Herman de Man route
Woerden, Oudewater, Haastrecht
Herman de Man (Woerden, 1898-1946), was a well-known writer in the 1930s. 'De Man' was his pseudonym; his official name was Salomon Herman Hamburger. He was the youngest and third child of two Jewish parents. His father was a poor merchant. The family moved frequently, always looking for better living conditions. From the age of 3 the family lived in Polsbroekerdam, and from age 12 to 17 in Oudewater. Already in his adolescence, he appeared to have a restless character. He regularly ran away from home and at 17 he left for Amsterdam. Never having a steady income, he scrabbled for a living and led a nomadic existence. In 1918 he was imprisoned for conscientious objection and in 1919 he fled to Belgium to escape a sentence he had received for swindling a company where he had worked temporarily. In Belgium, he began writing as an independent journalist, but never earned a full income from it. For years he continued to wander, in France, Belgium and again in the Netherlands. In 1923, he met Eva Jeanette Marie Kalker, seven years younger, whom he would marry. They had their first child in 1924, with six more to follow. With so many mouths to fill, he slowly began to lead a more settled life, which was also made possible by authorship, in which he became increasingly successful. In 1925, he broke through to the general public with his novel 'The Washing Water'. In this novel, he describes the life of Gieljan Beijen, a farmer's son from the hamlet of Hoenkoop. This Gieljan manages to work his way up to become dike reeve of the water board and plays a heroic role when, in an emergency situation, he decides to allow the polders Lopikerwaard and Krimpenerwaard to be flooded. As a result, he saves the cities of Woerden, Gouda, Utrecht and Rotterdam from flooding. 'Het wassende water' gives a good picture of how water management works in the Netherlands, making the polders fertile and keeping the cities dry. In addition, in this, and also in his other novels, Herman de Man sketched an affectionate but critical picture of polder life: he denounced Calvinism and the great divide between rich farmers and poor farm workers. 'Het wassende water' was filmed in 1985 and broadcast as a television series in 1986. Until World War II, Herman de Man led a successful existence as a writer and journalist. When the Netherlands was occupied by Germany in 1940, he found himself in France. He would stay there until 1942 and then managed to travel to England, where he went to work for Radio Oranje. When he returned to the Netherlands after the war, his wife and five of his children were found to have been murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz. In 1946, he himself was killed in an accident while landing a KLM plane at Schiphol Airport. This premium cycle route has been compiled by our editor: Frans Glissenaar
| Directions | Distance | Total distance | |
|
Start: Singel , 3442 AL Woerden | 38.1 KM | |
|
From
28
to
70
|
326 M | 0.3 KM | |
| Head northeast | 103 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Oostdam | 150 M | ||
| Turn right | 6 M | ||
| Turn left onto Oostdam | 36 M | ||
| Turn left | 26 M | ||
| Turn right onto Oostdam | 5 M | ||
| You are now at section 70 | 0 M | ||
|
From
70
to
13
|
1952 M | 2 KM | |
| Head southwest on Oostdam | 5 M | ||
| Turn left | 26 M | ||
| Turn left onto Stationsweg | 168 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 59 M | ||
| Turn right onto Linschoterweg | 182 M | ||
| Turn left onto Stationsplein-Zuid | 66 M | ||
| Turn right onto Van der Valk Boumanlaan | 557 M | ||
| Continue onto Jaap Bijzerweg | 336 M | ||
| Continue straight | 101 M | ||
| Continue onto M.A. Reinaldaweg | 38 M | ||
| Turn right onto Polanerzandweg | 414 M | ||
| You are now at section 13 | 0 M | ||
|
From
13
to
69
|
391 M | 0.4 KM | |
| Head southwest on Polanerzandweg | 15 M | ||
| Turn left onto Korte Linschoten Westzijde | 376 M | ||
| You are now at section 69 | 0 M | ||
|
From
69
to
94
|
6739 M | 6.7 KM | |
| Head southwest on Haardijk | 2.6 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Noord Linschoterdijk | 4.2 KM | ||
| You are now at section 94 | 0 M | ||
|
From
94
to
93
|
321 M | 0.3 KM | |
| Head west on Noord-Linschoterkade | 247 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Amsterdamse Veer | 74 M | ||
