What was the wintering hut of Willem Barentsz's 1596 expedition called?

The wintering hut of Willem Barentsz's 1596 expedition was called Het Behouden Huys, meaning “The Saved House.”

Barentsz's third attempt to find a Northeast Passage became a fight for survival. His ship, the Wapen van Amsterdam, was trapped in pack ice near Novaya Zemlya, north of Russia, in September 1596. The crew could not free the vessel before winter set in.

The 16 sailors built the hut from driftwood and timber salvaged from their ship. Inside, they endured months of darkness, freezing temperatures, hunger and attacks by polar bears. They finally abandoned the ship and left Novaya Zemlya in open boats in June 1597. Barentsz died during the return journey.

The name is sometimes rendered as “Behouden Huys” or “Het Behouden Huis,” but Het Behouden Huys is the standard form associated with the expedition. It should not be confused with Fort Nassau or other Dutch trading forts, which belonged to different colonial and commercial ventures.