Statue The Woman of Stavoren - Stavoren

In the Middle Ages, Stavoren was an important trading town. It was a member of the Hanseatic League. From those times also comes the story of the Woman of Stavoren. She was the widow of a rich merchant and lived in a house with gold floors and silver walls. She had more ships than all the town's merchants put together and grew richer and richer every day. Despite this, she was never satisfied. She wanted to own the most precious thing that existed and had one of her boatmen search for it.

Every day the woman looked to see if the boatman was already approaching with her new possession. After a long search, he returned with a cargo of grain. He believed it was more valuable than gold, but the woman disagreed. She ordered him to throw the cargo overboard. A poor old man who happened to be passing by begged her not to do so and give it to the poor. The woman ignored him. Thereupon, the poor man said God would make her feel what it is like to live with hunger and in poverty. The woman believed none of it. She took her diamond ring off her finger, threw it into the sea and said, "My wealth will not escape me. Just as this ring will never come back, so will I never have to beg."

Some time later, at a dinner with all the rich merchants from the Rhine cities, a large fish is served. The pre-cutter cuts it open and finds the woman's ring. At that moment, a storm raises its head and the sea becomes threatening. The dykes break and Stavoren floods. Fate turns against the woman. Her house is destroyed and her shipping fleet is lost. She becomes poorer than the poorest of Stavoren and eventually dies of hunger.

It is claimed that a few grains of grain made landfall and a patch of land emerged with wild grains where the woman's house once stood.

Further down the harbour is a fountain and statue of the Fish of Stavoren, the fish in which the ring was found.