Haarlem
Encyclopedia
Haarlem (ˈɦaːrlɛm) is a municipality
and a city
in the Netherlands
. It is 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 lies in the northern part of the Randstad
, one of the largest metropolitan area
s in Europe.
By the end of 2010 Haarlem had a total population of 150,611. The municipality of Haarlem also comprises part of the village
of Spaarndam
, a newer housing estate of this village forms part of the neighboring municipality of Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude
.
Spaarne
, about 20 km west of Amsterdam
and near the coastal dunes
. It has been the historical center of the tulip
bulb-growing district for centuries and bears the nickname 'Bloemenstad' (flower city), for this reason.
known as the strandwal (beach ridge
), which connects Leiden to Alkmaar
. The people on this narrow strip of land struggled against the waters of the North Sea
from the west, and the waters of the IJ
and the Haarlem Lake from the east. Haarlem was able to become wealthy with toll revenues that it collected from ships and travellers moving on this busy North-South route. However, as shipping became increasingly important economically, the city of Amsterdam
became the main Dutch city of North Holland
during the Dutch Golden Age
. The town of Halfweg became a suburb
, and Haarlem became a quiet bedroom community, and for this reason, Haarlem still has many of its central medieval buildings intact. Today many of them are on the Dutch Heritage register known as Rijksmonument
s. The list of Rijksmonuments in Haarlem gives an overview of these per neighborhood, with the majority in the old city center.
The oldest mentioning of Haarlem dates from the 10th century. The name comes from "Haarlo-heim" or "Harulahem", which means 'place, on sand covered with trees, higher than the others'. There was a stream called "De Beek", dug from the peat grounds west of the river Spaarne as a drainage canal. Over the centuries the Beek was turned into an underground canal, as the city grew larger and the space was needed for construction. Over time it began to silt up and in the 19th century it was filled in. The location of the village was a good one: by the river Spaarne, and by a major road going south to north. By the 12th century it was a fortified town, and Haarlem became the residence of the Counts of Holland
.
In 1219 the knights of Haarlem were laurelled by Count Willem I, because they had conquered the Egyptian port of Damietta
(or Damiate in Dutch, present-day Dimyat) in the 5th crusade. Haarlem received the right to bear the Count's sword and cross in its coat of arms
. On 23 November 1245 Count Willem II granted Haarlem city rights
. This implied a number of privileges, among which the right for the sheriff
and magistrate
s to administer justice, instead of the Count. This allowed for a quicker and more efficient judiciary system, more suited to the needs of the growing city.
After a siege from the surrounding area of Kennemerland
in 1270 a defensive wall was built around the city. Most likely this was an earthen wall, with wooden gates. Originally the city started out between Spaarne, Oudegracht, Ridderstraat, Bakenessergracht and Naussaustraat. In the 14th century the city expanded, and the Burgwalbuurt, Bakenes and the area around the Oudegracht became part of the city. The old defenses proved not to be sufficiently strong for the expanded city, and at the end of the 14th century a 16½-metre high wall was built, complete with a 15-metre wide canal circling the city.
In 1304 the Flemish threatened the city, but they were defeated by Witte van Haemstede
at Manpad.
All the city's buildings were made of wood, and fire was a great risk. In 1328 nearly the whole city burnt down. The Sint-Bavokerk
was severely damaged, and rebuilding it would take more than 150 years. Again on 12 June 1347 there was a fire in the city. A third large fire, in 1351, destroyed many buildings including the Count's castle and the city hall. The Count did not need a castle in Haarlem because his castle
in Den Haag had taken over all functions. The Count donated the ground to the city and later a new city hall
was built there. The shape of the old city was square—this was inspired by the shape of ancient Jerusalem. After every fire the city was rebuilt quickly, an indication of the wealth of the city in those years.
The Black Death
came to the city in 1381. According to an estimate by a priest from Leiden the disease killed 5,000 people, about half the population at that time.
In the 14th century Haarlem was a major city. It was the second largest city in historical Holland after Dordrecht
and before Delft
, Leiden, Amsterdam
, Gouda
and Rotterdam
. In 1429 the city gained the right to collect tolls, including ships passing the city on the Spaarne river. At the end of the Middle Ages
Haarlem was a flourishing city with a large textile industry, shipyards and beer breweries.
Around 1428 the city was put under siege by the army of Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut
. Haarlem had taken side with the Cods in the Hook and Cod wars
, and thus against Jacoba of Bavaria. The entire Haarlemmerhout
wood was burnt down by the enemy.
When the city of Brielle
was conquered by the Geuzen
revolutionary army, the municipality of Haarlem started supporting the Geuzen. King Philip II of Spain
was not pleased, and sent an army north under the command of Don Fadrique (Don Frederick in Dutch), son of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba
. On 17 November 1572 all citizens of the city of Zutphen were killed by the Spanish army, and on 1 December the city of Naarden suffered the same fate.
On 11 December 1572 the Spanish army put Haarlem under siege. The city's defenses were commanded by city-governor Wigbolt Ripperda
. Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer
, a very powerful woman, helped defend the city.
During the first two months of the siege, the situation was in balance. The Spanish army was digging tunnels to reach the city walls and blow them up. The defenders dug tunnels to blow up the Spanish tunnels. The situation became worse for Haarlem on 29 March 1573. The Amsterdam
army, faithful to the Spanish king, controlled Haarlemmermeer
lake, effectively blocking Haarlem from the outside world. Hunger in the city grew, and the situation became so tense that on 27 May many (Spanish-loyal) prisoners were taken from the prison and murdered.
Two city gates, the Kruispoort and the Janspoort collapsed during the fighting.
In the beginning of July the Prince of Orange
assembled an army of 5,000 soldiers near Leiden to free Haarlem. The Spanish trapped them at the Manpad and defeated the army. After seven months the city surrendered on 13 July 1573. Many soldiers of the army that defended the city were slaughtered; many of them were drowned in the Spaarne
river. Governor Ripperda and his lieutenant were beheaded
. The citizens were allowed to buy freedom for themselves and the city for 240,000 guilders and the city was required to host a Spanish garrison
. Don Fadrique thanked God for his victory in the Sint-Bavo Church
.
as a guarding place. When they were warming themselves at a fire it got out of control. The fire was spotted by farmers, who sailed their ships on the river. However, the soldiers turned down all help, saying that they would put out the fire themselves. This failed, and the fire destroyed almost 500 buildings, among them St-Gangolf's church and St-Elisabeth's hospital. Most of the mercenaries were later arrested, and one of them was hanged on the Grote Markt in front of a large audience. Maps from that era clearly show the damage done by the fire: a wide strip through the city was destroyed.
The combined result of the siege and the fire was that about a third of the city was destroyed.
The fire and the long siege had taken their toll on the city. The Spanish
left in 1577 and under the Agreement of Veere
, Protestants and Catholics were given equal rights, though in government the Protestants clearly had the upper hand and Catholic possessions once seized were never returned. To restore the economy and attract workers for the brewing and bleaching businesses (Haarlem was known for these, thanks to the clean water from the dunes), the Haarlem council decided to promote the pursuit of arts and history, showing tolerance for diversity among religious beliefs. This attracted a large influx of Flemish
and French
immigrants (Catholics and Hugenots alike) who were fleeing the Spanish occupation of their own cities. Expansion plans soon replaced plans of rebuilding the destroyed city walls. Just like the rest of the country, the Golden Age
in the United Provinces
had started.
and silk
manufacture and trading, and the city's population grew from 18,000 in 1573 to around 40,000 in 1622. At one point, in 1621, over 50% of the population was Flemish-born. Haarlem's linen became notable and the city flourished. Today an impression of some of those original textile tradesmen can be had from the Book of Trades document created by Jan Luyken
and his son.
In 1632 a tow canal between Haarlem and Amsterdam
, the Haarlemmertrekvaart
was opened, the first tow canal in the country. The empty areas in the city that were a result of the fire of 1576 were filled with new houses and buildings. Even outside the city wall buildings were constructed—in 1643 about 400 houses were counted outside the wall. Having buildings outside the city walls was not a desirable situation to the city administration. Not only because these buildings would be vulnerable in case of an attack on the city, but there was also less control over taxes and city regulations outside the walls. Therefore a major project was initiated in 1671: expanding the city northwards. Two new canals were dug, and a new defensive wall was constructed (the current Staten en Prinsenbolwerk). Two old city gates, the Janspoort and Kruispoort, were demolished. The idea that a city had to be square-shaped was abandoned.
After the fall of Antwerp, many artists and craftsmen migrated to Haarlem and received commissions from the Haarlem council to decorate the city hall. The paintings commissioned were meant to show Haarlem's glorious history as well as Haarlem's glorious products. Haarlem's cultural life prospered, with painters like Frans Hals
and Jacob van Ruisdael, the architect Lieven de Key
and Jan Steen
who made many paintings in Haarlem. The Haarlem councilmen became quite creative in their propaganda promoting their city. On the Grote Markt, the central market square, there's a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster
who is allegedly the inventor of the printing press
. This is actually the second and larger statue to him on the square, the original stands behind the city hall in the little garden known as the Hortus (where today the Stedelijk Gymnasium
school is located).
