Website of Yvonne Janssen

Twente (the Romans called it Tubantia) is in a remote part of the Dutch countryside, stucked away at the German border. Here the ‘witte wieven’ or ‘white women’ roam the swamps at night, luring innocent men into death.

The people, who call themselves ‘Tukkers’, speak a strange language, that's hard to understand.

The Tukkers are a proud people, from Saxen origin, boasting about the fact, that they withstood the Romans and for a long time prevented the Franks from conquering their territory.

The white horse on the coat of arms of Twente on the left is probably Sleipnir, the horse of the German god Wodan.
This is not the official weapon of Twente; Twente doesn't have one. It is the official weapon of Niedersachsen, Germany.

In Twente there are still some old traditions alive, like ‘het Midwinter hoornblazen’, ‘de Paasvuren’ and ‘het Föggelen’ in Ootmarsum, that are remnants of an ancient religion. The name of the goddess who was worshipped was Ostara (Easter). Probably a spring godess. Her animal was a hare. In the rest of the Netherlands there are still places called Paasheuvel (Eastern Hill), like in Oosterbeek.

My guess is that these old, pagan customs have been adopted by the Roman Catholic Church and moulded into a somewhat other form.
In Ootmarsum, a small place in the northeast of Twente at Eastern some interesting festivities are displayed during the year.