Tulip fever
« Tis misselijck waer een geck zijn gelt aen leijt. »
It's crazy what a fool will spend his money on. [1]
In the 17th century, during the Dutch Golden Age, a single tulip bulb was traded for the price of an entire house. With Tulip Fever, TonTanz tells a story that at first glance seems absurd and at second glance is still relevant - the first stock market crash in history.
TonTanz takes you on a journey to an evening of chamber music, dance and song. The journey of the tulip begins in Persia in the 15th century. From there, the flower made its way to present-day Turkey. In the Ottoman Empire, it was considered one of the noblest flowers in the world. From there, the tulip made its way via Constantinople (now Istanbul) to Vienna, Switzerland and the Netherlands. There, the tulip was cultivated on a large scale. It was so popular that it was represented by over 600 specimens in the botanical garden “Hortus botanicus” in Leiden, which at that time was actually designed for medicinal plants. [2]
The disadvantage of the popular tulip flower was its seasonal blooming. As a result, not only were the flowers sold at increasingly high prices, but also contracts for the future purchase and sale of tulip bulbs. These papers were lent and sold on as investments. Nowadays, millions of these contracts are traded every day on every conceivable commodity on the world's stock exchanges.
After the legendary Weeskamer auction on February 3, 1637 in Alkmaar, at which the price of tulips in the Netherlands reached its peak, the entire tulip market collapsed two days after this auction, as no new buyers could be found for the high-priced tulip bills at further auctions. This was followed by the first documented “stock market crash” in history. Some traders and private individuals lost their entire livelihood as a result of this fall in value. TonTanz commissioned the Swiss composer Fabian Künzli to write a composition about this period of history.
From this fascinating story, mankind, it seems, has still not learned.
[1] Roemer Visscher, ‚Sinnsprüche‘, Amsterdam 1614, über den Eifer der Sammler von Tulpen
[2] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpenmanie, 17.10.2024