The idea of Little Holland was brought to public attention by Dr. Ryszard Żelichowski, President of the Polish-Dutch Friendship Association and President of the Foundation "Dom Holenderski", in 1993, as a local initiative for preservation of the Dutch heritage in Żuławy area. Those initiatives were fostered by the local branch of the Polish-Dutch Friendship Association led by Dr. Mieczysław Hoffmann, the Club of Friends of Mennonite Culture "Oledry" led by Dr. Arkadiusz Rybak, and enthusiastically supported by the City Mayor of Nowy Dwór Gdański, Mr. Stanisław Bobrowicz.

The idea of Dr. R. Żelichowski was based on the Japanese multimillion dollar undertaking known as Nagasaki Holland Village, which had been opened in 1992 (first stage), and it is aimed at four goals:

• creation of a Dutch culture centre, which would reflect the role played by the Dutch settlers in the Żuławy region,
• preservation of the still existing monuments of material culture of the Dutch settlers: like dikes, canals, bridges, farm houses etc., enriched by the replicas of typical Dutch architecture
• conversion of the existing historical monuments into an "open-air museum" to present remnants of the Dutch material culture and Polish-Dutch ties in the past
• construction of new buildings for recreation, amusement and leisure time on one hand, and education, propagation of economic cooperation and contemporary achievements of the present Holland on the other.

It is believed that the project will be a profitable enterprise because it combines both educational and cultural functions with recreation and business promotion.

Poland

The Polish-Dutch relations have a long historical tradition. Dutch merchants, artists and settlers had been present in all regions of Poland, among them in Warsaw and along the Vistula river.

None of the regions were so densely inhabited by the Dutch settlers as Żuławy and the Vistula outlet in the 16th and 17th century. Żuławy geographically resemble very much northern parts of Holland. Project Little Holland would be then located in the typical Dutch landscape, as opposed to that in Japan.

Europe

On the map reflecting both political and economic changes in the New Europe, the two directions of economic ties intermix in the area of Gdańsk and Elbląg:

• East-West direction: from Holland via Germany and Poland to the states of the Eastern coast of the Baltic Sea
• North-South direction: from the Scandinavian States via Poland to Greece and Turkey in Southern Europe.

Little Holland will open new perspectives to the Dutch companies by the active creation of new business opportunities.

Żuławy

Little Holland will be located in the central region of Żuławy, at the Vistula outlet, in convenient proximity to the international road E-77 Warsaw-Gdańsk, which should benefit transport connections to the external zones and at the same time will give rise to opportunities to visit the attractive region, rich in historic monuments and attractive destinations.

Administrative structure

Little Holland is located 3,7km west of the over four hundred year old city of Nowy Dwór Gdański. The projected area is administrated by three gminas (counties); Nowy Dwór Gdański - 127,52 hectares, Ostaszewo - 33,89 hectares and Stegna - 9,72 hectares.

The ownership structure

The area totaling 171,13 hectares belongs to the Agency of Land Ownership of the State Treasury in Elbląg. A small enclave of land in north-eastern part of the land located between Linawa River and the Road E-77 belongs to the farmer Kazimierz Kolosiński. Mr. Kolosinski in a conversation held on December 28, 1993, expressed his will to participate in the project. The existing water-ways belong to the state.

Natural conditions

Seventy-five percent of Little Holland lies 1,2 - 1,6 meters below the sea level. The rest of it lies 1,2-0 meters below the sea level. The area is rich in many artificial mounds (terpen) where the old houses and mills were erected. The network of water-ways form the following rivers: Linawa - Vistula- Vistula Bay Canal - Struga Orlowska, Struga Ostaszewska and Linawka. The Linawa River is the main draining canal for the central part of Żuławy. The Chlodniewo Pump Station is located 7 km north. The average level of water in the Linawa River, as in the other water reservoirs, are as follows: low water - 2,6 m below the sea level and high water - 2,25 m below the sea level. In practical terms it means that in relation to the surrounding area the water level is 1,0 - 1,2 m lower. The drainage system works smoothly. The level of Linawa River-bed is -4.0 m below sea level on average, which means that the depth of the Linawa is 1,4 - 1,75 m. The clarity of water in the Linawa river is 1 or II class, depending on the season of the year.

The soil in the area of projected construction has the following characteristics:

• the land between Linawa River and Struga Orlowska - heavy meadow-peat soil
• the rest of the land - the mud-peat soil on loose sandy and weak loamy soil.
• The expected level of construction ground is 3-4 m deep.

Infrastructure

About 90 % of the land scheduled for Little Holland project is cultivated. About 15 hectares in the eastern part are the peat borrow pits. Previously they were used for the fishing ponds, at present they are covered with wild bushes, and need to be re-cultivated (there have been favorable conditions to route there the clear waters of the Linawa River). On the side of the road from Elbląg-Warsaw-Gdańsk there is a small drinking bar with the local parking lot on the private land. From the bar leads the road in the south direction. Its southern axis forms at the point were a reinforced-concrete bridge meets the Linawa River. On the north edge of the land (marked No 5 on the map) there is a devastated farm to be liquidated.

COUNTRYLAND

• the area of condensed investments based on the patterns of existing Dutch architecture - historical (replicas) and modern
• functions of that area will be: catering, accommodation, shopping centers, amusement, souvenirs, business offices and apartments.