| You are now at section 93 | 0 M | ||
|
From
93
to
92
|
253 M | 0.3 KM | |
| Head southwest on Kromme Haven | 87 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Broeckerstraat | 166 M | ||
| You are now at section 92 | 0 M | ||
|
From
92
to
14
|
4294 M | 4.3 KM | |
| Head northwest on Oude Hekendorperweg | 267 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Oude Hekendorperweg | 176 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Oude Hekendorperweg | 13 M | ||
| Turn left onto Hekendorperweg | 3.8 KM | ||
| You are now at section 14 | 0 M | ||
|
From
14
to
34
|
3197 M | 3.2 KM | |
| Head west on Goejanverwelle | 3.2 KM | ||
| You are now at section 34 | 0 M | ||
|
From
34
to
12
|
256 M | 0.3 KM | |
| Head south on Veerlaan | 256 M | ||
| You are now at section 12 | 0 M | ||
|
From
12
to
27
|
1076 M | 1.1 KM | |
| Head northeast on Hoogstraat | 83 M | ||
| Turn right onto Grote Haven | 128 M | ||
| Turn right | 12 M | ||
| Turn left onto Kraanstraat | 31 M | ||
| Turn left | 26 M | ||
| Turn left | 32 M | ||
| Continue onto Grote Haven | 272 M | ||
| Turn right onto Jan van Arkelstraat | 8 M | ||
| Turn left onto Bredeweg | 484 M | ||
| You are now at section 27 | 0 M | ||
|
From
27
to
95
|
1791 M | 1.8 KM | |
| Head east on Boezemmolenpad | 8 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Boezemmolenpad | 1.1 KM | ||
| Continue onto Oost-Vlisterdijk | 637 M | ||
| You are now at section 95 | 0 M | ||
|
From
95
to
40
|
2104 M | 2.1 KM | |
| Head northeast on Hoonaardpad | 2.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 40 | 0 M | ||
|
From
40
to
48
|
4869 M | 4.9 KM | |
| Head east on Hoenkoopse Buurtweg | 4.4 KM | ||
| Turn left onto De Meent | 479 M | ||
| You are now at section 48 | 0 M | ||
|
From
48
to
91
|
812 M | 0.8 KM | |
| Head northeast on De Meent | 11 M | ||
| Continue straight | 11 M | ||
| Turn left onto Utrechtse straatweg | 581 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 10 M | ||
| Turn right onto IJsselvere | 199 M | ||
| You are now at section 91 | 0 M | ||
|
From
91
to
92
|
296 M | 0.3 KM | |
| Head northwest on Romeijnstraat | 20 M | ||
| Turn left onto Noord-IJsselkade | 276 M | ||
| You are now at section 92 | 0 M | ||
|
From
92
to
93
|
253 M | 0.3 KM | |
| Head northeast on Arminiusplein | 166 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Kromme Haven | 87 M | ||
| You are now at section 93 | 0 M | ||
|
From
93
to
95
|
818 M | 0.8 KM | |
| Head northwest on Biezenpoortstraat | 117 M | ||
| Turn left onto Oude Singel | 140 M | ||
| Make a slight right to stay on Oude Singel | 18 M | ||
| Turn right | 20 M | ||
| Continue onto Brede Dijk | 178 M | ||
| Make a slight left | 42 M | ||
| Continue onto Brede Dijk | 212 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Brede Dijk | 91 M | ||
| You are now at section 95 | 0 M | ||
|
From
95
to
22
|
689 M | 0.7 KM | |
| Head north on Johan J. Vierbergenweg | 323 M | ||
| Continue straight | 12 M | ||
| Continue onto Johan J. Vierbergenweg | 271 M | ||
| Turn right onto Tappersheul | 83 M | ||
| You are now at section 22 | 0 M | ||
|
From
22
to
96
|
1224 M | 1.2 KM | |
| Head north on Papekopperstraatweg | 1.2 KM | ||
| Continue straight | 46 M | ||
| You are now at section 96 | 0 M | ||
|
From
96
to
68
|
4927 M | 4.9 KM | |
| Head northeast on Johan J. Vierbergenweg | 53 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Papekopperstraatweg | 18 M | ||
| Turn right onto Diemerbroek | 2 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Zwartedijkje | 1.3 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Parallelweg-Oost | 435 M | ||
| Continue left onto Kromwijkerpad | 571 M | ||
| Turn left onto Kromwijkerdijk | 18 M | ||
| Turn right | 23 M | ||
| Turn left | 136 M | ||
| Continue onto Hollandbaan | 368 M | ||
| You are now at section 68 | 0 M | ||
|
From
68
to
26
|
688 M | 0.7 KM | |
| Head northwest on Hollandbaan | 12 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Hollandbaan | 54 M | ||
| Turn left onto Waardsedijk | 253 M | ||
| Continue onto Boerendijk | 369 M | ||
| You are now at section 26 | 0 M | ||
|
From
26
to
28
|
871 M | 0.9 KM | |
| Head northeast on Chrysantstraat | 446 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 30 M | ||
| Continue onto Wilhelminaweg | 372 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 23 M | ||
| You are now at section 28 | 0 M |