What do Cornelis Vreeswijk, Louis de Geer, Ove Kindvall, IKEA, AkzoNobel, and the Rembrandt painting The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis have in common?

They all have strong SwedishDutch connections! But why? This book, produced to mark the celebration of four hundred years of diplomatic relations between Sweden and the Netherlands, will tell you the story of these and many other interesting connections. Authors from a variety of fields reflect upon a shared history, bringing characters to life and highlighting events that have had an impact on the relationship, both historically and in modern times. Starting in the dramatic seventeenth century with its mixture of entrepreneurship, trade and war, religion and architecture, the story continues to the contemporary era. It covers the transmission of ideas, the movement of goods, and migration across four centuries. The banker and entrepreneur, Louis De Geer, in the seventeenth century; the scientist, Carl Linnaeus, in the eighteenth; the troubadour, Cornelis Vreeswijk; and the football player, Ove Kindvall, in the twentieth century; all are examples of the many individuals who lived their lives with one foot in the Netherlands and the other in Sweden.

The Swedes and the Dutch were made for each other shows how often the Swedes and the Dutch have been partners. They really were made for each other!

This book was published to mark four hundred years of diplomatic relations between Sweden and the Netherlands (16142014) thanks to the kind support of: Ikea, AkzoNobel, Handelsbanken, SKF, Embassy of Sweden in Hague and Kingdom of the Netherlands.