⏳ Pastime #5 — The Black Death & the Hanseatic City of Deventer ⚓

For the fifth chapter of Pastime, our journey through Dutch history moves into the 14th century, and this time we’ll explore one of the most fascinating historic cities in the Netherlands: Deventer.

📍 Sunday 28 June — 14:00
📍 Meeting point: outside Deventer station

Once one of the most important cities of the Hanseatic League, Deventer grew wealthy through trade along the IJssel river. Salt, fish and goods from all over Northern Europe passed through these streets, shaping a city that still today feels deeply medieval in atmosphere.

During our walk, we’ll wander through narrow alleys, along crooked warehouses and beside the river that made Deventer rich and powerful. But this time, the story we’ll follow is not only one of commerce and prosperity.

The 14th century was also the century of the Black Death.

As plague devastated Europe, people searched desperately for explanations: was it divine punishment? Was the world ending? Or was society itself changing?

Through the story of Geert Groote, one of Deventer’s most influential historical figures and founder of the Devotio Moderna movement, we’ll explore how the plague transformed the way people thought about religion, society and human life itself — changes that would deeply shape European culture in the centuries to come.

This is one of those walks where history suddenly feels very close.

The walk itself is around 5.4 km, although please note that reaching the actual starting point from the station requires an additional ~20 minutes of walking through the city.

And of course, as always, we’ll end with a well-deserved drink 🍻

After the walk we’ll stop at DAVO, Deventer’s best-known craft brewery, founded in 2007 and now famous throughout the Netherlands. Their philosophy is simple but excellent: every beer should respect the “3-pint rule” — after three beers, you should still want another sip.

Whether you love hoppy blond beers, darker stouts or simply good company after a long historical walk, it feels like the perfect place to close the day together.

Everyone is welcome 😊