Shantykoor De IJsselmannen

As far as the name is concerned, Shantykoor De IJsselmannen has everything to do with the history of the skippers from the village of Ouderkerk aan den IJssel, which is located on the river Hollandsche IJssel in the Krimpenerwaard. The village where our Shanty choir was founded and has its home base.

For centuries, skippers from Ouderkerk aan den IJssel have been sailing the Hollandsche IJssel and later also the rivers of the Netherlands and Western Europe. In the past they were called “The IJsselmen”. As free skippers , they mainly transported sand and gravel throughout the country. With their IJsselaken and Pavilion barges they dredged sand from the river bottom. The sand, which was used in cities for the construction of roads, building sites and the filling of canals and canals, such as Rotterdam’s Coolsingel in 1908. Even today, sand and gravel are still a very important part of the many loads that are transported by Ouderkerk skippers.

Over the years, the name “De IJsselmannen” increasingly became a nickname in the good sense of the word for the Ouderkerk skippers. Skippers, who always had a solution for a difficult job or difficult freight that had to be transported. That the name “De IJsselmannen” is also known across the border is evident from the fact that the following text could be read on a wall along the Rhine in Basel in Switzerland in the 1960s and 1970s :

“Skippers, don’t be afraid….
The IJsselmen have also been here “

Shanty choir De IJsselmannen is affiliated with Shanty Nederland.