Historical story

A bang farewell

The sky shows all the colors of the rainbow on New Year's Eve:the effect of thousands of rockets. But that has only been the case since the 1960s. People used to make a lot of noise during the turn of the year.

The need to make noise at the beginning of the new year is age old. The Germans already did it. They thus chased away the evil spirits of the past year and welcomed the new. This habit of making noise on the night of December 31 to January 1 persisted.

When gunpowder came to Europe in the Middle Ages, it was immediately a popular means of experiencing loud bangs on New Year's Eve. It even seems to be the case that later, in the eighteenth century, many Amsterdammers had a small cannon! They pulled that out on New Year's Eve to pop with. But the revelers didn't just use gunpowder to make a noise. They also rang the church bells, beat drums and walked with rattles, clappers and whistles.

In the course of the nineteenth century, the noise and excessive drinking began to disturb the bourgeoisie more and more. That made the big, riotous New Year's Eve party all but disappear. But not forever!

After the Second World War (1945), most people had heard enough bangs. But in the mid-sixties, just as before the nineteenth century, the Dutch again took to the streets en masse to make noise. The decorative fireworks were new. Previously, it was almost only burned in honor of emperors and kings. From the twentieth century, the fireworks were accessible to everyone.

More about New Year's Eve:

  • Fireworks:popping and coloring
  • Champagne:the magic of bubbles
  • Get rid of the hangover
  • A 26 second problem