Breakthrough at Scharwoude

In 1675, the water wave struck here mercilessly. This monument placed exactly three centuries later commemorates the disaster that struck West Friesland then.

This spot (arrow on the Map) lies in a corner of the dike and the Rietkoog, a strip of land outside the dike (green). Just there, the water of the Zuiderzee was pushed up just a bit higher during storms. 

During a severe northwest storm on Nov. 5, 1675, the Omringdijk failed here at 2:30 in the morning. 

Eventually, the entire region between Heerhugowaard, Hoorn, Enkhuizen and Medemblik disappeared under the salt water of the Zuiderzee. The red dot indicates the site of the breach.

There were fortunately no casualties among the population. However, many cattle did drown. 

The churches were quickly set up as stables. They usually stayed dry because they were located at the highest point of the village.

To close the breach, hundreds of workers were summoned. They piled a double row of poles in the seabed around the deeply washed-out hole in the dike. The space between the piles was filled with hay, straw and seaweed. The dangerous work claimed three lives. 

On Nov. 29, 1675, the breach was closed. But five days later another storm blew in. Everything washed away again. This map shows that. 

There was nothing else to do but drive a triple row of piles into the bottom even further out to sea. On Jan. 21, 1676, the dike was finally closed and now for good. 

The Hoorn painter Matthias Withoos captured the scene in painting. We are looking from the land. In the foreground we see the breakthrough, then the arch of moored posts and behind it again the water of the Hoornse Hop with on the left the city of Hoorn. The painting now hangs in the Westfries Museum. 

Nearly three and a half centuries later, the scars of the 1675 breach are still clearly recognizable. The dike twists around a small lake or wheel hundreds of meters long. This forms the remnant of the hole washed out more than sixteen meters deep.