One camper, one family and never a fixed route. We drive criss-cross through Europe — from fjord to mountain pass to a dirt road that seems to lead nowhere.
Most people read snow and frost into this name. That is exactly the wrong turn.
hinterdetwinter is Gronings (Grunnegs) for criss-cross: in all directions, here and there, all mixed up. The word has nothing to do with winter and is used in Gronings for things that lie or move in every direction. Our camper is named after it because we travel criss-cross through Europe.
Criss-cross: in all directions, here and there, jumbled up. An adverb that still turns up in Gronings stories, poems and songs.
Nothing to do with winter, cold or the season. Even though it reads like “behind the winter”, that is a false friend — the word comes from somewhere else entirely.
Recorded in the Gronings dictionary of WoordWaark (University of Groningen and Erfgoed Groningen), with entries from S.J.H. Reker and K. ter Laan.
Gronings has more ways to say that something goes in every direction. Anyone who finds achter detwinter a mouthful can also say alterkwalter, halterkwalter, koeskas or taalterkwaalter. All five mean criss-cross.
Every time someone asks where we are going, the answer is the same: not sure yet. A handful of the places the camper ended up.
Western Norway · Fjord · low mist
The clouds hung so low that the mountains only showed themselves briefly in the morning. We stayed put until they came back.
Fjord road · Wild spot · fjord
No sign, no fee, no neighbours. Just grass, water and a mountain wall that seemed to rise straight out of the sea.
Far north · En route · north
A day when the sky looked like a lid on the valley. Beautiful in a way that is hard to explain.
Mountain pass · Mountain pass · 900 m
There was still snow from the previous winter up on the pass. The camper finally got to see the cold that its name does not mean.
Bay at sunrise · Coast · sunrise
The alarm was set early because the light was worth it. Then we slept three more hours in the same spot.
Pine forest · Forest · clearing
A clearing just big enough. At night we heard only the wind, and now and then something we could not place.
Do you know the word, does it ring a bell, or do you have a better name for a camper? Leave a message. No account needed.
We hebben jullie gespot bij Sölden! Groet uit Friesland.
Ich kochte das bekennen ein wenig kurzem hier uit. Mooi uutlegd, en leuk dat jullie camper zo heet.
Mien opa zee dat aal dingen goed kwam as je het mar hinterdetwinter aanpakte. Mooie naam voor een camper!
Your message is read by hand before it goes online.
If you come across the camper somewhere, report it here. Together these reports make a map of encounters we could never have planned.
Tell us where and when you saw the camper. A photo can be emailed separately.
The questions we get most often about the name, answered as the dictionaries have it.
hinterdetwinter is Gronings for criss-cross: in all directions, here and there, all mixed up. It is an adverb and has nothing to do with winter or cold.
No. It looks German — “behind the winter” would be hinter dem Winter in German — but the word is Gronings, from the province of Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. Gronings is a Low Saxon regional language.
Literally it reads that way, but that is coincidence. The meaning is criss-cross. The word describes things that lie, walk or blow in every direction.
In WoordWaark, the Gronings dictionary and corpus project of the University of Groningen and Erfgoed Groningen. It lists hinterdetwinter with the meaning criss-cross, citing the dictionaries of S.J.H. Reker and K. ter Laan.
Because we never drive a fixed route. We set off with a direction and end up somewhere else. Criss-cross, in other words — hinterdetwinter.
Yes: alterkwalter, halterkwalter, koeskas and taalterkwaalter all mean the same thing as hinterdetwinter in Gronings, namely criss-cross.
Please do. This page has an “I spotted you” register. Fill in where and when you saw the camper and it will be added to the list.
We travel in a Bürstner camper with the name hinterdetwinter on the back. The name is a tribute to Gronings, the regional language of the north of the Netherlands where we come from.
On this site we explain what the word means, keep track of where we have been, and collect the places where others have seen us. There is no plan behind the route — that is the whole point.