- For the place with the same name in Commewijne District
Commewijne is a district of Suriname, located on the right bank of the Suriname River. Commewijne's capital city is Nieuw Amsterdam. Alliance is another major town.The district has a population of 25,200 and an area of 2,353 km²....
of SurinameSuriname , officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America....
, see: Alkmaar (Suriname).
Alkmaar is a municipality and a city in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
, in the province of
Noord HollandNorth Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...
. Alkmaar is well-known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination.
The earliest mention of the name Alkmaar is in a 10th-century document. As the village grew into a town, it was granted
city rightsCity rights are a medieval phenomenon in the history of the Low Countries. A liegelord, usually a count, duke or similar member of high nobility, granted a settlement he owned certain town privileges that settlements without city rights did not have....
in 1254.
- For the place with the same name in Commewijne District
Commewijne is a district of Suriname, located on the right bank of the Suriname River. Commewijne's capital city is Nieuw Amsterdam. Alliance is another major town.The district has a population of 25,200 and an area of 2,353 km²....
of SurinameSuriname , officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America....
, see: Alkmaar (Suriname).
Alkmaar is a municipality and a city in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
, in the province of
Noord HollandNorth Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...
. Alkmaar is well-known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination.
History
The earliest mention of the name Alkmaar is in a 10th-century document. As the village grew into a town, it was granted
city rightsCity rights are a medieval phenomenon in the history of the Low Countries. A liegelord, usually a count, duke or similar member of high nobility, granted a settlement he owned certain town privileges that settlements without city rights did not have....
in 1254. The oldest part of Alkmaar lies on an ancient sand bank that afforded some protection from the sea during medieval times. Even so, it is only a couple of metres above the surrounding region, which consists of some of the oldest polders in existence.
In 1573 the city successfully withstood a
siege by Spanish forcesThe Siege of Alkmaar was a turning point in the Eighty Years' War. The burghers of the Dutch city of Alkmaar fought the Spanish with boiling tar and burning branches from their renewed city walls...
under the leadership of
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of AlbaFernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba, was a Spanish general and governor of the Spanish Netherlands , nicknamed "the Iron Duke" by the Protestants of the Low Countries because of his harsh rule and cruelty...
. It was a turning point in the Eighty Years War and gave rise to the expression
Bij Alkmaar begint de victorie ("Victory begins in Alkmaar"). The event is still celebrated every year in Alkmaar on October 8, the day the siege ended.
In 1799, during the
French revolutionary warsThe French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
, an Anglo-Russian expeditionary force captured the city but was ultimately defeated in the
Battle of CastricumThe Battle of Castricum saw a Franco-Dutch force defeat an Anglo-Russian force near Castricum, Netherlands. The battle was fought during the War of the Second Coalition against Revolutionary France between French and Dutch forces under the command of General Guillaume Brune and Herman Willem...
. The French victory was commemorated on the
Arc de TriompheThe Arc de Triomphe is a monument in Paris, France that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the "Place de l'Étoile". It is at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. The triumphal arch honors those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. On the...
in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
as "Alcmaer".
The
North Holland CanalThe Groot Noordhollandsch Kanaal , now known simply as Noordhollandsch Kanaal, is a canal in the Dutch province of North-Holland...
, opened in 1824, was dug through Alkmaar. In 1865 and 1867 the railways between Alkmaar and Den Helder and between Alkmaar and Haarlem were built respectively.
In the second half of the 20th century, Alkmaar expanded quickly with development of new neighbourhoods. On October 1, 1972, the town of Oudorp and the southern portions of Koedijk and Sint Pancras were added to the municipality of Alkmaar.
Population centres
The municipality of Alkmaar consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Alkmaar,
KoedijkKoedijk is a village in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is now a part of the municipalities of Alkmaar and Langedijk, but before 1972 it was a separate municipality. Koedijk is most famous for its annual . This gondelvaart is held every year on the 3rd Saturday in...
(partly), Overdie,
OudorpOudorp is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is located in the municipality of Alkmaar, about 2 km east of the city centre.Oudorp was a separate municipality between 1817 and 1972, when it was merged with Alkmaar.-External links:*...
and Omval.
