question about Holland (a strange one)

[71-hour Ahmed]

Just came back from a holiday in the strangely flat land of the Netherlands, and I have a question. It may seem a little strange but its reall really bugging me... if you are aware of the answer tell me before I go maaad.

The Question: Why do so many toilets in the Netherlands have A SHELF IN THEM..??? The friend's flat I stayed in had one, as well as half the restaurants and museum. Neither my friend nor I have never seen or heard of this type of toilet design outside of Holland, so why do the dutch want to see (and smell) their, ahem,"business" so badly? The amount of Ajax that flat toilet had stuck down it this week...

Seriously, this was a major source of curiousity in my little mind. I've spent more time thinking about this than I spent in the Maraithuis and Rijksmuseum combined...

[Sjakihata]

I know that they have them in germany. when i was visitnig my grandparents there (now deseased) they had a shelf in the toilet as well. And seen it dozens of times in germany.

They said it to inspect the excrements - and so to detect anything which isnt normal, so it can get fixed. Just a healthy check up on the bodily functions.

That's what they say in germany, I'd assume it's true for NL as well.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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What kind of a shelf are we talking about here?
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[kiwitt]

I lived in Holland. And yes it is quite disconcerting.

However, it does have a couple of advantages

1) You can see the stool for any problems
2) The water doesn't splash up when the stool drops in our deeper toilets

[rasoforos]

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What kind of a shelf are we talking about here?
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A very cra$py one I think...

[Papewaio]

Surely the water is clear enough that you could see any differences...

[Del Arroyo]

LOL, that's an interesting idea.

Definitely better than having the toilet line-out connected to the shower line-out, then have a partial clog somewhere farther down, so that you get to inspect your terds every time you take a shower....

DA

[GoreBag]

Surely the water is clear enough that you could see any differences...

Well....not always.

[Brutus]

Hmmm, I assume you mean the shelf in the toilet that prevents your... excrements from directlydropping into the drain, right? I personally always favourtoilets which have those as it prevents the splashing up of water (against your bottom) as your poo drops. (So it must be as Kiwitt said). Also, when you're used to it you don't really mind seeing it. Checking if anything funny is in there may be usefull as well (although I usually just flush it...)

I at least prefer it to the (luckily getting extinct) French toilet practice of crouching over a hole in the ground...

Sad you had to contemplate this instead of taking a good look at the Mauritshuis (not Maraithuis) or the Rijksmuseum...even though the Rijksmuseum nowadays is really a ripoff... (most of it is closed due to reconstruction works...they only show tourists a little bit of it)

[English assassin]

A friend of mine commented on this feature of German loos recently. We were both impressed, as is so often the case, at the sheer organisation of the Germans. A whole nation carefully inspecting their poo each morning for any abnormality, presented on a little shelf designed for the purpose. Remarkable.

I at least prefer it to the (luckily getting extinct) French toilet practice of crouching over a hole in the ground...

I encountered one of these horrors in Switzerland, of all places, only a few months ago. I imagined they had long gone the way of the dinosaur. It seemed to have been cleaned to the traditional rural French standard as well, ie not for at least six months. (It was Francophone Switzerland though)

[Sjakihata]

You'll find those hole all over the place in Spain and Portugal, still.

[drone]

I saw these toilets in Austria. From what I was told, the shelf is there for inspection purposes. Pork is a large part of the diet, the shelf makes it easier to check for worms. Fortunately, alcohol was the largest part of my diet when I was there, so I figured I could safely skip the inspection.

[Dutch_guy]

This is strange , I live in Holland and I still have trouble picturing this toilet in my mind..

As far as I can tell , the toilets I have in my house are quite ordinary..

[Ronin]

You'll find those hole all over the place in Spain and Portugal, still.

all over the place...not really....i live here and the only place i remember ever seing one of those things was in a camping ground....and that was a long time ago when i was a small kid.

[The Stranger]

[Mouzafphaerre]

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These "holes on the ground" (not verbally though) are standard practice over here. (Doesn't matter what toilets are like anyway... See my location description. )
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[71-hour Ahmed]

This is strange , I live in Holland and I still have trouble picturing this toilet in my mind..

As far as I can tell , the toilets I have in my house are quite ordinary..

Trust me your country has them. Although you do have plenty of normal ones as well.

Places that I can recall off the top of my head that had them include the Esther museum and the restaurant Babellen, both in Den Haag (and both of which are pretty good). But thats not conclusive. The Domtoren in Utrecht may also have them, I am not sure... (you can see how this has scarred my mind).

I can get the not splashing thing, but the inspection sounds like a co-incidental benefit- those who check will probably do so anyway. But this is nothing like as easy to keep clean as what I'm used to.

And its not that weird a thread. I could have started a thread on nose hair removal... now THAT would be weird.

[Reverend Joe]

Why is everyone bashing the hole? The hole is my favorite. It's much more natural.

I am amazed this thread is still open.

[drone]

Google "german toilets" for all kinds of interesting explanations of the poo-shelf (my favorite descriptive phrase found, "the poop deck"). I will not post links, due to the heavy use of scatalogical terminology (amusing as it may be).

[Brutus]

Trust me your country has them. Although you do have plenty of normal ones as well.

Places that I can recall off the top of my head that had them include the Esther museum and the restaurant Babellen, both in Den Haag (and both of which are pretty good). But thats not conclusive. The Domtoren in Utrecht may also have them, I am not sure... (you can see how this has scarred my mind).

I can get the not splashing thing, but the inspection sounds like a co-incidental benefit- those who check will probably do so anyway. But this is nothing like as easy to keep clean as what I'm used to.

And its not that weird a thread. I could have started a thread on nose hair removal... now THAT would be weird.

Escher Museum and Babbelen. And does the Domtoren (which is a church's belltower) have toilets???

[Adrian II]

Escher Museum and Babbellen. And does the Domtoren (which is a church's belltower) have toilets???

Babbellen in The Hague? That would be Babylon, the shopping mall. Does that count as a museum these days?

[Brutus]

Babbellen in The Hague? That would be Babylon, the shopping mall. Does that count as a museum these days?

Brasserie Babbelen, Kettingstraat 1b, The Hague. I've eaten there once.