SKANSENLAND

• centrally located area, connected with other areas and Linawa River, gathering the relocated historical monuments.
• functions of this area will focus on different forms of preservation of the existing objects (open-air museum, theme museums, etc.). Polish-Dutch relations in the historical perspective will be stressed (first settlers, Poles liberating Holland in the World War II and humanitarian aid to Polish children in 1980s.).
• It is highly desired to build the agricultural zone (milk farms, wheat farms and flower farms) based on existing, relocated farm houses or designed on the historical forms of the local architecture of the Żuławy region.
• The idea of skansen was approved by the Monument Preservation Office of Elbląg Wojewodship, Mrs. Maria Luboska-Hoffmann during conversation held on January 4, 1994.

GRASSLAND

• the area of one or two pilot-farms specialized in milk (meat) production based on Dutch know-how and Dutch technology.

CORNLAND

• the area of one or two pilot-farms specialized in corn (wheat) production based on Dutch know-how and Dutch technology.

FISHLAND

• reconstructed fish ponds as an element of the recreation for the visitors (anglers).

FLOWERLAND

• the area of flower production. It may be based on one or two flower farms introducing the Dutch experience and traditions.

The theme program of Little Holland may be enriched by two more areas:

"R":

• the reserve for the upcoming ideas
• there is a proposition to construct a wind electric plants which could supply
• Little Holland with electric power and present recent state of the art technology of the alternative energy source used by Dutch firms.

"P":

• the area reserved for the parking lots for personal and cargo vehicles, location of the stops of regular inter-city buses and a depot for the group buses.
• in this area will be located the main information center for Little Holland.

Transportation

• Passenger cars: excellent conditions. The international road E-77 Warsaw – Gdańsk forms one of the axis of the project. The safety requirements and the second lane of that road (to be build in 1990s) need the two-level junction for those turning left.
• Water transport: the Linawa River runs through the Pump Station Chłodniewo to Szkarpawa river, which is the water way class IV. Yachts docking in Little Holland Bay would require construction of the water-lock in Chłodniewo and Little Harbor in the neighborhood of Mirówko village (or reconstruction of the existing bridges).
• The narrow-track rail: there is a possibility to connect Little Holland with the existing narrow-track railway system in the area of Nowy Dwór Gdański (4 km from Little Holland). The trains would bring visitors to the park reservation "Mierzeja Wiślana".

The water supply

There is a possibility to directly connect the water supply system to the main pipeline of the Central Water Pipeline of Żuławy laid along the Elbląg - Gdańsk road. To improve the taste of the water a construction of the adequate filter station will be necessary.

The sewage system

Optional: construction of the local sewage and water purification system (as an offer of the respective Dutch Company) or the pumping of the fallout to the sewage of Nowy Dwór Gdański for a 4 km distance.

The electricity supply

The existing conditions to satisfy the needs of the construction site are sufficient. There is enough power supply within the present network of electric lines. In perspective it will be necessary to construct the 15 kV power line about 5,5 kin long to connect with the Main Power Line in Nowy Dwór Gdański.

It will be important to build a chain of the wind power plants to make Little Holland independent from the central electricity supplies. The wind conditions are satisfactory. In 4,5 km east of Nowy Dwór Gdański there is one private wind electricity plant already. The effects are encouraging.

The envisaged look of the future Little Holland can be seen on the drawing (panorama). It is the north-west view from the upper section of the junction over the Elbląg - Gdańsk road. In the first row there is the main reception and information centre (and restaurants) located by the parking lots. The latter are separated from the rest of the Little Holland by existing waterbarriers. This will reduce the car traffic within the area of Little Holland. The drawbridges on Linawa and Vistula Bay can be seen. On the opposite bank of the Linawa River the windmills and replicas of the typical Dutch houses as well as the wind electricity plants were located. The comparable view will please the eyes of the visitors coming to Little Holland, when arriving at the main information and reception centre. The boats and kayaks on the Linawa, the perspective of the skansen and flower land in the west will complement the typical Dutch landscape of Żuławy. The base of the scheme introduced in the drawing (scale 1:5000) is the structural arrangement comprised in the RANDLAND section. The decisive factor, as far as the utility elements are concerned, will be COUNTRYLAND. The adopted spatial scheme is exposed to all would-be functions, although it holds its own internal space which will consist of the following individual programs:

• the north-western part (the biggest), which I suggest should be called Utrecht-center, will comprise of restaurants, bars, hotels, shopping and amusement facilities, etc.,
• the eastern part. which I suggest to call Almere, will be mainly the housing area,

• Delft-center - souvenir shops and shopping centers with the typical Dutch products
• Gouda-center - the area of the shops with diary products
• Rotterdam-center - business and office space for the companies cooperating with the firms of northern Poland and the Baltic states.
• Amsterdam-center - promotion and show-case for the Dutch economy.

The arrangement of the skansen area is only marked at this stage. The reference points are the windmills on mounds (terpen) located along the bank of the Linawa river. Other objects, like the local farm houses and animals houses in Dutch style, will create scattered spatial arrangement to create proper individual surrounding for each. Location of the animal, plant and flower farms will refer to the tradition of the loosely erected houses brought to Żuławy by the Dutch settlers. The project assures easy access to every element of the program also by car and at the same time makes possible reduction of the car traffic by location of the parking lots on the other side of the river. It is assumed that in Little Holland pedestrian zones and bicycles will dominate, enriched by boat tours on Linawa river.

Some links with information about Little Holland (in Polish!) are the following:

For more information on Little Holland, please refer to Dr Mieczysław Hoffmann on the following address: