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N
a obali reke Zan, koja
amsterdamsku luku
spaja s otvorenim
Severnim morem,
lako je pronaći me-
moriju zlatnog doba
Holandije, ali i života
i delovanja velikog pomorskog inženjera
Erikusa Gerhardusa Van de Stata. Van
de Stat je za brodogradnju ono što je
Henri Ford za auto-industriju.
Zaista, ako želimo da razumemo
Holandiju, moramo pronići u misteriju
života u toj razuđenoj delti gde se razvila
najvažnija pomorska i industrijska sila
evropskog kontinenta. Moć je Holandija
zadržala do danas, no u nevidljivom
agregatnom stanju – kao brojeve s
mnogo nula na bankarskim računima.
Prihod iz inostranstva u Holandiji se ne
oporezuje pa su u Amsterdamu registro-
vane kompanije kao što su Koka-Kola,
Ikea, Najki, bend Roling Stouns i Dejvid
Bekam. No, sve je počelo s – brodograd-
njom i pomorskom trgovinom; Mleci su
vladali Sredozemljem, a ukleti i leteći
Holanđani – svetskim okeanima.
HOLANDIJA
u fokusu
Netherlands
in focus
e
On the banks of the River Zaan,
which connects the Port of Amsterdam
with the open North Sea, it is easy to
find the memory of the Dutch golden
age, but also the life and works of great
naval engineer Ericus Gerhardus Van de
Stadt – a man who was for shipbuilding
what Henry Ford was for the automobile
industry.
Indeed, if we want to understand
the Netherlands, we need to grasp the
mystery of life in this inland delta, where
the most important naval and industrial
power of the European continent deve-
loped. The Netherlands has managed to
retain that strength until today, albeit in
an invisible aggregated state – as num-
bers with lots of zeros on bank accounts.
Revenue from abroad is not taxed in the
Netherlands, so in Amsterdam com-
panies such as Coca-Cola, Ikea, Nike,
the Rolling Stones and David Beckham
are registered. However, it all started
with shipbuilding and maritime trade;
Venetians ruled the Mediterranean,
while cursed Flying Dutchmen ruled the
world’s oceans.