The Dutch basically dislike the nonessential; pretentious behavior is something to be avoided. Saving money is good, but spending money may be deemed a vice or something highly considered as ‘showing off’. ‘High Society’ may be viewed with suspect, or considered wasteful. An unspoken code of ethics and etiquette govern the behavior of the Dutch, and their cultural heritage is richly represented by art, music and involvement in international affairs.

The official language in the Netherlands is Dutch. The Frisian language is also known to be used by the government in Friesland. According to the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, several dialects of Low Saxon, in the north and east of the Netherlands, are known as regional languages. Limburgish is another regional language in the Netherlands, which is spoken in the south-eastern province of Limburg. The Netherlands is known as one of the most secular countries in Europe, with 40 percent of the Dutch non-religious, 31 percent Roman Catholic, 21 percent Protestant and 4.4 percent Muslim. The Protestant faith was once the largest religion in the Netherlands, but in the past century old Protestant churches have decreased in numbers.

The first significant Golden Age in Dutch architecture emerged in the early 17th Century, due to the large-scale boom in the economy of the cities. Many new storehouses and town halls were erected, and merchants increased their fortunes and built new houses with rich and ornamented façades as a symbol of their status. Many new transport and defense canals were constructed in various cities. The landscape was also enriched with new country houses, although on a smaller scale. Famous architects of the period include Lieven de Key, Jacob van Campen and Hendrik de Keyser. Dutch architects of the 20th Century have played a major part in the development of the country’s modern architecture. The Rationalist architecture of Berlage, of Beurs van Berlage, gave rise to three separate groups in the 1920s. Each group strove to direct modern architecture down their own path. The Expressionist architects included M. de Klerk; the Functionalist architects included Mart Stam, Johannes Duiker and L.C. van der Vlugt; and the De Stijl movement was represented by Gerrit Rietveld and J.J.P Oud. In the 1950s and 60s, a new Forum Generation of architects appeared, which included J.B.Bakema, Aldo van Eyck and Herman Hertzberger. From the 1980s onward, Rem Koolhaas, and his Office for Metropolitan Architecture, became one of the leading architects in the world. Koolhaas gave rise to a whole new generation of Dutch architects, creating works in the Modernist tradition.