On the 31st of May the Efteling will celebrate its birthday. For nearly sixty years young and old have enjoyed the fairytale figurines. Today’s grandparents will remember well how much they loved the Fairytale Forest when they were children.
Efteling Park, located in Kaatsheuvel, originated from a little playground founded by two chaplains. The Catholic population from the surrounding villages could come and relax here. When the local football club added their fields to the playground, it turned into a small theme park. Later on, a cable car, a pony track and a cycling track were added to the existing football fields and the playground. After the war, income from the leather industry in Kaatsheuvel decreased and the new mayor, Van der Heyden, searched for ways to increase the village’s revenues. Tourism seemed like a good idea to him and in 1950 he founded Efteling Nature Park so he could extend the little theme park.
Sleeping Beauty sleeps in Efteling Park since 1952
Anton Pieck on board
The mayor’s wife loved fairytales and so the main theme for the Efteling was soon decided. The romantic images drawn by famous artist Anton Pieck (1895-1987) breathed the kind of atmosphere the park wanted to exude. Pieck was asked to animate the fairytales but he wasn’t very keen at first. He was afraid that cheap copies would be made of his creations, just so money would come in. However, he was offered total artistic freedom and high quality materials and so Pieck finally agreed.
He drew up all kinds of designs that were copied to detail and built in 3D. The park pulled out all the stops to make the fairytales as lifelike as possible. Sleeping Beauty’s hair for example, came from the sisters of the nearby Saint Anna convent. According to the rules of this convent they kept their hair short and they sold whatever hair they cut off.
Every Wednesday Pieck would check on the workers to see whether his designs were correctly replicated. For example, he could get very wound up over the decent work of the bricklayers. They did a far too clean job for a Fairytale Forest. The bricklayers had to have a bit more imagination and understand that they should lay the bricks in a wobbly manner. Rumor has it that Pieck would offer them a couple of drinks in the morning to get a more disorderly result.
Fairytales for 36 cents
Opening day arrived and on the 31st of May 1952 the new Fairytale Forest was inaugurated. For 36 cents visitors could admire ten new fairytales. Snow White and the seven dwarfs, Mother Holle, Long Neck and Sleeping Beauty are some of the first attractions of the park that we can still enjoy today.
Every year new fairytale characters made their way to the park, such as the Indian Water Lilies in 1966. This fairytale was written by then Queen Fabiola of Belgium. From the beginning of the eighties the park was forced to compete with theme parks that offered fast rides. The Fairytale Forest didn’t attract a lot of youngsters anymore and so they focused more on rollercoasters. The Python was the park’s first rollercoaster ride and was a huge success from the start.
Laaf people in the Chessmen Museum
Laaf people outgrow Efteling Park
From 1990 onwards Efteling Park went partly back to its idyllic origins: fairytales. It even created its own fairytale about the Laaf people. These funny characters were designed by Ton van de Ven, Anton Pieck’s right-hand man. Pieck himself had retired but Van de Ven designed it according to the famous artist’s style.
Outside of Efteling Park the Laaf people gained a lot of popularity. Many a garden owner has a Laaf at their gate or pond. On the chess board the Laaf people also stand their ground, as you can see in our museum.
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