The Amersfoort Boulder
Drag the boulder
The Squire Everhard Meyster discovered a 7,157 kilo boulder in the city’s vicinity and placed a bet with his friends that he could get the Amersfoort citizens to be crazy enough to drag the large rock into the city. And guess what; he succeeded in getting 400 Amersfoort inhabitants to do so after serving them lots of beer and fresh biscuits. They enthusiastically pulled it to the Varkensmarkt, but fun did not last long as the ‘boulder haulers’ were ridiculed and laughed at for years. Embarrassed as they were, in 1672 the inhabitants buried the boulder on the Varkensmarkt. It remained there until 1903 when it was dug up and exhibited as a symbol of pride. Nowadays it is located at the corner of Stadsring and Arnhemsestraat.