Tull en ‘t Waal – The high water at the Lekdijk has been keeping us busy for days now. In 1624 things went seriously wrong with the dike there. It is exactly 400 years ago that the dike at Tull en ‘t Waal broke. Not all that unusual at the time, dike breaches were much more common at that time than they are today. What made it special was that the hole was over 100 meters wide and the water flowed at a rapid pace even to Amsterdam. The gap therefore had to be closed quickly and properly. To pay for the repair of that broken dike, the water board – the predecessor of ‘our’ Water Board De Stichtse Rijnlanden – issued bonds. that was quite new at the time. This bond from 1624 still earns interest! It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as the world’s oldest paying bond in the world.
Van Rossem Tells: Major dike breach and the oldest bond in the world (which still earns interest!)
