Do you know Hendrick Hamel? In Korea, where he was imprisoned for years after a shipwreck, he is a national hero. Unlike in the Netherlands where he is almost forgotten, but not in Gorinchem! This is where his leven began and ended, and it is also where the Hendrick Hamel Museum stands, telling the history of the exciting journey of his leven.

The Gorcumer Hendrick Hamel is a 17th century seafarer who was the first to report ...

Gorcumer Hendrick Hamel is a 17th-century seafarer who was the first to report on Korea, at the time a closed country. In 1653, he embarked in Batavia on the Sperwer, a yacht for coastal navigation of the V.O.C. In a terrible storm, the ship broke up on the coast of Korea.Only 36 crew members survived this disaster and they were captured. After 13 years and four months, Hendrick and seven mates managed to escape to Japan, where he wrote the "Journael" that proved to be the hinge in Korea's door. The book became a huge success in Europe and was reprinted many times.