Most scholars agree that the scarce evidence seems to point to Johann Gutenberg as the first European inventor of the printing press, but Haarlem children were taught about Lau as he is known, well into the 20th century. This legend served the printers of Haarlem well, however, and it is probably for that reason the most notable Dutch history books from the Dutch Golden Age period were published in Haarlem; by Hadrianus Junius
(Batavia), Dirck Volkertszoon Coornhert (Works), Karel van Mander (Schilderboeck), Samuel Ampzing
(Description and Ode to Haarlem), Petrus Scriverius
(Batavia Illustrata), and Pieter Christiaenszoon Bor (Origin of the Dutch wars).
Beer brewing was a very important industry in Haarlem. Until the 16th century the water for the beer was taken from the canals in the city. These were, through the Spaarne and the IJ, connected to seawater. However, the water in the canals was getting more and more polluted, and no longer suitable for brewing beer. A place 1.5 kilometers south-west of the city was then used to take fresh water in. However, the quality of that water was not good enough either. From the 17th century a canal (Santvaert) was used to transport water from the dunes to the city. The water was transported in barrels on ships. The location where the water was taken is called the Brouwerskolkje, and the canal to there still exists, and is now called the Brewers' Canal (Brouwersvaart).
Haarlem was a major beer producer in the Netherlands. The majority of the beer it produced was consumed in Noord-Holland
. During the Spanish siege there were about 50 brewing companies in the city; while 45 years later in 1620 the city numbered about one hundred breweries.
There was another epidemic of the Black Death
in 1657, which took a heavy toll in the 6 months it ravaged the city.
From the end of the 17th century the economic situation in the city turned sour, for a long time. In 1752 there were only seven beer breweries left, and in 1820 no breweries were registered in the city anymore. In the 1990s the Stichting Haarlems Biergenootschap revived some of the old recipes under the new Jopen beer brand, that is marketed as a "Haarlem bier". In 2010 Jopen opened a brewery in a former church in central Haarlem called the Jopenkerk.
, when outrageous prices were paid for tulip
bulbs. From the time that the Leiden-Haarlem canal Leidsevaart
was opened in 1656, it became popular to travel from Rotterdam
to Amsterdam
by passenger boat rather than by coach. The canals were dug for passenger service only, and were comfortable though slow. The towpath
led these passengers through the bulb fields south of Haarlem. Haarlem was an important stopover for passengers from the last half of the 17th century and through the 18th century until the building of the first rail tracks along the routes of former passenger canal systems. As Haarlem slowly expanded southwards, so did the bulb fields, and even today rail travelers between Rotterdam and Amsterdam will see beautifully blooming bulb fields on the stretch between Leiden and Haarlem in Spring.
connection between Amsterdam and Haarlem, many people had a business address in Amsterdam and a weekend or summer home in Haarlem. Haarlem became more and more a bedroom community as the increasingly dense population of Amsterdam caused the canals to smell in the summer. Many well-to-do gentlemen moved their families to summer homes in the Spring and commuted between addresses. Popular places for summer homes were along the Spaarne in southern Haarlem. Pieter Teyler van der Hulst
and Henry Hope
built summer homes there, as well as many Amsterdam merchants and councilmen. Today, it is still possible to travel by boat along the Spaarne and this has turned into a popular form of tourism in the summer months.
In the 18th century Haarlem became the seat of a suffragan diocese
of the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht
.
At the end of the 18th century a number of anti-Orange commissions were founded.
On 18 January 1795 the "Staatse" army was defeated near Woerden
. During the night preceding the 19th, the same night that stadtholder William V of Orange fled the country, the various commissions gathered and implemented a revolution. The commissions changed the city's administrators in a bloodless revolution, and the next morning the city was 'liberated' of the tyranny of the House of Orange. The revolution was peaceful and the Orange-loyal people were not harmed. The Batavian Republic
was then proclaimed.
The French army entered the liberated city two days later, on the 20 January. An army of 1,500 soldiers was provided with food and clothing by the citizens. The new national government was strongly centralized, and the role and influence of the cities was reduced.
The Batavian Republic had signed a mutual defense pact with France, and was thus automatically at war with England. The strong English presence at sea severely reduced the trading opportunities, and the Dutch economy suffered accordingly.
based on steam engines already in use in England, dealt a striking blow to Haarlem's industry. In 1815 the city's population was about 17,000 people, a large percentage of whom were poor. The foundation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
in that year gave hope to many, who believed that under a new government the economy would pick up, and that export-oriented economic activities such as the textile industry would recover.
In the beginning of the 19th century the defense walls had lost their function, and architect Zocher Jr. planned a park on the location of the former defense line. The city walls and gates were demolished and the bricks were reused for construction of workers homes and factories. Haarlem became the provincial capital of Noord-Holland province
in the early 19th century. In the mid 19th century the city's economy slowly started to improve. New factories were opened, and a number of large industrial companies were founded in Haarlem by Thomas Wilson, Guillaume Jean Poelman, J.B.T. Prévinaire, J.J. Beijnes
, Hendrik Figee
, Gerardus Johannes Droste and G.P.J. Beccari.
(NHM or Dutch Trade Company) was founded by King Willem I to create employment opportunities. As one of the cities in the western part of the Netherlands with the worst economical situation, three cotton mills were created in Haarlem under the NHM-program in the 1830s. These were run by experts from the Southern Netherlands, whom the NHM considered better at mechanical weaving through the local expertise of Lieven Bauwens
. The lucky contract winners were Thomas Wilson, whose factory was situated north of what is today the Wilsonplein, Guillaume Jean Poelman, who was in business with his nephew Charles Vervaecke from Ghent
and had a factory on what today is the Phoenixstraat, and Jean Baptiste Theodore Prévinaire, who had a factory on the Garenkokerskade and whose son Marie Prosper Theodore Prévinaire created the Haarlemsche Katoenmaatschappij in 1875.
These cotton factories produced goods for export, and because the Dutch government levied heavy taxes on foreign cotton producers this was a profitable business for the NHM-factories, especially for export to the Dutch East Indies
. The programme started in the 1830s, and was initially successful, but after 1839 when Belgium
was split away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the protectionist measures for the Dutch East Indian market were removed and the business began to flounder. When the American Civil War
reduced the import of raw cotton significantly after 1863, the business went sour. Only Previnaire was able to survive through specialization with his "Turkish Red" dye. The Previnaire "toile Adrinople" was popular. Previnaire's son went on to create the Haarlemsche Katoenmaatschappij, which made a kind of imitation batik
cloth called "La Javanaise" that became popular in Belgian Congo
.
In 1804 Richard Trevithick
designed the first locomotive. The government of the Netherlands was relatively slow to catch up, even though the King feared competition from newly established Belgium
if they would construct a train track between Antwerp and other cities. Dutch parliament balked at the high level of investment needed, but a group of private investors started the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij
on 1 June 1836. It took three years to build the first track, between Haarlem and Amsterdam
along the old tow canal called the Haarlemmertrekvaart
. The ground there was wet and muddy. On 20 September 1839 the first train
service in the Netherlands started. The train had a speed of about 40 kilometers per hour. The train service gave the Beijnes
company, and indirectly the whole economy of Haarlem, a strong boost, and the effects of this can be seen in the Haarlem railway station, now a rijksmonument. Instead of more than 2 hours, Amsterdam was now only 30 minutes away. The old passenger service by trekschuit
along the Haarlemmertrekvaart was quickly taken out of service in favor of the train service which was quicker and more reliable. In 1878 a Beijnes-made horse tram started servicing passengers from the railway station to the Haarlemmerhout
woodland park, and in 1894 the Eerste Nederlandsche Electrische Tram Maatschappij (ENET) was founded with cars built by Beijnes and became the first Dutch electric tram
, which ran in Haarlem from 1899 onwards.
or the North Sea Canal
. Pleasure boating in the summer has become an important Haarlem tourist attraction, though it is not possible to travel all of the old canals as in Amsterdam. The creation of new land in the Haarlemmermeer
from 1852 onwards, meant that the city could no longer refresh the water in its canals using the Spaarne river. The increase in industry made the water quality even worse, and in 1859 the Oude Gracht, a city canal, stank so badly in the summer, that it was filled in to create a new street called the Gedempte Oude Gracht.
was incorporated in 1884 because the council of Haarlem wanted to have the hospital (Het Dolhuys
) inside the municipal borders. This hospital was situated at "het bolwerk" on Schoten's territory.
In the beginning of the 20th century the city expanded north. As early as 1905 an official plan was presented by the Haarlem municipality for expansion. However, the surrounding municipalities did not agree, and it would take 25 years to come to an agreement. On 1 May 1927 the municipality of Schoten became part of Haarlem, as well as part of Spaarndam, Bloemendaal and Heemstede. The population increased at once with 31,184 citizens.
In 1908, a renewed railway station
was opened. The station was elevated, so traffic in the city was no longer hampered by railway crossings. In 1911, Anthony Fokker
showed his plane, de Spin
to the audience in Haarlem by flying around the Sint-Bavokerk on Queen's Day.
Later the expansion of the city went southwards (Schalkwijk) and eastwards (Waarderpolder). In 1932, Vroom & Dreesmann
, a Dutch retailer built a department store at Verwulft. Many buildings were demolished, except one small chemist's shop on the corner, "Van der Pigge", who refused to be bought out and which is now encapsulated by the V&D building.
, the Dutch heroine Hannie Schaft
worked for a Dutch resistance group; she was captured by the Germans and executed just before the end of the war in 1945. Despite her efforts and those of her colleagues and private families such as the Ten Booms
, most Haarlem Jews were deported, the Haarlem Synagogue was demolished and the Jewish hospital was annexed by the St. Elisabeth Gasthuis. Several Haarlem families, whether they were politically active in the NSB
or not, suffered from random attacks, as the Haarlem writer Harry Mulisch
described in his book De Aanslag. Haarlemmers survived during the Hunger Winter by eating tulip bulbs stored in sheds in the sandy fields around the city.
From 17 September to 21 September 1944, parts of Haarlem-Noord (north of the Jan Gijzenvaart) were evacuated by the Germans to make place for a defensive line. The stadium of HFC Haarlem
, the soccer club, was demolished. Hundreds of people had to leave their houses and were forced to stay with other citizens, who did not welcome them with open arms, since many were already starving.
From 22 September there was gas available only two hours per day. Electricity stopped on 9 October. The German occupiers built a thick, black wall through the Haarlemmerhout (in the south of the city), as well as at the Jan Gijzenvaart in the evacuated area. The wall was called Mauer-muur and was meant to help defend the city.
In 1944 the family of Corrie ten Boom
was arrested by the Nazis; they had been hiding Jews and Dutch resistance workers from the German occupier throughout the war.
. The center of industry and shipping had definitely shifted towards Amsterdam. Though the population had been decimated from starvation, a new wave of immigrants came to the city from the former colonies in Indonesia. This brought some government funding for building projects. In 1963 a large number of houses was built in Schalkwijk.
Haarlem has had a Christian parish church since the 9th century. This first church was a "daughter church" of Velsen
, which itself was founded in 695 by St. Willibrord. It was a wooden church at the site of the current Grote Kerk on the Grote Markt (central market square). Haarlem was granted its first known indulgence
by Clement V in 1309, during the Avignon Papacy
. In 1345 Haarlem received city rights as a result of population growth and the church was expanded. Later, after the fires of 1347 and 1351, Haarlem was again granted a Portiuncula indulgence in 1397 for funding to rebuild the church. This indulgence would be used again and again over the centuries to fund expansion and restoration activities.
Having been granted papal rights from Avignon was perhaps the reason that the ties to Rome were never very strong in Haarlem, since the building most commonly called the Cathedral in the center of town only held a cathedra
for 19 years, from 1559 to 1578. This Grote Kerk or Sint-Bavokerk
was originally a parish church devoted to Maria, but was later named after the patron saint
of Haarlem, Saint Bavo
, who descended from Heaven regularly to free the Haarlemmers from invaders, most recently when the Kennemers and West-Friesians attacked in 1274. This is allegedly how the Haarlem war cry "Sint Bavo voor Haarlem" originated, which was used during the siege against the Spaniards in 1572 that eventually resulted in an underground cathedra called the Sint Josephstatie, on the Goudsmitsplein.
Officially, the church in the center of town is called the Grote Kerk, since it is Dutch Reformed and they do not believe in patron saints. Nearly everyone in Haarlem refers to it as the Sint Bavo, however. This makes it quite confusing for tourists, because Haarlem also has another Cathedral of Saint Bavo
, situated on the Leidsevaart. This duality began with the Reformation troubles of 1566.
The Roman Catholic parish
of Haarlem became a Diocese in 1559 (Dioecesis Harlemensis) and the first bishop of Haarlem was Nicolaas van Nieuwland
(born in 1510). He accepted the position on 6 November 1561. In 1569 he was advised to resign by the Duke of Alva, because of his reputation for drinking (Dronken Klaasje). He had a good reason to drown his sorrows, because he feared the Catholic Spanish invaders as much as the native Dutch reformers. The Grote Kerk was initially spared from iconoclasm
, because the city's mayor ordered the closing of the church for several months in 1566. That gave the various groups in Haarlem the time to quietly remove many of the treasures from the church and stash them safely in underground chapels. All symbols and statues linked to the Roman Catholic faith were removed from the cathedral. Since many groups already had their own chapels in the Grote Kerk, this was conducted in an orderly way. However, after the siege of Haarlem
was lost, the Spanish army restored Roman Catholic iconography
. The guilds had to restore their old altars, at great expense. Since Haarlem was quite poor after the siege, this led to many of the chapels and other Catholic churches being abandoned and used for other purposes. The Bakenesserkerk, where 1500 soldiers were held before being killed by the Spanish after their victory, was used to store turf for fifty years.
Van Nieuwland was succeeded by Godfried van Mierlo
, who would be the last bishop in communion with Rome Haarlem would know for 300 years. In 1578 after the Spanish were defeated, the church was attacked on Sacrament day (29 May), this time by soldiers of the Prince of Orange
. One of the priests was killed, and many objects in the church were destroyed. This event, called the Haarlemse Noon, forced the bishop to flee the city. Fortunately, many treasures were still safe 500 yards away in the underground Catholic church. The city council confiscated the Sint Bavo Kerk and all of its daughter churches, and later converted them along the tenants of the Evangelical Reformed Church. The new (and current) name became Grote Kerk. Old Catholics and the Lutherans, though officially tolerated, went underground. Both Protestants and Catholics alike felt that when all political unrest had subsided, the Catholics could regain control of "their" church. However, the Dutch Protestants had also removed all Catholics from local government and feared that they would have to pay damages to the Catholics if they were allowed their own churches again. All over the Netherlands, new Catholic churches were subsidized, called Waterboard churches, for their similarity to Waterboard pump stations (they were designed by the same architect in Neo-classical
style), and in Haarlem they built the St. Joseph kerk in the Jansstraat in 1841. It was not until 1853 that a new Roman Catholic bishop was installed in the St. Joseph kerk. As this church grew, a new cathedral, again called the Cathedral of Saint Bavo
, was built at the Leidsevaart (canal to Leiden) in 1898. The Bishop of Haarlem has a formal residence on the Nieuwe Gracht canal.
There is also an Old Catholic bishop of Haarlem.
The Frans Hals Museum
, which was the Haarlem municipal museum, has still in its collection today many pieces confiscated from the churches during the Haarlemse Noon.
s in Haarlem. The Teylers Museum
lies on the Spaarne river and is the oldest museum of the Netherlands. Its main subjects are art
, science
and natural history
, and it owns a number of works by Michelangelo
and Rembrandt. Another museum is the Frans Hals Museum
of fine arts, with its main location housing Dutch master paintings, and its exhibition halls on the Grote Markt housing a gallery for modern art called De Hallen
. Also on the Grote Markt, in the cellar of the Vleeshal
is the Archeologisch Museum Haarlem
, while across the square on Saturdays, the Hoofdwacht building is open with exhibitions on Haarlem history.
Other museums are Het Dolhuys
(a museum of psychiatry
), the Ten Boom Museum
(a hiding place for Jews
in World War II
) and the Historisch Museum Haarlem
, across from the Frans Hals Museum.
The city contains several theatre
s, cinemas and other cultural attractions (apart from the museums). The Philharmonie is a concert hall in the centre of the city near the Grote Markt. Next to it is the Toneelschuur
theatre, which also has some movie theatres (often referred to as the Filmschuur). The Stadsschouwburg on the Wilsonsplein reopened in 2008 after a major renovation and can seat 698.
There are two more cinemas in Haarlem. Cinema Palace was established in 1915 and is one of the oldest cinemas in the Netherlands. The other is the Brinkmann cinema, located on the Grote Markt.
The Patronaat
is a pop music
hall, one of the largest in the Netherlands of its kind. It is a popular night spot among many of the city's residents and others.
(flower parade) takes place. Floats
decorated with flowers drive from Noordwijk
to Haarlem, where they are exhibited for one day. In the same month there is also a funfair
organized on the Grote Markt and the Zaanenlaan in Haarlem-Noord.
Bevrijdingspop is a music festival
to celebrate the Dutch liberation
from the Nazis after World War II. It is held every year on 5 May, the day that the Netherlands were liberated in 1945, at the Haarlemmerhout
. At the same location, the Haarlemmerhoutfestival is also held every year, which is a music and theatre
festival.
Other yearly events on the Grote Markt are "Haarlem Jazzstad" (a jazz
festival), "Haarlem Culinair" (a culinary event) and the "Haarlemse Stripdagen" (Haarlem comic days).
There are several amateur association football clubs. Haarlem also had a professional football club, HFC Haarlem
, which went bankrupt in January 2010. Another Haarlem based football club still in existence is Koninklijke HFC
(Royal Haarlemsche Football Club). It was founded by Pim Mulier
in 1879 as the first football club in the Netherlands, making it the oldest club in Dutch history.
Tennis
club HLTC Haarlem, founded in 1884, and judo
association Kenamju, founded in 1948, are also the oldest Dutch clubs in their sports.
Haarlem is known for hosting several international sports tournaments as well: the Haarlemse Honkbalweek (Haarlem Baseball Week), a baseball
event held every two years at the Pim Mulier Stadium (named after Pim Mulier
), and the Haarlem Basketball Classic, a basketball
event.
The first international bandy
match was played between Haarlem and Bury Fen Bandy Club.
Since the 18th century, Haarlem has historically had more museums per inhabitant than any other city of the Netherlands. It also has the highest number of defunct museums per inhabitant.
(Dutch Railways). From Haarlem railway station there are 6 trains an hour to Amsterdam, with a journey time of 15 to 20 minutes, 6 trains an hour to Leiden
and The Hague (two stations), and 2 trains an hour to Zandvoort aan Zee. On the east of Haarlem, there is Haarlem Spaarnwoude
, which has 2 trains per hour to Amsterdam.
The city is also served by several bus lines of Connexxion
. These buses traverse a large region around Haarlem, including Amsterdam
. There is a special bus rapid transit
too, called the Zuidtangent
which is operated by Connexxion. This bus goes from Haarlem to Amsterdam via Schiphol Airport.
Jopen Koyt and Jopen Adriaan are based on old recipes from 1402 and 1407 respectively. Jopen Adriaan is named after the windmill
that re-opened in 2002. Jopenbier also features a bock beer
and a light beer ("spring beer"). Jopenbier is now generally available again, mainly in the Haarlem area. Initially the beers were brewed at brewery De Halve Maan in Hulst
but now they are brewed at De Koningshoeven, the brewery of La Trappe
, in Tilburg
. A local chess-club is called "De Haarlemse Jopen".
, the Director-General
of the Dutch colony of Nieuw Nederland (New Netherland
), founded the settlement of Nieuw Haarlem in the northern part of Manhattan Island as an outpost of Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam
) at the southern tip of the island. After the English
capture of New Netherland in 1664, the new English colonial administration renamed both the colony and its principal city "New York," but left the name of Haarlem more or less unchanged. The spelling changed to Harlem
in keeping with contemporary English usage, and the district grew (as part of the borough of Manhattan
) into the vibrant center of African American
culture in New York City
and the United States
generally by the 20th century.
, Germany
, since 1961 Angers
, France
, since 1964 Derby
, United Kingdom
(friendship link) Mutare
, Zimbabwe
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
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in the 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...
. It is the capital
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
of the province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
of North Holland
North Holland
North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-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:...
, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. Haarlem lies in the northern part of the Randstad
Randstad
Image:Randstad_with_scale.png|400px|thumb|right|Clickable schematic map of the Randstadcircle 528 380 26 Schipholrect 426 356 498 436 Haarlemmermeerrect 399 166 479 245 Velsencircle 250 716 32 Delftcircle 220 642 60 The Hague...
, one of the largest metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
s in Europe.
By the end of 2010 Haarlem had a total population of 150,611. The municipality of Haarlem also comprises part of the village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Spaarndam
Spaarndam
Spaarndam is a small village in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands, on the Spaarne and IJ rivers. The oldest part of the village, on the western side of the Spaarne, belongs to the municipality of Haarlem; the newer part on the eastern side is a part of the municipality of...
, a newer housing estate of this village forms part of the neighboring municipality of Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude
Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude
Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.-Population centres :The municipality of Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Haarlemmerliede, Halfweg, Penningsveer, Spaarndam ,...
.
Geography
The city is located on the riverRiver
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
Spaarne
Spaarne
The Spaarne is a river, in North Holland, Netherlands. This partially canalized river connects the Ringvaart to a side branch of the North Sea Canal. It runs through Haarlem, Heemstede, and Spaarndam....
, about 20 km west of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and near the coastal dunes
Zuid-Kennemerland National Park
Nationaal Park Zuid-Kennemerland is a national park in the province Noord-Holland, the Netherlands, west of Haarlem, within the municipalities of Bloemendaal, Velsen and Zandvoort. It includes the southern portion of the region known as Kennemerland. The park was established in 1995.- Geography...
. It has been the historical center of the tulip
Tulip
The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...
bulb-growing district for centuries and bears the nickname 'Bloemenstad' (flower city), for this reason.
History
Haarlem has a rich history dating back to pre-medieval times, as it lies on a thin strip of land above sea levelAbove mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
known as the strandwal (beach ridge
Beach ridge
A beach ridge is a wave-swept or wave-deposited ridge running parallel to a shoreline. It is commonly composed of sand as well as sediment worked from underlying beach material. The movement of sediment by wave action is called littoral transport. Movement of material parallel to the shoreline is...
), which connects Leiden to Alkmaar
Alkmaar
Alkmaar is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination.-History:...
. The people on this narrow strip of land struggled against the waters of the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
from the west, and the waters of the IJ
IJ (bay)
The IJ is a river, formerly a bay, in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is known for being Amsterdam's waterfront. The name derives from the generic Germanic term for "water" and is similar to other Aa/Ee names for bodies of water. In Dutch, the name consists of the digraph ij, which is...
and the Haarlem Lake from the east. Haarlem was able to become wealthy with toll revenues that it collected from ships and travellers moving on this busy North-South route. However, as shipping became increasingly important economically, the city of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
became the main Dutch city of North Holland
North Holland
North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-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:...
during the Dutch Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...
. The town of Halfweg became a suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
, and Haarlem became a quiet bedroom community, and for this reason, Haarlem still has many of its central medieval buildings intact. Today many of them are on the Dutch Heritage register known as Rijksmonument
Rijksmonument
A rijksmonument is a National Heritage Site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.-History and criteria:...
s. The list of Rijksmonuments in Haarlem gives an overview of these per neighborhood, with the majority in the old city center.
Middle Ages
Count of Holland
The Counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century.-House of Holland:The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia...
.
In 1219 the knights of Haarlem were laurelled by Count Willem I, because they had conquered the Egyptian port of Damietta
Damietta
Damietta , also known as Damiata, or Domyat, is a port and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the intersection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile, about north of Cairo.-History:...
(or Damiate in Dutch, present-day Dimyat) in the 5th crusade. Haarlem received the right to bear the Count's sword and cross in its coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
. On 23 November 1245 Count Willem II granted Haarlem 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....
. This implied a number of privileges, among which the right for the sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
and magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
s to administer justice, instead of the Count. This allowed for a quicker and more efficient judiciary system, more suited to the needs of the growing city.
After a siege from the surrounding area of Kennemerland
Kennemerland
Kennemerland is a region in the Netherlands, near the coast in the province of North Holland. In includes the sand dunes north of the North Sea Canal, as well as the dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park.-History:...
in 1270 a defensive wall was built around the city. Most likely this was an earthen wall, with wooden gates. Originally the city started out between Spaarne, Oudegracht, Ridderstraat, Bakenessergracht and Naussaustraat. In the 14th century the city expanded, and the Burgwalbuurt, Bakenes and the area around the Oudegracht became part of the city. The old defenses proved not to be sufficiently strong for the expanded city, and at the end of the 14th century a 16½-metre high wall was built, complete with a 15-metre wide canal circling the city.
In 1304 the Flemish threatened the city, but they were defeated by Witte van Haemstede
Witte van Haemstede
Witte van Haemstede was a bastard son of Floris V, Count of Holland. His half-brother John I, Count of Holland, gave him the property of Haamstede, in Southern Holland. He married Agnes van der Sluys, sometime before 1307...
at Manpad.
Sint-Bavokerk
The Grote Kerk or St.-Bavokerk is a Protestant church and former Catholic cathedral located on the central market square in the Dutch city of Haarlem...
was severely damaged, and rebuilding it would take more than 150 years. Again on 12 June 1347 there was a fire in the city. A third large fire, in 1351, destroyed many buildings including the Count's castle and the city hall. The Count did not need a castle in Haarlem because his castle
Ridderzaal
The Ridderzaal is the main building at the Binnenhof in The Hague, Netherlands, which is used for the state opening of Parliament on the third Tuesday in September, Prinsjesdag, when the Dutch monarch drives to Parliament in the Golden Carriage and delivers the speech from the throne...
in Den Haag had taken over all functions. The Count donated the ground to the city and later a new city hall
City Hall (Haarlem)
The City Hall in Haarlem is the seat of the city's government.-History:Around 1100 a wooden building was constructed on the location of the current Gravenzaal of the City Hall. Traces of this building were found in 1955....
was built there. The shape of the old city was square—this was inspired by the shape of ancient Jerusalem. After every fire the city was rebuilt quickly, an indication of the wealth of the city in those years.
The Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
came to the city in 1381. According to an estimate by a priest from Leiden the disease killed 5,000 people, about half the population at that time.
In the 14th century Haarlem was a major city. It was the second largest city in historical Holland after Dordrecht
Dordrecht
Dordrecht , colloquially Dordt, historically in English named Dort, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the fourth largest city of the province, having a population of 118,601 in 2009...
and before Delft
Delft
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
, Leiden, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, 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....
and 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...
. In 1429 the city gained the right to collect tolls, including ships passing the city on the Spaarne river. At the end of the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Haarlem was a flourishing city with a large textile industry, shipyards and beer breweries.
Around 1428 the city was put under siege by the army of Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut
Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut
Jacqueline of Wittelsbach was Duchess of Bavaria-Straubing, Countess of Hainaut and Holland from 1417 to 1432...
. Haarlem had taken side with the Cods in the Hook and Cod wars
Hook and Cod wars
The Hook and Cod wars comprise a series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count of Holland, but some have argued that the underlying reason was because of the power struggle of the bourgeois in the cities against...
, and thus against Jacoba of Bavaria. The entire Haarlemmerhout
Haarlemmerhout
The Haarlemmerhout is the oldest public park of the Netherlands. It lies on the south side of Haarlem, on the same old sandy sea wall that is shared by the public park Haagse Bos in the Hague and the Alkmaarderhout in Alkmaar.-History:...
wood was burnt down by the enemy.
