Klein Holland Harz

My name is Leonie van Assema. I was born on 28 March 1975 in Zaanstad, the Netherlands, so I’m a true “Zaankanter”. I married Yuri Klitsie in 2005. He was born on 12 August 1972 in Zaandam, so he’s a true “Zaankanter” too. In December 2014, our family took on the challenge of moving from Zaanstad (NL) to the beautiful village of Sieber in Herzberg am Harz (DE).

But of course, a lot happened before that, and that’s exactly what our guests are always especially curious about. So when people ask how we ended up here in the Harz, we don’t just come out with our joke, “By car!” So, here goes… the story of how our big adventure began…

Christmas holidays 2009: We rented a large house for several families near Winterberg in the Hochsauerland region. We spent the first week celebrating Christmas there with friends, and the second week celebrating New Year’s Eve with Leonie’s parents and her brother and his family. We organised the changeover ourselves, and you can probably guess what happened… we had a fantastic time doing it together, and during the holiday we promised ourselves: When we retire, we’ll do something like this! Wanting to stay a little closer to home and find somewhere with at least a few hills, we quickly settled on Germany. And so the dream of a later life began…

We could never have imagined back then that “later” would arrive so soon.

A few years later, circumstances life sometimes throws our way—such as Yuri losing his job and the harsh realisation that life, sadly, doesn’t go on forever—suddenly led us to say: “If we don’t do it now, we may never do it.

And then the search suddenly began: from Winterberg to the Eiffel, from the Eiffel farther south, then back up towards the Thuringian Forest and the Ore Mountains, until we finally arrived in the Harz in spring 2014 and found everything we’d been looking for. And so we ended up loading all our belongings into a truck to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve once again among the snowy mountains in December 2014—with one difference: this time, we wouldn’t be returning to the Netherlands for the time being.

What began with taking over a small guesthouse in retirement has grown into a thriving holiday destination, popular as a group accommodation and—thanks in no small part to its unique layout—with many smaller families too. Klein Holland Harz has a cosy recreation area with plenty of entertainment and even a real Dutch pub. There’s also an activity garden where everyone feels at home and no one gets bored. And all of this comes with a wink to everything we grew up with back home.

From day one, we’ve always done our best to make our guests’ stay at Klein Holland Harz as enjoyable as possible.

We’ll never be perfect, because we want to stay human too. We’re proud of our typically Dutch laid-back, down-to-earth nature, which still defines us and makes us who we are—and hopefully always will be. Just as we were taught: “Just be normal; that’s crazy enough!” ;-)

We prefer not to say “you” formally; using first names and speaking informally suits us much better. Not because we lack respect, but simply because we don’t believe in hierarchies, and everyone we meet in life is unique to us, with all their quirks and special qualities.

We’re convinced that all these qualities are exactly what make our guests agree that we’re positive, friendly and exceptional hosts. We both grew up in families where anyone could drop by at any time without calling first, and where “live and let live” was the motto. That’s why we open not only our home, but our hearts too. We hope every guest always (or again) feels comfortable and, above all, at home.

You’re always welcome to arrive as our guests and, like so many before you, head home as good friends!

Hope to see you soon at our Klein Holland Harz, a paradise on earth where every day we welcome new and returning guests with lots of love and joy, so they can enjoy a wonderful holiday!

Lots of love,

Leonie & Yuri

And for everyone who has known us for a while or has got to know us well here… Yes, we can be completely crazy sometimes, but no… there will never be a reality TV series starring us!

But watch this space… one day, when I’m retired, a book might just be published in which you all play a wonderful leading role!

And if I don’t manage it—my children already know this—you can write on my gravestone:

“My life was certainly

a fantastic holiday park!”

Yours,

your Leonie