Tenten Treffen (NL)

It is not often in the annals of international motorcycle touring that two different rallies organized in two different European countries share the same and unique name.

This is the very particular case of the Tenten Treffen (‘tenten’ meaning ‘tent’ in Flemish and Dutch).

The late Ted Trett has painted on this website a picture of one of the two, namely that of the Belgian rally of the MTC Zedelgem (first meeting having taken place in 1980) taking place at the time on the outskirts of Bruges, on the shore of the Loppem lake, well known for having been, at the end of the 60s and beginning of the 70s, the camp of the participants of the famous Steel Horse rally of Jean Blanckaert.

His Dutch twin

The other Tenten Treffen, he comes from the Dutch country and is the eldest in terms of seniority since his very first meeting took place in 1973.

Badges of the Dutch Tenten Treffen from 1973 to 1989

This was then organized in Maashees en Overloon, a municipality in the Dutch province of North Brabant; the club organizing the event was the Motor Club ‘Keizer Karel’ from Nijmegen, founded on March 27, 1955, which gives it the pride of being among the oldest motorcycle clubs in the Netherlands.

Motor Club ‘Keizer Karel’

In Dutch, ‘Keizer Karel’ is none other than the name of Charles V, the well-known 16th century ruler who was King of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor, and Lord of the Netherlands.

Why did they choose such a name for a motorcycle club?

The answer is simple and logical. Charles V is one of the symbols of the city of Nijmegen where he stayed.

Image depicting Charles V at Nijmegen in February 1546

Originally, MC ‘Keizer Karel’ was founded on 27 March 1955, with the main aim of participating in navigation rallies.

During the mid-90s, it had around a hundred members, not only residents of Nijmegen, but also from neighbouring towns such as Deventer, Groningen and even South Limburg.

Members of MC ‘Keizer Karel’ from Nijmegen posing for the camera in 1995

After taking place 13 times in a row in Maashees en Overloon, the Tenten Treffen changed scenery by moving for two consecutive years to De Horst, before changing location once again, this time to the Wylerbaan, located between Groesbeek and Wyler.

The 40th anniversary of this rally was celebrated in 2012.

You can find two videos of this Dutch reunion of MC ‘Keizer Karel’ on YouTube. One of them, although of poor image quality, testifies to the good atmosphere that reigned at this rally in 2015:

You now know everything I know about this Dutch meeting, not to be confused with its Belgian cousin.

Let us hope that some of our readers who have had the privilege of taking part in it in the past will make the effort to bring us here on this page some additional information about it.

- Jean-Francois Helias