These once separate villages are now all linked together by the suburban sprawl of buildings that arose between the late 1970s and early 1990s. During this time, the population of Alkmaar almost doubled.
Local government
The municipal council of Alkmaar consists of 37 seats, which are divided as follows:
- PvdA
The Dutch Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. Since the Dutch general election, 2003, the PvdA has been the second largest political party in the Netherlands...
- 11 seats
- OPA - 5 seats
- SP
The Socialist Party is a Dutch socialist political party. After the 2006 election, the Socialist Party became one of the major parties of the Netherlands with 25 seats of 150, an increase of 16 seats...
- 5 seats
- CDA
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a center-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. The party is currently the biggest coalition partner in the fourth Balkenende cabinet.-History before 1977:...
- 4 seats
- VVD
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a Dutch liberal political party. The VVD is the most vocal supporter of private enterprise in the Netherlands although supportive of the welfare state and is often perceived as a more economically liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal D66...
- 3 seats
- GroenLinks - 3 seats
- Leefbaar Alkmaar - 2 seats
- ChristenUnie - 1 seat
- D66
Democrats 66 is a Dutch progressive, social-liberal and radical democratic political party.- Overview :...
- 1 seat
- OMA - 1 seat
- Liberale Kracht - 1 seat
Transport
The
A9The A9 motorway is a motorway in The Netherlands. The motorway starts off by going from the A1 at Diemen to the A2 at junction 'Holendrecht'...
motorway runs from
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country...
to Alkmaar, then continues on to
Den HelderDen Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...
as the N9.
There are direct trains to
Den HelderDen Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...
,
HoornHoorn is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. It is located on the IJsselmeer, 35 kilometres north of Amsterdam, and acquired city rights in 1357. Hoorn has 68,152 inhabitants...
,
ZaandamZaandam is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811...
,
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country...
,
UtrechtUtrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern end of the Randstad, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands, with a population of 300,030 in 2007...
,
EdeEde may refer to:* Locations:** Ede, Netherlands** Ede, Nigeria** Ede, Shanghai China* People and languages** the Ede people of Vietnam** Ede languages , languages related to Yoruba spoken by a million people in Benin* Given names** Ede is a Hungarian given name which can be traced back to Edward...
,
ArnhemArnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...
,
NijmegenNijmegen is a municipality and a city in the east of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is considered to be the oldest city in the Netherlands and celebrated its 2000th year of existence in 2005.- History :...
,
's-Hertogenbosch's-Hertogenbosch — translated in French as Bois-le-Duc, in German as Herzogenbusch, in Spanish as Bolduque and in Italian as Boscoducale — is a municipality in the Netherlands, and also the capital of the province of North Brabant...
,
EindhovenEindhoven is a municipality and a city located in the province of Noord-Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, originally at the confluence of the Dommel and Gender streams...
,
MaastrichtMaastricht is a city and a municipality in the southern part of the Dutch province of Limburg, of which it is the capital. The city is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
,
HeerlenHeerlen is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands The municipality is the second largest in the province of Limburg...
,
Haarlem', in the past usually Harlem in English, is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is also the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic.Haarlem had a total population 148...
,
LeidenLeiden is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands and has 118,000 inhabitants. It forms a single urban area with Oegstgeest, Leiderdorp, Voorschoten, Valkenburg, Rijnsburg and Katwijk, with 254,000 inhabitants. It is located on the Old Rhine, close to the cities...
and
The HagueThe Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with a population of 485,818 and an area of approximately 100 km²...
. For exact details see
Alkmaar railway stationAlkmaar is a railway station which lies in Alkmaar, in the Netherlands. It is located approximately 40km northwest of Amsterdam. It is on the Amsterdam - Alkmaar - Den Helder main line, also known as the Staatslijn K. The station is operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen and is an Intercity station,...
.
Alkmaar has two stations:
-
- Alkmaar
Alkmaar is a railway station which lies in Alkmaar, in the Netherlands. It is located approximately 40km northwest of Amsterdam. It is on the Amsterdam - Alkmaar - Den Helder main line, also known as the Staatslijn K. The station is operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen and is an Intercity station,...
