What does an exchange in the Netherlands have to offer? Amsterdam, cheese, windmills, tulip fields and lots of greenery come to mind. However, there is much more to discover! Our neighbouring country is inhabited by the (on average) tallest people in the world, it's very international and, to the delight of cyclists, it lives up to its name. And to clear up the confusion: Holland is just a region in the west, but the Dutch themselves also often use this name to refer to the whole country.

With the "Partner Country of the Month" campaign, we want to shine a spotlight on the countries and partner universities of TU Dresden that our exchange students don't necessarily think of first.

© Stavros Markopoulos/flickr

General facts and figures about the Netherlands

Capital: Amsterdam (seat of government: The Hague)
Population: 17.5 million
Official languages: Dutch, regional languages (West Frisian, Papiamentu, English)
National holiday: 27 April, Koningsdag (birthday of the current king or queen)
Currency: Euro

Further facts and figures can be found on wikipedia, or e.g. at holland.com.   

Small language excursion:

• Hello - Hallo
• How are you? - Hoe gaat het?
• My name is ... - Mijn naam is ...
• What costs ...? - Wat kost ...?
• Thank you - Bedankt
• Bye - Tot ziens

Most Dutch people speak English very well, and many also speak some German. However, some basic knowledge of the national language certainly never hurts. You can study Dutch in Dresden at, for example, TUDIAS.

Dutch, English and German are all in the same language family and there are many similarities, especially between Dutch and German. If you know a bit of German, try pronouncing the words in a Dutch way (and maybe add -je, -tje, -pje, -kje or -etje at the end for a cozy feeling) and you have a good chance of being understood. Don't rely on the similarities too much though, some words are false friends. For example, having a coffee mug would be a bit eccentric in the Netherlands - you'd be keeping caffeinated mosquitoes as pets. And there's no need to be afraid when offered a shampoo monster in a Dutch store - it's just a sample. So, learning a bit of Dutch is sure to be fun ;)

Many Dutch universities offer a wide range of courses taught in English. It is not uncommon for Dutch people to study entirely in English, so you should have no problems doing the same. However please check the exact requirements before applying.

Did you know that ....?

• carrots only got their typical orange colour in the Netherlands? This ancient crop originally occurred in purple and yellow. Legend has it that carrots were grown orange to honour the Dutch royal house of Orange-Nassau. It is said that during the German occupation in World War II, the Dutch carried carrots through the streets on King's Day to secretly express their attachment to their country.

• large parts of the Netherlands are only kept above water by extensive technological systems? About a quarter of the country has been claimed from the sea through drainage and lies below sea level. In all these low-lying regions, water has to be pumped out continuously. In the past, the typical Dutch windmills used to fulfill this purpose - actually, they should be called wind pumps.

• in 2001, the Netherlands were the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage? In general, the country is considered very liberal on gender and sexual equality issues.

• for a long time, the Dutch were Japan's only connection to the Western world? Japan sealed itself off from the outside world for several centuries to forestall European efforts to colonize and to spread Christianity. On accepting the condition not to missionize, the Dutch were allowed to continue trade. Many findings of Western science and technology therefore reached Japan in Dutch and were known as Rangaku or "Dutch learning".

• the bridges depicted on the euro notes are located in a suburb of Rotterdam? Originally, the bridges were only fictional representations of European architectural styles so as not to favour any individual country. In a tongue-in-cheek art project, however, the Dutchman Robin Stam accurately recreated them as miniature bridges for pedestrians and cyclists. He even painted them in the correct banknote colours.

© THBoersma/privat

Cooperation with TU Dresden

You can find an overview of all cooperations of TU Dresden that you can use for your exchange in our database. It is also often worth your time to ask professors in your own faculty who might have direct contacts to your partner university of choice.

Erasmus cooperations of TUD with universities in the Netherlands

• Amsterdam:
  • Universiteit van Amsterdam: Communication Science
• Leiden:
  • Universiteit Leiden
    • Mathematics
    • History of Art
• Delft:
  • Delft University of Technology
    • Transport Engineering
    • Transport and Economics
    • Civil Engineering
• Eindhoven:
  • Technische Universiteit Eindhoven: Mathematics
  • Fonty Hogescholen (University of Applied Sciences): German as a Foreign Language
• Wageningen:
  • Wageningen University
    • Landscape Architecture
    • Hydro Sciences
• Nijmegen:
  • Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen: Psychology

Don't miss...

© Jan Ubels/flickr

the small island of Terschelling in the West Frisian Wadden Sea. Walking over the dunes and through the mudflats, you are surrounded by many kinds of seabirds, and seals are not hard to find either. In the Wrakkenmuseum you can browse through thousands of objects found on ship wrecks strewn around the island. You will see anything from old diving helmets and ship parts to cutlery. And at night in De Boschplaat nature reserve, you can admire a starry sky that is almost undisturbed by light pollution.

© Dutch Simba/flickr

King's Day (Koningsdag). On the National holiday, the Netherlands are one big flea market where anyone can sell anything they want. People dress in orange and let their imagination run wild with their outfits. There are also parades, concerts and festivals all over the country.

