Beetsterzwaag

Beetsterzwaag (West Frisian: Beetstersweach) is a village of about 3,650 inhabitants in the municipality of Opsterland in the east of Friesland in the Netherlands.

Map of Beetsterzwaag, Netherlands

Its most famous inhabitant was the Dutch poet J. Slauerhoff, who in May–July 1929 ran the practice of the local doctor, a temporary profession eternalized in a poem by J.C. Bloem printed in the national paper Het Vaderland. Beetsterzwaag is also the birthplace of Hilbert van der Duim, a speed skater active in the 1980s; Van der Duim was twice all-around World Champion, twice all-around European champion, and seven times Dutch champion.