- Alkmaar Noord
Alkmaar Noord is a suburb railway station for East and North Alkmaar, the Netherlands.-Train Services:The following services currently call at Alkmaar Noord:!Previous!!!!Line!!!!Next-Bus Services:...
The
Noordhollandsch KanaalThe Groot Noordhollandsch Kanaal , now known simply as Noordhollandsch Kanaal, is a canal in the Dutch province of North-Holland...
canal, which opened in 1824, runs right through Alkmaar.
Tourism
Alkmaar's cheese market at the Waagplein, is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. The cheese market traditionally takes place on the first Friday in April and the last market of the season is the first Friday in September. Every Friday morning (10.00-12.30 a.m.) the Waagplein is the backdrop for this traditional cheesemarket. After the old-fashioned way of the hand clap, traders and carriers will weigh the cheeses. It is one of only four traditional
Dutch cheese marketsThere are five cheese markets operating in the Netherlands. Woerden is a fully functional modern commercial cheese market. Four, Alkmaar, Gouda, Edam, Hoorn, are reproductions of traditional merchant cheese markets as operated in the Middle Ages. These shows are today surrounded by stalls selling...
still in existence. The traditional fare of this cheese market are those cheeses made in the local area, as opposed to the well-known brands of Dutch cheeses, i.e. Edam cheese and Gouda cheese. It is not actually possible to buy cheese at the market itself, which is really only a demonstration of how this merchants' market operated in times gone by. However, the demonstration, which takes place in front of the medieval weighing house, is surrounded by many specialized stalls where it is possible to buy all kinds of cheese (and non-cheese) related products.
The Waag is home to the local tourist office and a cheese museum. Alkmaar also has two large theatres and a big cinema which was originally two cinemas.
A
red light districtRed Light District can refer to several different topics:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris...
is situated at the
AchterdamThe Achterdam is a red light district in the Dutch city of Alkmaar, 30 km North of Amsterdam. It is situated about 10 minutes walk from the Alkmaar train station. It is a 150 m long street with window-prostitution on both sides. The area has about 100 windows with rooms.Mainly Eastern-Europe women...
, and Alkmaar has a nightlife scene as well which takes place in the pubs that are in front of the cheesemarket.
Museums
- Beatles Museum - dedicated to The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
, as John LennonJohn Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English rock musician, singer-songwriter, author, and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles...
's first guitar was made in Alkmaar
- Holland Cheese Museum - located in the historic weigh house
- National Beer Museum "De Boom"
- Dutch Stove Museum
- City Museum Alkmaar - for history of the city
Sports
Alkmaar is home to the professional
footballAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
team
AZAZ, an acronym for Alkmaar Zaanstreek, is a football club from Alkmaar, the Netherlands. They are the current Dutch Eredivisie champions.- History :...
(Alkmaar Zaanstreek). In 2006, the club moved to a new 17,000 capacity stadium, the
DSB StadionDSB Stadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Alkmaar, Netherlands. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of AZ. The stadium is able to hold 17,023 people and it officially opened on 4 August 2006 with a friendly against Arsenal. AZ lost the match 3-0, with Gilberto...
.
In 2008-2009 AZ won the
EredivisieFor the Eredivisie for female football see: Eredivisie The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands.The top division consists of 18 clubs. Each club faces every other club twice during the season, once at home and once away...
, the Dutch football league, and became the Dutch champions for 2008-2009 football season.
The city also has a
velodromeA velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...
where the Dutch national
track cyclingTrack cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially-built banked tracks or velodromes using track bicycles....
championships are held every year.
Born in Alkmaar
- Willem Blaeu
Willem Janszoon Blaeu , also abbreviated to Willem Jansz. Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer, atlas maker and publisher....
(1571), cartographer (his birthplace may also have been UitgeestUitgeest is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.-Population centres :The municipality of Uitgeest consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Assum, Busch en Dam, Groot Dorregeest, Uitgeest.- Local government :The municipal council...