Spanish siege
Brielle
Brielle , also called Den Briel is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New Maas. The municipality covers an area of 31.12 km² of which 3.63 km² is water...
was conquered by the Geuzen
Geuzen
Geuzen was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles and other malcontents, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen...
revolutionary army, the municipality of Haarlem started supporting the Geuzen. King Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
was not pleased, and sent an army north under the command of Don Fadrique (Don Frederick in Dutch), son of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba
Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba was a Spanish general and governor of the Spanish Netherlands , nicknamed "the Iron Duke" in the Low Countries because of his harsh and cruel rule there and his role in the execution of his political opponents and the massacre of several...
. On 17 November 1572 all citizens of the city of Zutphen were killed by the Spanish army, and on 1 December the city of Naarden suffered the same fate.
On 11 December 1572 the Spanish army put Haarlem under siege. The city's defenses were commanded by city-governor Wigbolt Ripperda
Wigbolt Ripperda
Wigbolt, Baron Ripperda was the city governor of Haarlem when the city was under siege by the Spanish army in the Eighty Years' War.-Biography:...
. Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer
Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer
Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer was a wood merchant of Haarlem, Netherlands She was the daughter of Simon Hasselaer and Grietje Koen. When the city was besieged by the Spanish, she led a company of women in defence of the city, becoming famous for bravery...
, a very powerful woman, helped defend the city.
During the first two months of the siege, the situation was in balance. The Spanish army was digging tunnels to reach the city walls and blow them up. The defenders dug tunnels to blow up the Spanish tunnels. The situation became worse for Haarlem on 29 March 1573. The Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
army, faithful to the Spanish king, controlled Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water, and the name Haarlemmermeer means Haarlem's Lake, still referring to the body of water from which the region was reclaimed in the 19th century.Its main...
lake, effectively blocking Haarlem from the outside world. Hunger in the city grew, and the situation became so tense that on 27 May many (Spanish-loyal) prisoners were taken from the prison and murdered.
Two city gates, the Kruispoort and the Janspoort collapsed during the fighting.
In the beginning of July the Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France. In French it is la Principauté d'Orange....
assembled an army of 5,000 soldiers near Leiden to free Haarlem. The Spanish trapped them at the Manpad and defeated the army. After seven months the city surrendered on 13 July 1573. Many soldiers of the army that defended the city were slaughtered; many of them were drowned in the Spaarne
Spaarne
The Spaarne is a river, in North Holland, Netherlands. This partially canalized river connects the Ringvaart to a side branch of the North Sea Canal. It runs through Haarlem, Heemstede, and Spaarndam....
river. Governor Ripperda and his lieutenant were beheaded
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
. The citizens were allowed to buy freedom for themselves and the city for 240,000 guilders and the city was required to host a Spanish garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
. Don Fadrique thanked God for his victory in the Sint-Bavo Church
Sint-Bavokerk
The Grote Kerk or St.-Bavokerk is a Protestant church and former Catholic cathedral located on the central market square in the Dutch city of Haarlem...
.
Great fire
The city suffered a large fire in the night from 22 October to 23 October 1576. The fire started in brewery het Ankertje, near the weighhouse at the Spaarne, which was used by German mercenariesMercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
as a guarding place. When they were warming themselves at a fire it got out of control. The fire was spotted by farmers, who sailed their ships on the river. However, the soldiers turned down all help, saying that they would put out the fire themselves. This failed, and the fire destroyed almost 500 buildings, among them St-Gangolf's church and St-Elisabeth's hospital. Most of the mercenaries were later arrested, and one of them was hanged on the Grote Markt in front of a large audience. Maps from that era clearly show the damage done by the fire: a wide strip through the city was destroyed.
The combined result of the siege and the fire was that about a third of the city was destroyed.
Golden age
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...
left in 1577 and under the Agreement of Veere
Satisfactie van Haarlem
The Satisfactie van Haarlem was one of many treaties in the city of Veere in 1577 where Willem the Silent ensured the loyalty of the cities under his rule....
, Protestants and Catholics were given equal rights, though in government the Protestants clearly had the upper hand and Catholic possessions once seized were never returned. To restore the economy and attract workers for the brewing and bleaching businesses (Haarlem was known for these, thanks to the clean water from the dunes), the Haarlem council decided to promote the pursuit of arts and history, showing tolerance for diversity among religious beliefs. This attracted a large influx of Flemish
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
immigrants (Catholics and Hugenots alike) who were fleeing the Spanish occupation of their own cities. Expansion plans soon replaced plans of rebuilding the destroyed city walls. Just like the rest of the country, the Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...
in the United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
had started.
Linen and silk
The new citizens had a lot of expertise in linenLinen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
and silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
manufacture and trading, and the city's population grew from 18,000 in 1573 to around 40,000 in 1622. At one point, in 1621, over 50% of the population was Flemish-born. Haarlem's linen became notable and the city flourished. Today an impression of some of those original textile tradesmen can be had from the Book of Trades document created by Jan Luyken
Jan Luyken
Johannes or Jan Luyken was a Dutch poet, illustrator and engraver.-Biography:...
and his son.
Infrastructure
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, the Haarlemmertrekvaart
Haarlemmertrekvaart
The Haarlemmertrekvaart is a canal between Amsterdam and Haarlem in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. It was dug in 1631, making it the oldest tow-canal in Holland...
was opened, the first tow canal in the country. The empty areas in the city that were a result of the fire of 1576 were filled with new houses and buildings. Even outside the city wall buildings were constructed—in 1643 about 400 houses were counted outside the wall. Having buildings outside the city walls was not a desirable situation to the city administration. Not only because these buildings would be vulnerable in case of an attack on the city, but there was also less control over taxes and city regulations outside the walls. Therefore a major project was initiated in 1671: expanding the city northwards. Two new canals were dug, and a new defensive wall was constructed (the current Staten en Prinsenbolwerk). Two old city gates, the Janspoort and Kruispoort, were demolished. The idea that a city had to be square-shaped was abandoned.
Cultural life
Frans Hals
Frans Hals was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He is notable for his loose painterly brushwork, and helped introduce this lively style of painting into Dutch art. Hals was also instrumental in the evolution of 17th century group portraiture.-Biography:Hals was born in 1580 or 1581, in Antwerp...
and Jacob van Ruisdael, the architect Lieven de Key
Lieven de Key
Lieven de Key was a famous Dutch renaissance architect in the Netherlands, mostly known today for his works in Haarlem.-Biography:...
and Jan Steen
Jan Steen
Jan Havickszoon Steen was a Dutch genre painter of the 17th century . Psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour are marks of his trade.-Life:...
who made many paintings in Haarlem. The Haarlem councilmen became quite creative in their propaganda promoting their city. On the Grote Markt, the central market square, there's a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster
Laurens Janszoon Coster
Laurens Janszoon Coster , or Laurens Jansz Koster, is the name of an inventor of a printing press from Haarlem...
who is allegedly the inventor of the printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
. This is actually the second and larger statue to him on the square, the original stands behind the city hall in the little garden known as the Hortus (where today the Stedelijk Gymnasium
Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem
The Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem or the Latin School of Haarlem is an elite secondary school in Haarlem, The Netherlands. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious and academically rigorous schools in The Netherlands. The school was founded in 1389 and is therefore one of the oldest schools in...
school is located).
Most scholars agree that the scarce evidence seems to point to Johann Gutenberg as the first European inventor of the printing press, but Haarlem children were taught about Lau as he is known, well into the 20th century. This legend served the printers of Haarlem well, however, and it is probably for that reason the most notable Dutch history books from the Dutch Golden Age period were published in Haarlem; by Hadrianus Junius
Hadrianus Junius
Hadrianus Junius , also known as Adriaen de Jonghe, was a Dutch physician, classical scholar, translator, lexicographer, antiquarian, historiographer, emblematist, school rector, and Latin poet. He is not to be confused with several namesakes...
(Batavia), Dirck Volkertszoon Coornhert (Works), Karel van Mander (Schilderboeck), Samuel Ampzing
Samuel Ampzing
Samuel Ampzing was a Dutch minister, poet and purist.-Biography:Born to the minister Johannes Ampzing in Haarlem, in 1616 Samuel became a minister himself at Rijsoord in Strevelshoek, and in 1619 at the Sint-Bavokerk in Haarlem.-Beschrijvinge ende lof der stad Haerlem in Holland:In 1617, he began...
(Description and Ode to Haarlem), Petrus Scriverius
Petrus Scriverius
Petrus Scriverius, the Latinized form of Peter Schrijver or Schryver was a Dutch writer and scholar on the history of Holland and Belgium....
(Batavia Illustrata), and Pieter Christiaenszoon Bor (Origin of the Dutch wars).
Beer brewing
Haarlem was a major beer producer in the Netherlands. The majority of the beer it produced was consumed in Noord-Holland
North Holland
North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-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:...
. During the Spanish siege there were about 50 brewing companies in the city; while 45 years later in 1620 the city numbered about one hundred breweries.
There was another epidemic of the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
in 1657, which took a heavy toll in the 6 months it ravaged the city.
From the end of the 17th century the economic situation in the city turned sour, for a long time. In 1752 there were only seven beer breweries left, and in 1820 no breweries were registered in the city anymore. In the 1990s the Stichting Haarlems Biergenootschap revived some of the old recipes under the new Jopen beer brand, that is marketed as a "Haarlem bier". In 2010 Jopen opened a brewery in a former church in central Haarlem called the Jopenkerk.
