Honey, I Shrunk the Netherlands

Madurodam in The Hague is preserving Dutch heritage and identity with its ornately designed, functional miniatures

- By VEIDEHI GITE

Evil sometimes leaves beauty behind as monument to courage. One such place is Madurodam park in The Hague that preserves Dutch heritage and identity. It is named after the Dutch resistance fighter George Maduro, who was murdered by the Nazis in Dachau concentration camp during WW II—dying of typhoid when he was just 28 years old. Maduro's parents donated the initial capital necessary to build it. His Dutch Army uniform is still on display in the historical museum of The Hague. It's also a memorial to the resilience and fighting spirit of the Dutch people. The story transforms a tourist attraction into a place of remembrance and national pride. “Behind the scenes, master craftspeople dedicated thousands of hours to create and preserve the park's intricate miniature replicas—some comprising as many as 50,000 individual pieces,” explains tour guide Els 't Hooft reveals while gesturing toward a particularly elaborate canal house. “Each building, canal, and wind