Almelo
Encyclopedia
Almelo (ˈɑlməˌloˑ) is a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
and a city in the eastern Netherlands
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...
. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp
Aadorp
Aadorp is a village on the northern side of Almelo, Netherlands with a population of about 1500; it has been part of the Almelo municipality since 2001. The villagers of Aadorp are very close, since there are so few of them. The central meeting point in Aadorp is the Aahoes, which consists of a...
, Almelo, Mariaparochie
Mariaparochie
Mariaparochie is a town in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is a part of the municipality of Tubbergen, and lies about 4 km northeast of Almelo.In 2001, the town of Mariaparochie had 281 inhabitants...
and Bornerbroek
Bornerbroek
Bornerbroek is a church village in the municipality of Almelo in Twente, the Dutch province of Overijssel. The village has approximately 1800 inhabitants. Up to the municipal reallocation of 1 January 2001, the village was part of the municipality of Borne....
.
Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle of the rolling countryside of Twente
Twente
Twente is a non-administrative region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel...
, with the industrial centres of Enschede
Enschede
Enschede , also known as Eanske in the local dialect of Twents, is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region...
and Hengelo
Hengelo
Hengelo is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the International Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service.-Traffic and transport:...
as close neighbours but also with tourist towns like Ootmarsum
Ootmarsum
Ootmarsum is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is a part of the municipality of Dinkelland, and lies about 10 km north of Oldenzaal. It received city rights in 1325....
, Delden
Delden
Delden is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel and, since 2001, in the municipality of Hof van Twente.Although its population is small, it gained city rights in 1333. Castle Twickel is a famous landmark near Delden and the Baron van Heeckeren of Twickel built a watertower in Delden...
and Markelo
Markelo
Markelo is a town in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Hof van Twente, about west of Hengelo and south-west of Almelo. The population is about 7.000....
only a bicycle ride away. Almelo received city rights
City rights in the Netherlands
City 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 1394. Within the city limits lies the castle of the Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
s of Almelo.
At the end of the 19th century textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
emerged as a major employer and drew many workers to Almelo, at first from within the Netherlands. Since the 1960s workers from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
came to Almelo. The first mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
of the Netherlands was built in Almelo in 1976 for the Turkish population of the city.
In the 1970s the industry dwindled and most factories were relocated to countries with cheaper labour. Some factories remain in the city centre and are now in use for apartments or offices.
Currently, a major employer in Almelo is Urenco Nederland
Urenco Group
The URENCO Group is a nuclear fuel company operating several uranium enrichment plants in Germany, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It supplies nuclear power stations in about 15 countries, and has a 25% share of the global market for enrichment services...
. This is a uranium enrichment plant which uses the gas centrifuge
Gas centrifuge
A gas centrifuge is a device that performs isotope separation of gases. A centrifuge relies on the principles of centripetal force accelerating molecules so that particles of different masses are physically separated in a gradient along the radius of a rotating container.A prominent use of gas...
method and produces uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
with about five percent U-235
Uranium-235
- References :* .* DOE Fundamentals handbook: Nuclear Physics and Reactor theory , .* A piece of U-235 the size of a grain of rice can produce energy equal to that contained in three tons of coal or fourteen barrels of oil. -External links:* * * one of the earliest articles on U-235 for the...
, for nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s. A bakery factory, Bolletje, PANalytical
PANalytical
PANalytical is an international scientific instrumentation supplier which develops and manufactures X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence equipment for use in research and industry. PANalytical was formerly Philips Analytical, a division of Philips, prior to its sale in 2002...
, the Twenteborg hospital and the regional court are also major employers.
Located in the city centre is Huize Almelo, a castle that in its current form dates back to 1662. There are mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
s which decorate the walls of the tunnel close to the railway station
Almelo railway station
Almelo is a railway station in Almelo, the Netherlands. The station was opened on 18 October 1865 and is on the Deventer–Almelo railway, Almelo–Salzbergen railway, Zwolle–Almelo railway and Mariënberg–Almelo railway lines...
.
The city is also known for its local association football club Heracles Almelo
Heracles Almelo
Heracles Almelo is a football club from Almelo, Netherlands.Heracles Almelo were founded on May 3, 1903 as Heracles, after the demigod son of Zeus. They changed their name on July 1, 1974 to SC Heracles '74 and finally settled on the current name in 1998. The club has won the Dutch national title...
, who plays in the Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
, the highest football league in the Netherlands.
Transportation
Almelo has 2 railway stations:- Almelo railway stationAlmelo railway stationAlmelo is a railway station in Almelo, the Netherlands. The station was opened on 18 October 1865 and is on the Deventer–Almelo railway, Almelo–Salzbergen railway, Zwolle–Almelo railway and Mariënberg–Almelo railway lines...
- Almelo de Riet railway stationAlmelo de Riet railway stationAlmelo de Riet is a railway station located in Almelo, The Netherlands. The station was opened on 3 October 1926 and is located on the Almelo-Salzbergen railway line.-Destinations:The following major destinations are possible from Almelo de Riet:...
The main station is Almelo and offers links to Hengelo
Hengelo
Hengelo is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the International Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service.-Traffic and transport:...
, Enschede
Enschede
Enschede , also known as Eanske in the local dialect of Twents, is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region...