Tulip centre
From the 1630s until present day, Haarlem has been a major trading centre for tulips, and it was at the epicenter during tulip maniaTulip mania
Tulip mania or tulipomania was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for bulbs of the recently introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed...
, when outrageous prices were paid for tulip
Tulip
The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...
bulbs. From the time that the Leiden-Haarlem canal Leidsevaart
Leidsevaart
The Leidsevaart is a canal between the cities of Haarlem and Leiden in the Netherlands. It was dug in 1657, making it one of the oldest canals in the Netherlands. It was the major means of transport between Leiden and Haarlem for almost two centuries until the rail connection was established in...
was opened in 1656, it became popular to travel from 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...
to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
by passenger boat rather than by coach. The canals were dug for passenger service only, and were comfortable though slow. The towpath
Towpath
A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge...
led these passengers through the bulb fields south of Haarlem. Haarlem was an important stopover for passengers from the last half of the 17th century and through the 18th century until the building of the first rail tracks along the routes of former passenger canal systems. As Haarlem slowly expanded southwards, so did the bulb fields, and even today rail travelers between Rotterdam and Amsterdam will see beautifully blooming bulb fields on the stretch between Leiden and Haarlem in Spring.
18th century
As the center of trade gravitated towards Amsterdam, Haarlem declined in the 18th century. The Golden age had created a large upper middle class of merchants and well-to-do small business owners. Taking advantage of the reliability of the trekschuitTrekschuit
Trekschuit, literal translation 'tugboat', is an old style of horse-drawn boat specific to the Netherlands where it was used for centuries as a means of passenger traffic between cities along trekvaarten, or tow-canals.-History:...
connection between Amsterdam and Haarlem, many people had a business address in Amsterdam and a weekend or summer home in Haarlem. Haarlem became more and more a bedroom community as the increasingly dense population of Amsterdam caused the canals to smell in the summer. Many well-to-do gentlemen moved their families to summer homes in the Spring and commuted between addresses. Popular places for summer homes were along the Spaarne in southern Haarlem. Pieter Teyler van der Hulst
Pieter Teyler van der Hulst
Pieter Teyler van der Hulst was a wealthy Dutch Mennonite merchant, who died childless, leaving a legacy of two million florins to the pursuit of religion, arts and science in his hometown, that led to the formation of Teyler's Museum. This was not the value of his entire estate...
and Henry Hope
Henry Hope
Henry Hope was an Amsterdam merchant banker born in Boston, in Britain's Massachusetts Bay Colony in North America.-Early years:...
built summer homes there, as well as many Amsterdam merchants and councilmen. Today, it is still possible to travel by boat along the Spaarne and this has turned into a popular form of tourism in the summer months.
In the 18th century Haarlem became the seat of a suffragan diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht
Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands
The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands; , is the mother church related to the Old Catholic Churches. It is sometimes called Ancient Catholic Church, Church of Utrecht or Dutch Roman Catholic Church of the Old Episcopal Order...
.
French rule
On 18 January 1795 the "Staatse" army was defeated near Woerden
Woerden
Woerden is a municipality and a city in the central Netherlands. Due to its central location between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, and the fact that it has excellent rail and road connections to those cities, it is a popular town for commuters who work in those cities.-Population...
. During the night preceding the 19th, the same night that stadtholder William V of Orange fled the country, the various commissions gathered and implemented a revolution. The commissions changed the city's administrators in a bloodless revolution, and the next morning the city was 'liberated' of the tyranny of the House of Orange. The revolution was peaceful and the Orange-loyal people were not harmed. The Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
was then proclaimed.
The French army entered the liberated city two days later, on the 20 January. An army of 1,500 soldiers was provided with food and clothing by the citizens. The new national government was strongly centralized, and the role and influence of the cities was reduced.
The Batavian Republic had signed a mutual defense pact with France, and was thus automatically at war with England. The strong English presence at sea severely reduced the trading opportunities, and the Dutch economy suffered accordingly.
19th century
The textile industry, which had always been an important pillar of Haarlem's economy, was in a bad shape at the beginning of the 19th century. Strong international competition, and revolutionary new production methodsIndustrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
based on steam engines already in use in England, dealt a striking blow to Haarlem's industry. In 1815 the city's population was about 17,000 people, a large percentage of whom were poor. The foundation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
in that year gave hope to many, who believed that under a new government the economy would pick up, and that export-oriented economic activities such as the textile industry would recover.
In the beginning of the 19th century the defense walls had lost their function, and architect Zocher Jr. planned a park on the location of the former defense line. The city walls and gates were demolished and the bricks were reused for construction of workers homes and factories. Haarlem became the provincial capital of Noord-Holland province
North Holland
North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-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:...
in the early 19th century. In the mid 19th century the city's economy slowly started to improve. New factories were opened, and a number of large industrial companies were founded in Haarlem by Thomas Wilson, Guillaume Jean Poelman, J.B.T. Prévinaire, J.J. Beijnes
J.J. Beijnes
Johannes Jacobus, or J.J. Beijnes was a Dutch businessman and entrepreneur who, along with his brother Antonie Johannes Beijnes, was creditted with growing the Haarlem factory Beijnes into an international manufacturer of train and tram wagons.-Biography:He was the son of J.J. Beijnes the elder...
, Hendrik Figee
Hendrik Figee
Hendrik Figee was a Dutch businessman and entrepreneur creditted with growing the Haarlem factory Figee into an international manufacturer of cranes.-Biography:...
, Gerardus Johannes Droste and G.P.J. Beccari.
Cotton mills
The Nederlandsche Handel-MaatschappijNederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij
The Netherlands Trading Society was a Dutch trading company established in 1824 by King Willem I of the Netherlands to promote and develop trade, shipping and agriculture...
(NHM or Dutch Trade Company) was founded by King Willem I to create employment opportunities. As one of the cities in the western part of the Netherlands with the worst economical situation, three cotton mills were created in Haarlem under the NHM-program in the 1830s. These were run by experts from the Southern Netherlands, whom the NHM considered better at mechanical weaving through the local expertise of Lieven Bauwens
Lieven Bauwens
Lieven Bauwens was a Belgian entrepreneur and industrial spy who was sent to Great Britain at a young age and brought a spinning mule and skilled workers to the European continent....
. The lucky contract winners were Thomas Wilson, whose factory was situated north of what is today the Wilsonplein, Guillaume Jean Poelman, who was in business with his nephew Charles Vervaecke from Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
and had a factory on what today is the Phoenixstraat, and Jean Baptiste Theodore Prévinaire, who had a factory on the Garenkokerskade and whose son Marie Prosper Theodore Prévinaire created the Haarlemsche Katoenmaatschappij in 1875.
These cotton factories produced goods for export, and because the Dutch government levied heavy taxes on foreign cotton producers this was a profitable business for the NHM-factories, especially for export to the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
. The programme started in the 1830s, and was initially successful, but after 1839 when Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
was split away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the protectionist measures for the Dutch East Indian market were removed and the business began to flounder. When the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
reduced the import of raw cotton significantly after 1863, the business went sour. Only Previnaire was able to survive through specialization with his "Turkish Red" dye. The Previnaire "toile Adrinople" was popular. Previnaire's son went on to create the Haarlemsche Katoenmaatschappij, which made a kind of imitation batik
Batik
Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Batik or fabrics with the traditional batik patterns are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Singapore.Javanese traditional batik, especially from...
cloth called "La Javanaise" that became popular in Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
.
Train & tram
Richard Trevithick
Richard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...
designed the first locomotive. The government of the Netherlands was relatively slow to catch up, even though the King feared competition from newly established Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
if they would construct a train track between Antwerp and other cities. Dutch parliament balked at the high level of investment needed, but a group of private investors started the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij
Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij
The Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij or HSM was the first railway company in the Netherlands founded on 8 August 1837 as a private company, starting operation in 1839 with a line between Amsterdam and Haarlem...
on 1 June 1836. It took three years to build the first track, between Haarlem and Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
along the old tow canal called the Haarlemmertrekvaart
Haarlemmertrekvaart
The Haarlemmertrekvaart is a canal between Amsterdam and Haarlem in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. It was dug in 1631, making it the oldest tow-canal in Holland...
. The ground there was wet and muddy. On 20 September 1839 the first train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
service in the Netherlands started. The train had a speed of about 40 kilometers per hour. The train service gave the Beijnes
Beijnes
Beijnes was a defunct Haarlem manufacturer of carriages, busses, trains, and trams. It was closely associated with the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij -History:...
company, and indirectly the whole economy of Haarlem, a strong boost, and the effects of this can be seen in the Haarlem railway station, now a rijksmonument. Instead of more than 2 hours, Amsterdam was now only 30 minutes away. The old passenger service by trekschuit
Trekschuit
Trekschuit, literal translation 'tugboat', is an old style of horse-drawn boat specific to the Netherlands where it was used for centuries as a means of passenger traffic between cities along trekvaarten, or tow-canals.-History:...
along the Haarlemmertrekvaart was quickly taken out of service in favor of the train service which was quicker and more reliable. In 1878 a Beijnes-made horse tram started servicing passengers from the railway station to the Haarlemmerhout
Haarlemmerhout
The Haarlemmerhout is the oldest public park of the Netherlands. It lies on the south side of Haarlem, on the same old sandy sea wall that is shared by the public park Haagse Bos in the Hague and the Alkmaarderhout in Alkmaar.-History:...
woodland park, and in 1894 the Eerste Nederlandsche Electrische Tram Maatschappij (ENET) was founded with cars built by Beijnes and became the first Dutch electric tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
, which ran in Haarlem from 1899 onwards.
