BD2025-paradegids-digitaal - Flipbook - Page 48
Oranje en rood,
de kleuren van Breda
Breda was ooit bezet door Spanje. Nederland wilde
de stad terug en tijdens carnaval in 1590 verstopten
Nederlanders zich op een turfschip. Midden in de nacht
verjaagden de soldaten van Oranje de Spanjaarden,
die carnaval aan het vieren waren. Daarna vierden de
Nederlanders feest. De kleur van Spanje was rood en
de kleur van Nederland is natuurlijk oranje. Daarom
verkleden de mensen in Breda zich tijdens carnaval nog
steeds in oranje en rode kleuren. Ander leuk weetje:
omdat het schip een gat in de kiel had, heet Breda
tijdens carnaval ‘Kielegat’.
Kielegat shows its true colors
Every city and village that celebrates Carnival has its own colors. In Breda, those colors are red
and orange. During the Eighty Years’ War, Spanish troops occupied Breda. Carnival gave the
Dutch an opportunity to recapture the city. Disguised inside a peat ship with a hole in its keel,
soldiers sailed into the city while the Spaniards celebrated Carnival. At night, they opened the
gates for Prince Maurice. Breda was back in Dutch hands. The color of Spain is red; the color of
the Netherlands is orange. This victory is the reason these remain the colors of Kielegat to this
day. Without Carnival, this trick might never have worked. Did you know there was a hole (gat) in
the keel (kiel) of the ship? That’s why Breda is called ‘Kielegat’ during Carnival.
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CARNAVAL ONTMASKERD
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