Well before Franklin came up with his lightning rod in 1752 there had already been a good deal of electrical experimentation in the Netherlands, at universities as well as in learned societies. There was often no great distinction between the amateur and the scholar, some of whom reacted remarkably quickly when the results of Franklin's experiments became internationally known. It was not until the 1770s, however, that favourable publicity for the lightning rod began to become more widespread in the Dutch Republic, partly in works of popular science. The installation of a rod (not only in the Netherlands but elsewhere too) was often the reaction to an accident caused by a lightning strike. In the Republic, moreover, early installations tended to be the result of private initiative, on the part of both the installers and their clients. By around 1780 the lightning rod was becoming a fairly established fixture on both buildings and tall ships and installations by private individuals were starting to be more common. That was entirely in line with developments elsewhere in Europe – historiography speaks of a “tipping point” around 1780.

Early Experiments and Publications (1745-1779)

The story of the lightning rod's introduction in the Netherlands should be read as a transnational one, given that country's openness to influences from abroad and the frequent exchange of scientific ideas. As we shall see below, Dutch electrical experimenters often had close relationships with their French, English, and German counterparts. Benjamin Franklin himself visited the Dutch Republic on two occasions.

Well before Franklin had come up with his invention there had already been many experiments with electricity in the Netherlands. As Lissa Roberts's seminal article (1999) on the early history of the electrostatic generator in the Dutch Republic makes clear, static electricity had been sparking great interest at Leiden University since the 1720s, due not least to the demonstrations and courses held by the well-known physicist Willem Jacob 's Gravesande (1688-1742). Utrecht University had also acquired its first electrical machine before 1740. That there was an interest in experiments with frictional electricity in the Dutch Republic in those early days is also apparent from the translations of the works of Johann Heinrich Winkler (1703-1770), a professor at Leipzig University who, although initially appointed to teach philosophy and philology, became increasingly drawn to natural philosophy.