Water management
Though the old trekvaart is closed for water traffic today, thanks to these early rail developments, it is still possible to travel by boat from Amsterdam to Haarlem, via the ringvaartRingvaart
The Ringvaart is a canal in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The Ringvaart is a true circular canal surrounding the Haarlemmermeer polder and forms the boundary of the Haarlemmermeer municipality...
or the North Sea Canal
North Sea Canal
The North Sea Canal is a Dutch ship canal from Amsterdam to the North Sea at IJmuiden, constructed between 1865 and 1876 to enable seafaring vessels to reach the port of Amsterdam...
. Pleasure boating in the summer has become an important Haarlem tourist attraction, though it is not possible to travel all of the old canals as in Amsterdam. The creation of new land in the Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water, and the name Haarlemmermeer means Haarlem's Lake, still referring to the body of water from which the region was reclaimed in the 19th century.Its main...
from 1852 onwards, meant that the city could no longer refresh the water in its canals using the Spaarne river. The increase in industry made the water quality even worse, and in 1859 the Oude Gracht, a city canal, stank so badly in the summer, that it was filled in to create a new street called the Gedempte Oude Gracht.
Expanding borders
From 1879 the population of the city almost doubled in thirty years, from 36,976 to 69,410 in 1909. Not only did the population grow, but the city was expanding rapidly too. The Leidsebuurt district was incorporated into Haarlem in the 1880s. A small part of (the now defunct) municipality of SchotenSchoten
Schoten is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Schoten proper. On January 1, 2006 Schoten had a total population of 33,160. The total area is which gives a population density of 1,122 inhabitants per km². Schoten abuts the...
was incorporated in 1884 because the council of Haarlem wanted to have the hospital (Het Dolhuys
Het Dolhuys
Het Dolhuys is a national museum for psychiatry in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The museum was founded in 2005 in the newly renovated former old age home known as Schoterburcht, located just across the Schotersingel from the Staten Bolwerk park. The whole complex is much older than that however,...
) inside the municipal borders. This hospital was situated at "het bolwerk" on Schoten's territory.
20th century
In 1908, a renewed railway station
Station Haarlem
Haarlem is a railway station in the Netherlands, located in the city of Haarlem on the Amsterdam–Rotterdam railway, the original train line linking Amsterdam to Zandvoort and Amsterdam to Leiden. The station building itself is a rijksmonument...
was opened. The station was elevated, so traffic in the city was no longer hampered by railway crossings. In 1911, Anthony Fokker
Anthony Fokker
Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker was a Dutch aviation pioneer and an aircraft manufacturer. He is most famous for the fighter aircraft he produced in Germany during the First World War such as the Eindecker monoplanes, the Fokker Triplane the and the Fokker D.VII, but after the collapse of...
showed his plane, de Spin
Fokker Spin
The Fokker Spin was the first airplane built by Anthony Fokker. The many bracing wires made the plane resemble a giant spider, hence its name Spin ....
to the audience in Haarlem by flying around the Sint-Bavokerk on Queen's Day.
Later the expansion of the city went southwards (Schalkwijk) and eastwards (Waarderpolder). In 1932, Vroom & Dreesmann
Vroom & Dreesmann
Vroom & Dreesmann is a Dutch chain of department stores founded in 1887 by Willem Vroom and Anton Dreesmann. The first V&D store opened in Weesperstraat in Amsterdam...
, a Dutch retailer built a department store at Verwulft. Many buildings were demolished, except one small chemist's shop on the corner, "Van der Pigge", who refused to be bought out and which is now encapsulated by the V&D building.
Haarlem in World War II
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Dutch heroine Hannie Schaft
Hannie Schaft
Jannetje Johanna Schaft , was a Dutch communist resistance fighter during World War II. She became known as the girl with the red hair...
worked for a Dutch resistance group; she was captured by the Germans and executed just before the end of the war in 1945. Despite her efforts and those of her colleagues and private families such as the Ten Booms
Ten Boom Museum
The Ten Boom Museum is a museum dedicated to The Hiding Place, the subject of a book by Corrie ten Boom.The Ten Boom family ran a watch shop on the corner of an alleyway and the main shopping street of Haarlem, the Netherlands...
, most Haarlem Jews were deported, the Haarlem Synagogue was demolished and the Jewish hospital was annexed by the St. Elisabeth Gasthuis. Several Haarlem families, whether they were politically active in the NSB
National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands
The National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands was a Dutch fascist and later national socialist political party. As a parliamentary party participating in legislative elections, the NSB had some success during the 1930s...
or not, suffered from random attacks, as the Haarlem writer Harry Mulisch
Harry Mulisch
Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch was a Dutch author. He wrote more than 80 novels, plays, essays, poems and philosophical reflections. These have been translated into more than 20 languages....
described in his book De Aanslag. Haarlemmers survived during the Hunger Winter by eating tulip bulbs stored in sheds in the sandy fields around the city.
From 17 September to 21 September 1944, parts of Haarlem-Noord (north of the Jan Gijzenvaart) were evacuated by the Germans to make place for a defensive line. The stadium of HFC Haarlem
HFC Haarlem
HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889. The club won the Dutch national title in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912...
, the soccer club, was demolished. Hundreds of people had to leave their houses and were forced to stay with other citizens, who did not welcome them with open arms, since many were already starving.
From 22 September there was gas available only two hours per day. Electricity stopped on 9 October. The German occupiers built a thick, black wall through the Haarlemmerhout (in the south of the city), as well as at the Jan Gijzenvaart in the evacuated area. The wall was called Mauer-muur and was meant to help defend the city.
In 1944 the family of Corrie ten Boom
Corrie ten Boom
Cornelia "Corrie" ten Boom was a Dutch Christian, who with her father and other family members helped many Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust during World War II. Her family was arrested due to an informant in 1944, and her father died 10 days later at Scheveningen prison where they were first held...
was arrested by the Nazis; they had been hiding Jews and Dutch resistance workers from the German occupier throughout the war.
Post war
Haarlem never really recovered after the war. After the war much of the large industry moved out of the city, such as the banknote printing firm of Joh. EnschedéJoh. Enschedé
Royal Joh. Enschedé is a printer of security documents, stamps and banknotes based in Haarlem, Netherlands. Joh. Enschedé specialises in print, media & security. The company hosts the Museum Enschedé and has branches in Amsterdam, Brussels and Haarlem....
. The center of industry and shipping had definitely shifted towards Amsterdam. Though the population had been decimated from starvation, a new wave of immigrants came to the city from the former colonies in Indonesia. This brought some government funding for building projects. In 1963 a large number of houses was built in Schalkwijk.
Religion
Velsen
Velsen is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal.On the north side of the North Sea Canal, in IJmuiden, there is a major steel plant, Corus Strip Products IJmuiden, formerly known as Koninklijke Hoogovens...
, which itself was founded in 695 by St. Willibrord. It was a wooden church at the site of the current Grote Kerk on the Grote Markt (central market square). Haarlem was granted its first known indulgence
Indulgence
In Catholic theology, an indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the Catholic Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution...
by Clement V in 1309, during the Avignon Papacy
Avignon Papacy
The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven Popes resided in Avignon, in modern-day France. This arose from the conflict between the Papacy and the French crown....
. In 1345 Haarlem received city rights as a result of population growth and the church was expanded. Later, after the fires of 1347 and 1351, Haarlem was again granted a Portiuncula indulgence in 1397 for funding to rebuild the church. This indulgence would be used again and again over the centuries to fund expansion and restoration activities.
Having been granted papal rights from Avignon was perhaps the reason that the ties to Rome were never very strong in Haarlem, since the building most commonly called the Cathedral in the center of town only held a cathedra
Cathedra
A cathedra or bishop's throne is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran churches...
for 19 years, from 1559 to 1578. This Grote Kerk or Sint-Bavokerk
Sint-Bavokerk
The Grote Kerk or St.-Bavokerk is a Protestant church and former Catholic cathedral located on the central market square in the Dutch city of Haarlem...
was originally a parish church devoted to Maria, but was later named after the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of Haarlem, Saint Bavo
Saint Bavo
Saint Bavo of Ghent is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint.-Life:Bavo was born near Liège, Belgium, to a Frankish noble family that gave him the name Allowin...
, who descended from Heaven regularly to free the Haarlemmers from invaders, most recently when the Kennemers and West-Friesians attacked in 1274. This is allegedly how the Haarlem war cry "Sint Bavo voor Haarlem" originated, which was used during the siege against the Spaniards in 1572 that eventually resulted in an underground cathedra called the Sint Josephstatie, on the Goudsmitsplein.
Cathedral of Saint Bavo
The Cathedral of Saint Bavo is a religious building in Haarlem, the Netherlands, built by the Catholics from 1895 to 1930 to replace the former Waterstaatskerk St. Joseph. That church was itself a replacement for the Sint-Bavokerk, that had been converted to Protestantism from Catholicism in 1578...