© Katerina Dmitrijewa/flickr

the Koppelpoort in Amersfoort. This large city gate, built around 1425, used to block the way to the streets and canals of medieval Amersfoort by land and by water. Today, both the gate and the historic city centre are definitely worth a visit for their beauty.

© Christopher Penn/flickr

the Van Gogh Museum - among Amsterdam's many attractions, this is an especially noteworthy one. The museum houses the world's largest collection of artwork by this extraordinary artist. Even though many of his paintings are very well known, it is a special experience to see them. In real life and full size, their colours are stunning and shine so much more brightly. Try this to get into a Van Gogh mood.

Let's get cooking...

The original Dutch cuisine offers simple, hearty dishes (and lots of cheese) and resembles German cooking - still, there is a lot to discover. There are strong influences from Dutch colonial history, which unfortunately was very long. The former colonies of Indonesia and Surinam in particular have helped shape Dutch eating habits. Over time, the mixing of typical ingredients and preparation methods produced delicious results such as the Indonesian rice table or Surinamese roti.

Dutch desserts and sweets are also not to be scoffed at - that is, if you ignore the fact that, at around two kilos, the Dutch consume the world's largest amount of liquorice per capita and year. The dish we present to you here is probably less controversial ;)

Gevulde Speculaas - speculaas with marzipan filling

Like many other spicy-sweet treats of Dutch cuisine, this speculaas cake is typically eaten around the time of the Sinterklaas festivities on December 5th. Sinterklaas is the Dutch version of St Nicholas and is celebrated bigger than Christmas. But you can also enjoy the cake at any other time of the year! If we're wrong in this, however, you could be in danger of being kidnapped by Sinterklaas and taken to his homeland, along with other evildoers. Gevulde Speculaas may look a bit complicated to prepare - but it's actually quite simple.

© FotoosVanRobin / Wikimedia Commons

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 300 g flour
• 150 g raw cane sugar
• 150 g soft butter
• 2-3 Tbsp. speculaas spice
  • Do it yourself: mix 8 tsp. cinnamon, 2 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. ground cloves, 1 tsp. ginger powder, 1 tsp. cardamom and 1 tsp. white pepper. Makes approx. 5 tbsp. speculaas spice
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• approx. 3 tbsp. milk

For the filling:

• 350 g marzipan paste / almond paste

• 1/2 beaten egg

For garnishing:

• 1/2 beaten egg

• whole almonds - amount to taste

Preparation:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a springform pan or baking tray.

Step 2: Put the flour and baking powder in a bowl and mix with the sugar, speculaas spice and salt. Knead into a dough with the butter and milk.

Step 3: Divide the dough into two equal-sized balls. If the dough is too sticky to roll out now, place it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Step 4: Break up the marzipan paste and stir in half a beaten egg to make a smooth mixture that is easier to spread.

Step 5: Roll out one of the dough balls and place it as the bottom layer in the springform pan or on the baking tray. Spread the marzipan mixture as evenly as possible on top as the next layer. Roll out the second dough ball and place it on top as the top layer.

Step 6: Spread the almonds on top of the Gevulde Speculaas and brush the top with the second half of the beaten egg.

Step 7: Bake in the oven for approx. 35 min. It should turn a nice golden brown colour. Eet smakelijk!

(Many thanks to https://omabakthetlekkerst.nl/2020/11/03/gevulde-speculaas/)

Contact and further contact persons

Have you had great experiences in the Netherlands? Successfully spent a semester abroad in Amsterdam, tried out pancake houses and went on paddling trips through the canals?? We would be happy to share your experiences either here, on Facebook or, if you like, in a digital information event with other TUD students. Get in touch with us:

© Sven Ellger

Advice on studying abroad

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Ms Federica Serra

Infocenter/ Study abroad; TUDworldwide: America

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Contact Information

Organization Name

International Office

International Office

Address work

Visiting address:

Fritz Foerster Bau, Office 161 Mommsenstraße 6

01069 Dresden

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Address postal

Postal address:

TUD Dresden University of Technology International Office

01062 Dresden

work Tel.

Office hours:

Tuesday:

10:00 - 12:00

13:00 - 15:00

Please register at the SCS (FOE, floor 0).

Office hours by phone:

Thursday:

10:00 - 12:00

Do you want to get first-hand information?

Would you like to know more about the Netherlands? Ask our regional ambassadors - TUD alumni who are active in many countries around the world and can give you tips and advice for your stay.

Getting in touch is very easy: On the interactive world map, markers indicate the cities where the regional ambassadors live. A short profile is stored for each one - so you can easily get in touch with them: https://tu-dresden.de/regionalbotschafter/weltkarte

Partner Countries Archive

Have you missed a partner country? No problem! Here we collect all pages of the previous months for you to read up on:

April 2021: Vietnam
February 2021: Czech Republic
January 2021: Brazil
December 2020: Austria
November 2020: India
October 2020: Estonia
July 2020: South Korea
June 2020: Hungary