Elburg - Bottervloot - Elburg

Elburg has traditionally been a trading town with its own fishing fleet. From 1750 onwards, local fishing vessels underwent their own development. The result is a new type of ship, the botter. Botters mainly fished on the former Zuiderzee. Nowadays, several dozen of them are still sailing, cherished by enthusiasts and used for pleasure boating. […]

Butter

Botters are fast sailing ships and ideally suited for sailing in the shallow waters of the Zuiderzee. The ships have a flat bottom and angular bilges that transition into convex sides. The botters are equipped with a bun, a storage place for fish on board. The bun is made in such a way that fresh water can always flow through holes in the ship’s side. The sails of a botter are traditionally brown because they have been treated with tanning, a disinfectant brown-yellow dye that protects the canvas against weather influences.

Trade city

In the Middle Ages, Elburg was a prosperous city, partly thanks to the cooperation with other trading cities in Northwestern Europe in the so-called Hanseatic League, of which Elburg had become a member in 1356. After trade collapsed, the city was almost entirely dependent on fishing. Characteristic places on the old inner harbor are De Kop van ‘t Ende as the harbor entrance, the Vischpoort, the fish auction and the Werf Balk.

Registration code

From 1822 it was legally required for a fishing vessel to carry a registration code. Botters from Elburg were all given the letters EB with a number, such as the EB29 from 1920, which has recently been restored. Elburg was closed off from open water in 1956 and came to be located on Lake Veluwe due to the reclamation of eastern Flevoland. This is how fishing disappeared. The Foundation for the Preservation of Elburger Botters is trying to preserve some of the historic splendor of Elburg by keeping twelve botters in service.