Nijntje and Miffy

The weather is still cold and grey, although the rain has held off for most of the day. Small blessings. However, I did notice this colourful window near the Stadhuis this afternoon, featuring Nijntje (AKA Miffy), the little rabbit created by Utrechter Dick Bruna. The weather may not be smile-inducing, but this window display above a children’s book/toy store certainly was.

Lamps, A Rabbit, and Missing Art

I’ve got a couple of blog post ideas, but they require a bit of research and I’m not in the mood after the editing I’ve been doing. Maybe this weekend I’ll be feeling more inclined. Instead, today, you get a few follow-up comments on some of the stuff I’ve mentioned recently.

For example, here’s a photo of one of the first Pyke Koche lamps to be renovated in the Domplein. The glass is now clear, instead of the frosted yellow it used to be, and yes, the red and white Utrecht shields are in full colour!

More embarrassingly, when I posted about the missing nave and the trompe l’oeil painting of the nave, I should have looked more closely at my recent photos. I might have noticed that the painting isn’t there anymore.

Talk about taking something for granted! I started going through my old photos to try to figure out when it was removed, but I can only narrow it down to sometime between January and October 2011. Yeah, last year. As I said, embarrassing! I’m hoping someone else can help me out and let me know when it came down, just for curiosity’s sake. I think they should put it back up, though.

Finally, hartelijk gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag, Nijntje! (Happy Birthday, Nijntje/Miffy!) The little rabbit, who was the creation of local artist Dick Bruna, is celebrating her 57th birthday this weekend. She’s become famous around the world since then, and has her own square (Nijntje Pleintje) here in Utrecht. If you’re in town, I’m sure there are festivities at the Dick Bruna Huis across from the Centraal Museum.

Check out the Utrecht Events Calendar for some of the events going on this weekend. I’m about to update it with tips for architectural events, the 200th anniversary of a street, and a human peace sign.

Happy Birthday, Nijntje!

On this day in 1955, Nijntje made her debut. Drawn by Utrecht native, Dick Bruna, she’s gone on to feature in numerous books and cartoons and has become well-known around the world. She’s better known as Miffy to most of the world, since Nijntje is a bit of a puzzle for those not familiar with Dutch. For what it’s worth, Nijntje is a shortened, diminutive form of the word konijn, which means rabbit.

She’s got quite the presence here in Utrecht. She has her own square (Nijntje Pleintje as seen in the above photo). She’s also the symbol used for some of the walk/don’t walk lights here in town. She’s being used on some directional signs here in Utrecht, and of course, she plays a huge part in the Dick Bruna Huis, which is a part of the Utrecht Centraal Museum.


She’s a charming little bunny and a nice thing to have associated with Utrecht. Gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag, Nijntje!