, Amersfoort
Amersfoort
Amersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands. The city is growing quickly but has a well-preserved and protected medieval centre. Amersfoort is one of the largest railway junctions in the country, because of its location on two of the...
, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, 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...
, Gouda
Gouda
Gouda is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Gouda, which was granted city rights in 1272, is famous for its Gouda cheese, smoking pipes, and 15th-century city hall....
, Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and Zwolle
Zwolle
Zwolle is a municipality and the capital city of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands, 120 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam. Zwolle has about 120,000 citizens.-History:...
. There is also a train every 2 hours into Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
serving cities such as Osnabrück
Osnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
, Hannover and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Notable people born in Almelo
- Azra AkınAzra AkinAzra Akın is a Dutch born Turkish model and actress. She is a beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss World 2002 and Miss Turkey 2002.-Biography:...
(1981) – model and Miss World 2002 - Bert BakkerBert BakkerLambertus Jozef Bakker was a Dutch writer and publisher in the Netherlands. He wrote literary studies, two novels, poetry, and children's books. In World War II he was involved in the Dutch Resistance and assisted in the publication of Vrij Nederland...
(1958) – D66-politician - Kea Bouman (1903–1998) – female tennis player; only Dutch female tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles tournament
- Daphne Bunskoek (1973) – tv-presenter
- Arnold BrugginkArnold BrugginkArnold Jan Bruggink is a former Dutch striker and occasional midfielder.He won the Dutch Talent of the Year award in 2000 while playing for PSV Eindhoven and won three league titles and two Supercups with the club, as well as appearing in the UEFA Champions League...
(1977) – soccer player - Tom EgbersTom EgbersTom Egbers is a Dutch journalist, writer and TV presenter . He studied at the School voor de Journalistiek in Utrecht, and was employed by Studio Sport in 1984 as presenter. Between 1990 and 1992 Egbers worked for Veronica...
(1957) – tv-presenter - Herman FinkersHerman FinkersHermenegildus "Herman" Felix Victor Maria Finkers is a comedian from the Dutch region of Twente, who is well-known in the Netherlands for his friendly, dry-witted humour and his ambiguous style of storytelling. In his way of telling a story the moral should never be in the way of a good joke or pun...
(1954) – comedian - Wilfried Finkers (1957) – comedian and brother of Herman
- Cor Galis (1910–1997) – 'de stem der VPRO'
- Hendrie KrüzenHendrie KrüzenHendrik "Hendrie" Krüzen is a retired Dutch footballer who played as a left midfielder.-Club career:Krüzen made his senior debuts at only 16, with hometown's Heracles Almelo...
(1964) – football midfielder - Marcel Kuijer (1974) – tv-presenter
- Ilse de Lange (1977) – musician and singer
- Brian van LooBrian van LooBrian van Loo is a Dutch footballer who currently plays for FC Groningen. His former team is Heracles Almelo.-References:...
(1975) – soccer player (goalkeeper) - Mark LoomsMark LoomsMark Looms is a Dutch footballer who plays for Heracles Almelo. Looms made his debut in professional football in the 2000–01 season.-References:...
(1981) – soccer player - Mathieu Ten Dam (1974) – basketball player/ coach
- Wubbo OckelsWubbo OckelsProf. Dr. Wubbo Johannes Ockels is a Dutch physicist and a former ESA astronaut. In 1985 he participated in a flight on a space shuttle , making him the first Dutch citizen in space. He was not the first Dutch-born astronaut, as he is preceded by the naturalized American Lodewijk van den Berg, who...
(1946) – first Dutch astronaut - Mari Carmen Oudendijk (1968) – tv-presenter
- Fabian RoosenbrandFabian RoosenbrandFabian Roosenbrand is a Dutch darts player, who currently resides in Enschede. He is not a full-time professional player, and currently makes his living as a painter...
(1988) - darts player - Cunera van Selm (1964) – tv-presenter
- Marnix SmitMarnix SmitMarnix Smit is a Dutch footballer who currently plays for Heracles Almelo. Smit was born in Almelo and made his debut in professional football in the 1999-00 season.-References:...
(1975) – soccer player - Henk Jan Smits (1961) – manager, scout and producer
- Berdien Stenberg (1957) – musician
- Jan Tuttel (1943–2006), – Drents nature activist, columnist, publicist en tv-presenter/producer
- Michiel VeenstraMichiel VeenstraArjan Michiel Sander Veenstra is a radio-dj for the NTR on 3FM. He presents the program MetMichiel every Monday to Thursday between 19.00 and 22.00. On Friday he can be heard between 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM with Ekstra Weekend....
(1976) – radio-dj on 3FM - Eddy Zoëy (1967) – tv-presenter
Twin towns — Sister cities
Almelo is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Preston, UK Iserlohn
Iserlohn
Iserlohn is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region.-Geography:...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Denizli
Denizli
Denizli is a growing industrial city in the Southwestern part of Turkey and the eastern end of the alluvial valley formed by the river Büyük Menderes, where the plain reaches an elevation of about a hundred meters. Denizli is located in southwestern Turkey, in the country's Aegean Region.The city...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
External links
- Official Website
- AlmeloNet.nl
- "Landschap te Almelo" by Marie Vorobieff Marevna (go down to painting No. 2206), or see enlargement without description http://www.hessink.nl/Webalbum/toetanchamon/schilderijen-I/2206.jpg.
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