Bottermuseum De Hellege - Elburg

When Elburg was still a fishing town on the Zuiderzee, before it was closed off with the afsluitdijk in 1932 and before the reclamation of the newly created IJsselmeer, the historic port of Elburg was here. To be precise, the Balk family's shipyard was here.

In 1802, Sijbrand Balk bought the slipway in Elburg for 1,000 guilders. The shipyard was located on the north side of the harbour and soon became an important centre for building and maintaining fishing vessels. The fishing community occupied an important place in Elburg during the heyday of the Zuiderzee fishery, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The shipyard remained in the hands of the Balk family through the generations and was managed by seven generations of the family. The shipyard not only built ships, but also did a lot of repair work for the fishermen of the area.

When the premises became vacant in 2008, the Botterstichting Elburg did not think twice and settled in the historic shipyard. Now it is a museum with a shed where you can learn about the history of Zuiderzee fishing. Here you will find miniature botters, drawings and photos explaining the techniques used by the former fishermen. In the shed, you can see how volunteers maintain or even completely restore the original botters. You can also book a sailing trip on a botter with an experienced skipper who tells stories about the time of the Zuiderzee fishermen.

Photo 2: Gelderland Archive