Volendam in kleur in 1930 (video)

Volendam is a fishing village on the former Zuiderzee in The Netherlands. Sinds this inner sea was enclosed by a 36 km dam called "De Afsluitdijk" in the 1930's the salt water has become sweet and the Zuiderzee became te IJsselmeer. This had a big impact on the fishing community. Fishing for eals and fresh water fish has now become their main activity. Other sources of income for Volendam used to be the cutting of reeds for the purpose of thatched roofs and other, but this practice has now almost gone.

It has always been a very close community where everbody knows each other and many inhabitants are somehow related to each other. The village is also famous in the Netherlands for its pop music bands like BZN, The Cats and Jan Smit. Because of the eal fishing, this type of music is called "De Palingsound" (the "eal sound").

As there are no cars visible in this film which could have given a clue about when the film was made; it is estimated to have been shot in the 1930's, but could be earlier. Any advise is welcome.

The original B&W footage was kindly provided by Niels Haneveld and subsequently restored, speed-corrected, A.I. enhanced and A.I. colorized.