Abstede is a neighbourhood of the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 city of Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

.

According to the 19th century historian A.J. van der Aa, Abstede (formerly also called Abtstede or Abstade) derives its name from an abbey of Cistercian nuns

Cistercian nuns

Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order belonging to the Roman Catholic branch of the Catholic Church.-History:...

. The abbey was closed in 1227, when the nuns were moved against their will by Wilbrand van Oldenburg

Wilbrand van Oldenburg

Wilbrand van Oldenburg was a bishop of Paderborn and of Utrecht.-Family:Wilbrand was the son of Henry II, Count of Oldenburg-Wildeshausen and Beatrix of Hallermund, daughter of Wilbrand I, Count of Loccum-Hallermund. His uncle Gerhard of Oldenburg was bishop of Osnabrück from 1192 to 1216 and...

, bishop of Utrecht, to the St. Servaas Monastery, in the city, that he himself founded.

Until the end of the eighteenth century, Abstede was a separate jurisdiction, like a village. Between 1818 and 1823, Abstede was a separate municipality again. It was annexed by the city of Utrecht in 1823.