Norwegian emigration to the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries

By Hans Nicolai Nissen

The Netherlands was an attractive destination for many people in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, being a leader in trade, shipping and banking. From the Nordic countries, it was mostly Norwegians who went to the Netherlands.
Good earnings and a sense of adventure were important motivating factors for many Norwegians who emigrated. Although most had to settle for jobs with low status and wages, the pay was still much higher than in Norway. Most Norwegian immigrants became sailors, soldiers or maids.

High wages

If we look at wage levels, it is easy to understand why so many women and men went to the Netherlands. A maid could earn 120 guilders a year (about 48 Norwegian riksdaler) in the Netherlands. In Norway, the pay for the same job was 1¼ riksdaler, including clothing, board and lodging. A sailor or soldier earned about the same amount. Obviously, the Dutch wages were tempting. These huge differences in wage levels reveal a great deal about the differences between Norway and the Netherlands at the time. Unlike the Netherlands, Norwegian society had not yet established a cash economy.

A new start

Many Norwegians left poverty, large families, military service and crime. Some also saw an opportunity for marriage. There may have been as many as 12 000 Norwegians who got married in the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries, according to records kept in Amsterdam. These records contained details of couples who publicly announced their marriage plans.

The Dutch East India Company

Many of those who went to the Netherlands found employment in the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), the Dutch East India Company. The company was in constant need of staff for their trading stations in the East. Men enlisted as soldiers and sailors. But the Dutch themselves were not keen on working for the VOC, and it is estimated that half their employees were foreigners. Mortality was high on the ships that sailed to other continents, and many died of diseases unknown to Europeans.

New impulses

Estimates show that as many as 17 000 Norwegians worked for the VOC in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is less clear how many women were working as maids in the Netherlands, but researchers assume that this figure was also high. Of the Norwegians who sailed abroad with the VOC, it is estimated that only one-third survived.
The women and men who returned home to Norway brought with them new knowledge and new ideas and impulses from a foreign culture.

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