{"id":6510,"date":"2020-02-14T16:41:38","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T16:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=6510"},"modified":"2020-02-14T16:41:38","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T16:41:38","slug":"valentijnsdag-love-the-dutch-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/valentijnsdag-love-the-dutch-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Valentijnsdag: Love The Dutch Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

Valentine’s Day – a day for love… Also in the Netherlands. But how did we get here? And how do we celebrate it? Let’s explore!<\/p>\n

Valentijnsdag<\/strong><\/em> in the Netherlands<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Image by Carolyn V at Unsplash.com<\/p><\/div>\n

While it’s known that\u00a0Valentijnsdag\u00a0<\/em>(Valentine’s Day) is named after some\u00a0Sint Valentijn\u00a0<\/em>(Saint Valentine), it’s not really clear which one. There are different stories about the man who was given February 14 as his heilige <\/i>(holy) day by\u00a0Paus\u00a0<\/em>(Pope) Gelasius in 496. Connecting\u00a0Sint Valentijn <\/em>to the liefdestradities <\/em>(love traditions) that we are used to today, different legendes <\/em>(legends) were invented, but none were really that overtuigend <\/em>(convincing). He would have married people and brought people together, but there really is no evidence that any Sint Valentijn <\/em>did such a thing.<\/p>\n

All this weirdness led the\u00a0Katholieke kerk <\/em>(Catholic church) to stop celebrating February 14 as the\u00a0naamdag\u00a0<\/em>(name day) of\u00a0Sint Valentijn <\/em>in 1969. But the name stuck around!<\/p>\n

The celebration of the\u00a0liefde\u00a0<\/em>(love) is still pretty new in the Netherlands. Only halfway the 1990s<\/strong> it became more mainstream.<\/p>\n

Like in many other places, it was first and foremost a\u00a0feestdag\u00a0<\/em>(holiday) that was pushed by\u00a0bedrijven\u00a0<\/em>(companies). After the Tweede Wereldoorlog<\/em> (Second World War), the Dutch\u00a0bloemisten\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(florists) realized that around February 14, the flower business was doing exceptionally well in other countries. And so they had an idea.<\/p>\n

In 1951, the\u00a0inwoners\u00a0<\/em>(inhabitants) of the Frisian city Leeuwarden received\u00a0strooibiljetten\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(leaflets) that told them to buy\u00a0bloemetjes\u00a0<\/em>(flowers) for their\u00a0geliefde\u00a0<\/em>(loved one). But it didn’t do that much. The\u00a0bloemisten\u00a0<\/em>simply commented: “<\/em>De Friezen zijn te nuchter. Ze lopen niet zo snel warm”\u00a0<\/i>(The Frisians are too matter-of-fact. They don’t get excited that easily.)<\/p>\n

They kept going though. In the decades after, they would do\u00a0publiciteitsstunts\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(publicity stunts), such as\u00a0bloemetjes\u00a0<\/em>for each\u00a0vrouwelijk kamerlid\u00a0<\/em>(female member of parliament) in 1974.<\/p>\n

But it wasn’t the\u00a0bloemisten\u00a0<\/em>that made it a Dutch tradition. It was the\u00a0kranten\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(newspapers). In 1990, a\u00a0Valentijnsrubriek\u00a0<\/em>(Valentine’s column) was created, where (anonymous)\u00a0berichten\u00a0<\/em>(messages) could be placed. It was a huge success!<\/p>\n

Yet, despite that success,\u00a0Valentijnsdag\u00a0<\/em>is getting less popular<\/strong> by the year in the Netherlands. Many people see it as\u00a0materialistisch<\/em> (materialistic) and only something that winkeliers <\/em>(shop owners) profit from, or a strange thing: waarom is er een speciale dag voor liefde? Is niet elke dag waarop je liefde kunt schenken speciaal?\u00a0<\/em>(Why is there a special day for love? Is not any day on which you can give love special?)<\/p>\n

But if you decide to celebrate it, here’s how to do it:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Valentine\u2019s Day Survival Guide for the Netherlands<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n