Eau de Colony 2 — Groningen / Brazil

📅 Sunday, 22 November 2026
🕒 15:00
📍 Meeting point: Groningen Central Station

When thinking about the Dutch colonial empire, Groningen is probably not the first city that comes to mind.

It should perhaps come a little earlier.

For the second episode of Eau de Colony, we leave Amsterdam behind and travel north to uncover Groningen’s connection with the West India Company and Dutch Brazil.

Groningen and the Atlantic world

During the 17th and 18th centuries, Groningen was much more connected to the Dutch colonial system than its geographical position might suggest.

The West India Company — the WIC — maintained an administrative presence in the city, while merchants, warehouses, ships and investors connected Groningen to an Atlantic economy built around colonial trade, warfare and slavery.

And one of the most important chapters of that story leads directly to Brazil.

In the 17th century, the Dutch West India Company seized and governed parts of northeastern Brazil. The occupation became part of a much larger struggle over land, sugar, trade and control of the Atlantic — and depended on systems of exploitation that included the enslavement and forced movement of people.

That history can feel very distant from a northern Dutch university city.
But the traces are still there.

Walking through colonial Groningen

We’ll start at Groningen Central Station and walk through the city looking for those traces.

Along the way, we’ll pass places connected to the WIC, warehouses and the old harbour areas, and look at how Groningen participated in — and profited from — the colonial economy.

We’ll also follow the story beyond the Netherlands, towards Dutch Brazil, including the people who resisted Dutch colonial rule there.

As with the first Eau de Colony in Amsterdam, the idea is not simply to identify buildings with a colonial connection.

It is to understand how a system operating thousands of kilometres away could leave very concrete marks on a Dutch city — economically, politically and physically.

And how much of that history can still be read in the city today, if you know where to look.

🇧🇷 Afterwards: Brazilian dinner

After the walk, there will be an optional Brazilian dinner at Brazanova, Groningen’s Brazilian rodízio restaurant.

The menu includes Brazilian-style grilled meats such as picanha, fraldinha, linguiça and cupim, alongside a buffet of starters and side dishes, plus things such as pão de queijo, fried banana and grilled pineapple.

The dinner is completely optional.

If you’re interested in joining, indicate it when you RSVP. I’ll contact everyone interested separately in the following days with the exact format, price and payment arrangements, once I’ve confirmed the group details directly with the restaurant.

So you can join the historical walk without joining dinner.

About Eau de Colony

Eau de Colony is a series exploring the relationship between Dutch cities and former colonies.

Each episode begins here, in the Netherlands, looking for the buildings, institutions, streets and objects through which colonial history entered everyday Dutch life.

Then we follow those connections outward.

Practical information

We meet at 15:00 in front of Groningen Central Station.

Expect a few hours of walking through the city, so comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothing are recommended.

The exact route will remain a surprise.

Participation in the walk is free apart from your own travel costs.

Dinner afterwards is optional and paid separately; interested participants will receive the practical details by private message.