For this story, we'll take you back to the early 13th century. The time of the Fifth Crusade, which lasted from 1217 to 1221, especially the conquest of Damiate, an Egyptian port city. The people of Haarlem played an important role in the conquest of this city. Using a large ship with a saw at the bow, our brave fellow townsmen broke through a chain stretched across the Nile River, clearing the way to the city. After conquering the city, they took bells back to Haarlem. These so-called Damian bells can be seen in the city's coat of arms and heard every day, as they hang in the tower of the Great or St. Bavo church and are used every day. A wonderful story about Haarlem warriors that, unfortunately, alas, is most likely not based on truth. So it is actually more of a local legend than a local story.
Fortunately, there is still a large number of fighters in Haarlem who do exist and are fighting for a sustainable future. Take Marcel Belt, the founder and instigator of Marcel's Green Soap. A brilliant story of a man who opened the kitchen cupboards one day, saw that they contained nothing but not particularly sustainable products and decided to do something about it. Or the Oyster Mushroom Farm, which tells the story of circular agriculture in the city. To make this a little more concrete, here's an example: they grow oyster mushrooms using coffee grounds and process some of those oyster mushrooms into, among other things, bitterballs. And we could go on and on. Well, one more. The story of FriesHoes. These people from Haarlem not only make delicious and fresh fries, they also give the potato peels a second life. These are used by brewery Jopen in the brewing process.Â