Sleeuwijk Ferry

The Sleeuwijk ferry has a long history. It was mentioned as early as the 14th century. Sleeuwijk owes its existence largely to the ferry. Nowadays, the service is provided by Riveer, which docks on the Gorinchem side near the former Waterpoort. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the ferry house, De Zwaan, was located directly opposite Sleeuwijk on the southwestern side of Gorinchem. In the early 17th century, the Sleeuwijk ferry docked at the quay by the Waterpoort in Gorinchem.
On the Sleeuwijk side, the landing place has always remained the same.
Various historical figures are known to have made use of this crossing.
On March 22, 1621, Hugo de Groot, disguised as a bricklayer's apprentice, escaped over the Sleeuwijk ferry from Gorinchem. Initially, the ferryman was unwilling to set sail due to the rough weather. But after some persuasion and a false promise of more cargo in the form of bricks from the Land of Altena, bricklayer Jan Lambertszoon and his fake apprentice Hugo convinced the ferry operator to take them across for an extra fee. Via Waalwijk, Hugo de Groot reached Antwerp the next day.
The abdicated Queen Christina of Sweden crossed here disguised as a man with several riders on August 4, 1654, during her journey of conversion from Stockholm to Rome.
In 1823, the writer Jacob van Lennep and his study friend Dirk van Hogendorp made a round trip through the Netherlands. After a visit to Gorinchem, they crossed the Merwede with the Sleeuwijk ferry and traveled further into Brabant by diligence.
But the Sleeuwijk ferry became especially famous for the crossing made by Empress Marie-Louise in 1811 in the opposite direction. To put this in perspective, it should be noted that she did not travel in the ferry boat with the common people. She had waited for several days in a tent on the Sleeuwijk side until her husband, Emperor Napoleon, arrived on October 5 in Gorinchem by dinghy from Dordrecht. Shortly thereafter, the empress was ferried across in a festively decorated dinghy that had come from Dordrecht, which, according to reports, had cost no less than 4,000 florins and was powered by 18 rowers from the Garde d'honneur de Marine. Since that notable day, Gorinchem and Sleeuwijk proudly called their ferry 'the Ferry of Empress Marie-Louise'.
(Color drawing by M. Schouwman.)

Historische Routes