Rode Klif

Characteristic cliffs nearby Warns

At the coast you can find characteristic cliffs, these are heights of boulder clay. A special cliff is the “Rode Klif” nearby Warns. Here you can find a large boulder. Every year the “Slag bij Warns”  (battle at Warns) is remembered at this boulder, or memorial stone.

“Slag bij Warns” – Battle at Warns

In 1345 duke Willem IV sailed with his Dutch forces from Enkhuizen towards Friesland. At Warns the duke and his knights started a fight for life with the Frisians. As the duke lost and did not have any children no rights to Friesland could be claimed by the duke. The Frisians fought for their freedom. The memorial stone at the “Rode Klif” remembers this battle of the Frisians against the Dutch with the saying “Leaver dea as slaef” (rather dead than being a slave).

From red to green

In the last century the almost nine meters high cliff had a steep wall of read boulder clay. This colour gave the cliff its name. Between 1893 and 1896 this wall, unfortenately, has been made descending and covered with sods of grass. This has caused that the “Rode Klif” has been green for years now.