It wasn’t the Spijker brothers who drove the first car in the Netherlands in 1899. That honour belongs to the Groningen scientist Sibrandus Stratingh.
As early as 1834, he drove through the streets of Groningen in a steam car of his own design. But at that time, he had to seek support for his revolutionary design — and that turned out to be more difficult than expected.
‘The First Dutch Car’ is the third episode of the UKrant podcast Echoes, stories from four centuries of the University of Groningen. UKrant editors Christien Boomsma and Rob van der Wal take you back to Groningen in 1834, on the day when the entire city turned out to witness the miracle. The episode was researched by University of Groningen historian and Stratingh expert Ulco Kooystra.
Next week: ‘A Rebel Preacher’, about a Scottish rebel who came to Groningen in 1683 to become a minister.