⛪ Pastime #3 – Boniface, the Frisians, and Early Medieval Dokkum

📍 Meeting point: Dokkum bus station
🗓 Saturday, April 25th
🕜 13:30

For the third event of the Pastime series, we move into the Early Middle Ages and explore a story that is historically important, deeply influential, and yet still surprisingly little known outside specialist circles: the story of Saint Boniface, one of the most important saints in the Germanic world, who was martyred in Frisia in the year 754.
And there is no better place to explore this story than Dokkum, the beautiful Frisian town where Boniface met his death.

This walk will take us through a place where history, religion, identity and landscape come together in fascinating ways. In the early Middle Ages, the Frisian coastal regions were home to a people with their own traditions, beliefs and strong connection to water. With the arrival of Christian missionaries in the 8th century, the Frisians were faced with a dramatic question: hold on to the faith of your ancestors, or embrace a new religion?

Through the story of Boniface and the Christianisation of Frisia, we’ll look at a crucial moment in the history of the Low Countries — a moment of cultural tension, transformation and conflict whose traces can still be felt today.

During the walk, we’ll explore Dokkum’s historic centre, its atmosphere, its waterways, and the places that still preserve echoes of this early medieval past.

🥾 The walk is around 4.6 km

After the walk, to stay fully on theme, we’ll head to one of Dokkum’s local breweries: Bonifatius 754 — which could hardly be more appropriate for the topic of the day. There we’ll have the chance to try some of their beers and enjoy a relaxed chat after the walk.

A medieval story of faith, conflict and memory — in one of the most charming towns in Friesland, with a beer afterwards to complete the afternoon.