Madurodam

Madurodam is named after someone who never saw it. George Maduro, a law student from Curacao, fought the German invasion near Rijswijk in May 1940 and was decorated for it. He joined the resistance, was arrested, and died in Dachau in 1945 at the age of twenty-eight.

His parents went looking for something to do with their money. Bep Boon-van der Starp had a plan for a miniature city whose takings would go to students with tuberculosis. The Maduro family funded it on one condition: the park would carry their son's name.

It opened in 1952, built at one twenty-fifth of life size. Princess Beatrix, fourteen at the time, became the city's mayor and held the post until she became queen.

The park still earns money for charity. Walking between the little houses means walking through a memorial disguised as a day out, complete with running trains and a plane leaving the runway.

Our walking routes through the city are ready for anyone who wants to carry on afterwards.