Long before tulip fields became a spring photo opportunity, they were at the centre of one of history's strangest financial episodes.
In the 1630s, tulip bulbs - newly introduced to the Netherlands from the Ottoman Empire - became such a status symbol among the wealthy that prices for rare varieties climbed to extraordinary heights, with some bulbs reportedly trading for more than a skilled tradesperson's annual wage. The bubble collapsed almost as quickly as it inflated, becoming one of the earliest recorded examples of a speculative market crash. Yet the flower's cultural hold never really faded - tulips stayed woven into Dutch identity long after the speculation ended, eventually becoming the export industry and springtime spectacle the country is known for today.
It's a strange, fascinating footnote that adds real context to why the Dutch take their tulips so seriously - worth knowing before you find yourself standing in a field of them.
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That history is part of what makes standing in a modern tulip field feel different - book a guided tulip tour from Amsterdam to see the obsession the Dutch still hold for their national flower.
