While this house has been extensively updated, it still gives a good impression of how the interior used to look like.

The vegetation that has grown up over the last fifty years takes away much of the view across the canal that my parent used to appreciate so much. Indeed, this view was one of the reasons for buying this particular house. The picture below shows some of the vista that my parents used to have.