When someone is called a kenau, it is usually not meant as a compliment. It means something along the lines of bossy woman. But that does the Haarlem namesake a disservice. When our city was besieged by the Spaniards during the Eighty Years' War between December 1572 and July 1573, the city was completely cut off from the outside world. No one could enter or leave, and no food entered the city. That did not stop the people of Haarlem from defending their city with heart and soul. And Kenau was one of them. The stories that went around about her grew stronger and stronger. What is true of all these stories is not known. But it is known that she fought and that friend and foe alike were impressed by her courage. Even today, there is even a theater company that incorporates Kenau into its name. Theater group Club Kenau gives performances every summer on the square in front of Haarlem's Stadsschouwburg. The last performance was about two Haarlem ice cream parlors, the first about Kenau. Rightly so, because she was, according to the stories, truly a heroine.
And she was also a mosquito, by the way. Just like all other Haarlemmers then and all 167,000 Haarlemmers now, because mosquito is our nickname. Where exactly it comes from is not entirely clear, but it probably dates back to the 14th and 15th centuries. In those days it was a swear word and Haarlemmers were called that because the city, partly because of the river, had a lot of trouble with mosquitoes. Another explanation is that Haarlemmers can be a bit of mosquito sifters. But that's nonsense. What they are, everyone must decide for themselves. We can't say. What we can say is that the qualifier "courageous" should definitely be in the list.
Because besides Kenau, Haarlem has produced more heroines. Like Corrie ten Boom, a resistance hero who, together with her father and sister, built a secret room in their house and offered shelter there to people fleeing the Nazis. An extraordinary story told in an impressive way in the Corrie ten Boom House, which is now a museum. Another special and heroic story is that of Hannie Schaft. One of the most famous resistance fighters of the Netherlands, who was shot dead in the dunes near Bloemendaal just before the end of World War II. She is remembered every year in, how could it be otherwise, the Kenaupark commemorated.