)
- Metius
Adriaan Adriaanszoon, called Metius, , was a Dutch geometer and astronomer. He was born in Alkmaar. The name Metius comes from the Dutch word meten , and therefore means something like "measurer" or "surveyor."-Father and brother:Metius' father, Adriaan Anthonisz, was also a mathematician,...
(1571), geometer / astronomer
- Cornelis Drebbel (1572), inventor of the first navigable submarine
- Caesar van Everdingen
Caesar van Everdingen , older brother of Allart van Everdingen, was a Dutchman mainly known as a portrait painter. Like Caesar, his brother Allart was also a painter....
(ca. 1617), painter
- Reinier Jansen (17th century), operated the first Quaker press in the United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
- Willem de Fesch
Willem de Fesch was a virtuoso Dutch violone player and composer.The pupil of Karel Rosier, who was a Vice-Kapellmeister at Bonn, Willem later married his daughter, Maria Anna Rosier....
(1687), composer
- Alfred Peet
Alfred H. Peet was a Dutch-American entrepreneur and the founder of Peet's Coffee & Tea. He is most famous for introducing custom coffee roasting to the United States.-Early life:...
(1920), founder of American coffee retailer Peet's Coffee & TeaPeet's Coffee & Tea is a specialty coffee roaster and retailer. Founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet in Berkeley, California, Peet's has a devoted following, sometimes known as the Peetniks due to their strong customer loyalty to Peet's wide range of varietals and signature blends of coffee and tea...
- Rudi Carrell
Rudi Carrell , born Rudolf Wijbrand Kesselaar, was a Dutch entertainer.He worked as a television entertainer and hosted his own show...
(1934), entertainer
- Rudi Vis
Rudolf Jan Vis , known as Rudi Vis, is a Dutch–born politician in the United Kingdom for the Labour Party. He currently sits as Member of Parliament for Finchley and Golders Green which he won in the 1997 general election....
(1941) BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
politician
- Sybilla Dekker
Sybilla Dekker is a Dutch politician....
(1942), cabinet minister
- Harm Ottenbros
Harm Ottenbros is a former Dutch road bicycle racer who raced as a professional from 1967 to 1976. Ottenbros is best remembered for capturing the gold medal and rainbow jersey at the 1969 world cycling championship road race in Zolder, Belgium...
(1943), cyclist, 1969 world champion
- Jos Punt
Mgr. dr. Jozef Marianus Punt , is the Roman Catholic bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam in the Netherlands.Punt became a priest on June 9 1979 and auxiliary bishop of Diocese of Haarlem in 1995. On July 21 2001 he was appointed bishop of Haarlem. He is assisted by an auxiliary bishop, Mgr...
(1946), bishop
- Patrick Cammaert
Major General Patrick Cammaert is a Dutch military commander who is currently serving as the United Nations Force Commander for the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was previously the Military Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations...
(1950), army general, UN peacekeeping mission commander
- Gerard Joling
Gerard Jan Joling is a Dutch singer and television presenter. Known for his high tenor voice, he rose to fame in the late 80's and released a string of singles including "Ticket to the Tropics", "Love is in your Eyes", and his biggest hit, "No more boleros", a song that reached the top 10 in...
(1960), singer
- Marco Borsato
Marco Roberto Borsato is a Dutch singer. He started performing in Italian before switching to Dutch in 1994. He is married to Leontine Ruiters and has three children.-Biography:...
(1966), singer
- Jakko Jan Leeuwangh
Jakko Jan Leeuwangh is a former speed skater from the Netherlands. He finished fourth in the 1998 Olympic 1,000 m event. The highlight of his career was riding a world record at the 1,500 meters, in 2000 in Calgary. At that time, when he was coached by Peter Mueller, Leeuwangh skated 1.45,56,...
(1972), speed skater
- Ephraim Beks (1989), singer, member of boyband Lexington Bridge
Lexington Bridge are an British - Dutch - American boyband. The group is currently composed of Rob from USA, Nye from UK, Ephraim Beks from Netherlands, Dax O'Callaghan from UK and Jerome from UK...
External links