Time in the Netherlands

[2] But they could not function at night or if the sky was cloudy, in which case other methods such as the clepsydra were used, which measured time by the regulated flow of water into or out from a vessel.

[2][3][4] In the mid-19th century, the need for a standard time zone across the country began to be realised with the advent of the railway, which would follow precise timetables – sailing ships and stage-coaches could not – and with the telegraph, which allowed near real-time communication.

The latter decision came as to convenience shipping between the Netherlands and the rest of continental Europe, where the bordering countries observed CET.

[2] On 1 May 1909, a government decree stipulated that the entirety of the Netherlands (including the Dutch railways) would be required by law to observe Amsterdam Time.

[7] The government found the results pleasing, and formally implemented daylight saving time into law on 23 March 1918.

Between 1926 and 1939, daylight saving time began on 15 May – one week later if it fell on Whitsun – at 02:00, and ended at 03:00 at Sunday in the first weekend of October.

The Netherlands has retained UTC+01:00 ever since, today known as Central European Time (CET; Dutch: Midden-Europese Tijd (MET)).