NL-3189370 Oudewater, Utrecht Province, the Netherlands

Oudewater is a municipality and a town in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands. In the 16th and 17th century, Oudewater was an important producer of rope. In the surrounding area, hemp was cultivated. There is still a rope manufacturing plant and a rope museum in the town.

Oudewater is famous for the Heksenwaag (Witches' scales). This weighing house, an official town building, became famous during the 16th century because people accused of witchcraft were offered an honest chance of proving their innocence. In many cities and countries such trials were usually rigged, resulting in the burning or drowning of hundreds of innocent people. People accused of witchcraft in Oudewater after weighing received an official certificate proclaiming them not a witch. Although nobody was ever found to be an actual witch in Oudewater, the weighings were still a public spectacle. Even today you can get a certificate that "your body weight is in proportion to your build." The reasoning behind this is the old belief that a witch has no soul and therefore weighs significantly less than an ordinary person; this distinction allows the witch to fly on a broomstick. Panel 3 on the postcard shows the weighing house and Panel 5 shows the interior.

The town hall dates from 1588 (Panel 1) and features a stork's nest (Panel 2). Panel 4 on the postcard shows the statues of a peasant family (Boerenfamilie) inspired by the writings of Herman de Man and sculpted by Ineke van Dijk.

This postcard came from Gerrit (5 November 2015) Postcrossing.