, situated on the Leidsevaart. This duality began with the Reformation troubles of 1566.
The Roman Catholic parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Haarlem became a Diocese in 1559 (Dioecesis Harlemensis) and the first bishop of Haarlem was Nicolaas van Nieuwland
Nicolaas van Nieuwland
Nicolaas van Nieuwland was bishop of Haarlem and abbot of Egmond Abbey from 1562 to 1569.-Biography:Van Nieuwland became bishop when he was still young. He became titular bishop of Hebron in 1541...
(born in 1510). He accepted the position on 6 November 1561. In 1569 he was advised to resign by the Duke of Alva, because of his reputation for drinking (Dronken Klaasje). He had a good reason to drown his sorrows, because he feared the Catholic Spanish invaders as much as the native Dutch reformers. The Grote Kerk was initially spared from iconoclasm
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
, because the city's mayor ordered the closing of the church for several months in 1566. That gave the various groups in Haarlem the time to quietly remove many of the treasures from the church and stash them safely in underground chapels. All symbols and statues linked to the Roman Catholic faith were removed from the cathedral. Since many groups already had their own chapels in the Grote Kerk, this was conducted in an orderly way. However, after the siege of Haarlem
Siege of Haarlem
The siege of Haarlem was an episode of the Eighty Years' War. From December 11, 1572 to July 13, 1573 an army of Philip II of Spain laid bloody siege to the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands, whose loyalties had begun wavering during the previous summer...
was lost, the Spanish army restored Roman Catholic iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
. The guilds had to restore their old altars, at great expense. Since Haarlem was quite poor after the siege, this led to many of the chapels and other Catholic churches being abandoned and used for other purposes. The Bakenesserkerk, where 1500 soldiers were held before being killed by the Spanish after their victory, was used to store turf for fifty years.
Van Nieuwland was succeeded by Godfried van Mierlo
Godfried van Mierlo
Godfried van Mierlo was bishop of Haarlem and abbot of Egmond Abbey from 1570 to 1578.-Biography:...
, who would be the last bishop in communion with Rome Haarlem would know for 300 years. In 1578 after the Spanish were defeated, the church was attacked on Sacrament day (29 May), this time by soldiers of the Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France. In French it is la Principauté d'Orange....
. One of the priests was killed, and many objects in the church were destroyed. This event, called the Haarlemse Noon, forced the bishop to flee the city. Fortunately, many treasures were still safe 500 yards away in the underground Catholic church. The city council confiscated the Sint Bavo Kerk and all of its daughter churches, and later converted them along the tenants of the Evangelical Reformed Church. The new (and current) name became Grote Kerk. Old Catholics and the Lutherans, though officially tolerated, went underground. Both Protestants and Catholics alike felt that when all political unrest had subsided, the Catholics could regain control of "their" church. However, the Dutch Protestants had also removed all Catholics from local government and feared that they would have to pay damages to the Catholics if they were allowed their own churches again. All over the Netherlands, new Catholic churches were subsidized, called Waterboard churches, for their similarity to Waterboard pump stations (they were designed by the same architect in Neo-classical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
style), and in Haarlem they built the St. Joseph kerk in the Jansstraat in 1841. It was not until 1853 that a new Roman Catholic bishop was installed in the St. Joseph kerk. As this church grew, a new cathedral, again called the Cathedral of Saint Bavo
Cathedral of Saint Bavo
The Cathedral of Saint Bavo is a religious building in Haarlem, the Netherlands, built by the Catholics from 1895 to 1930 to replace the former Waterstaatskerk St. Joseph. That church was itself a replacement for the Sint-Bavokerk, that had been converted to Protestantism from Catholicism in 1578...
, was built at the Leidsevaart (canal to Leiden) in 1898. The Bishop of Haarlem has a formal residence on the Nieuwe Gracht canal.
There is also an Old Catholic bishop of Haarlem.
The Frans Hals Museum
Frans Hals Museum
The Frans Hals Museum is a hofje and municipal museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. The museum was founded in 1862 in the newly renovated former cloister located in the back of the Haarlem city hall known as the Prinsenhof...
, which was the Haarlem municipal museum, has still in its collection today many pieces confiscated from the churches during the Haarlemse Noon.
Museums
There are several museumMuseum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s in Haarlem. The Teylers Museum
Teylers Museum
Teyler's Museum , located in Haarlem, is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. The museum is in the former home of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst . He was a wealthy cloth merchant and Amsterdam banker of Scottish descent, who bequeathed his fortune for the advancement of religion, art and science...
lies on the Spaarne river and is the oldest museum of the Netherlands. Its main subjects are art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, and it owns a number of works by Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
and Rembrandt. Another museum is the Frans Hals Museum
Frans Hals Museum
The Frans Hals Museum is a hofje and municipal museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. The museum was founded in 1862 in the newly renovated former cloister located in the back of the Haarlem city hall known as the Prinsenhof...
of fine arts, with its main location housing Dutch master paintings, and its exhibition halls on the Grote Markt housing a gallery for modern art called De Hallen
Museum De Hallen, Haarlem
Museum De Hallen is the name of the exhibition space on the Grote Markt, Haarlem, the Netherlands, where modern and contemporary art is on display in alternating presentations. The emphasis is on contemporary photograph and video presentations, with the focus on Man and society...
. Also on the Grote Markt, in the cellar of the Vleeshal
Vleeshal
The Vleeshal is a historical building dating from 1603 on the Grote Markt in Haarlem, Netherlands.-History:Vleeshal means meat-hall; it was the only place in Haarlem where fresh meat was allowed to be sold from 1604 to the 18th century. The ox-heads on the front of the building indicate the...
is the Archeologisch Museum Haarlem
Archeologisch Museum Haarlem
The Archeologisch Museum Haarlem is a museum in the cellar of the Vleeshal on the Grote Markt in Haarlem, the Netherlands, dedicated to promoting interest and conserving the archeological heritage of Kennemerland.-History:...
, while across the square on Saturdays, the Hoofdwacht building is open with exhibitions on Haarlem history.
Other museums are Het Dolhuys
Het Dolhuys
Het Dolhuys is a national museum for psychiatry in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The museum was founded in 2005 in the newly renovated former old age home known as Schoterburcht, located just across the Schotersingel from the Staten Bolwerk park. The whole complex is much older than that however,...
(a museum of psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
), the Ten Boom Museum
Ten Boom Museum
The Ten Boom Museum is a museum dedicated to The Hiding Place, the subject of a book by Corrie ten Boom.The Ten Boom family ran a watch shop on the corner of an alleyway and the main shopping street of Haarlem, the Netherlands...
(a hiding place for Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) and the Historisch Museum Haarlem
Historisch Museum Haarlem
Historisch Museum Haarlem is a city museum located in the center of Haarlem on the Groot Heiligland 47, across from the Frans Hals Museum. It shares the front door with the ABC Architectuurcentrum Haarlem, which is located next door, and with Spaarnestad Photo, located on the upper floor...
, across from the Frans Hals Museum.
Theater, film and cultural centers
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
s, cinemas and other cultural attractions (apart from the museums). The Philharmonie is a concert hall in the centre of the city near the Grote Markt. Next to it is the Toneelschuur
Toneelschuur
De Toneelschuur is a theater in Haarlem, Netherlands.The building has two theaters and two movie theaters. In the latter more alternative movies are shown . The name Filmschuur is often used to indicate the movie theaters....
theatre, which also has some movie theatres (often referred to as the Filmschuur). The Stadsschouwburg on the Wilsonsplein reopened in 2008 after a major renovation and can seat 698.
There are two more cinemas in Haarlem. Cinema Palace was established in 1915 and is one of the oldest cinemas in the Netherlands. The other is the Brinkmann cinema, located on the Grote Markt.
The Patronaat
Patronaat
Patronaat is one of the 10 largest alternative pop music halls in the Netherlands and was established in 1984. It is located at the Zijlsingel in Haarlem, near the city center....
is a pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
hall, one of the largest in the Netherlands of its kind. It is a popular night spot among many of the city's residents and others.
Festivals
Every year in April the bloemencorsoBloemencorso
Bloemencorso means "flower parade", "flower pageant" or "flower procession". In a parade of this kind the floats , cars and boats are magnificently decorated or covered in flowers. Each parade has its own character, charm and theme...
(flower parade) takes place. Floats
Float (parade)
A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Carnival of Viareggio, the Maltese Carnival, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Key West Fantasy Fest parade, the...
decorated with flowers drive from Noordwijk
Noordwijk
Noordwijk is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 51.53 km² and had a population of 24,707 in May 2006....
to Haarlem, where they are exhibited for one day. In the same month there is also a funfair
Funfair
A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...
organized on the Grote Markt and the Zaanenlaan in Haarlem-Noord.
Bevrijdingspop is a music festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
to celebrate the Dutch liberation
Liberty
Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
from the Nazis after World War II. It is held every year on 5 May, the day that the Netherlands were liberated in 1945, at the Haarlemmerhout
Haarlemmerhout
The Haarlemmerhout is the oldest public park of the Netherlands. It lies on the south side of Haarlem, on the same old sandy sea wall that is shared by the public park Haagse Bos in the Hague and the Alkmaarderhout in Alkmaar.-History:...
. At the same location, the Haarlemmerhoutfestival is also held every year, which is a music and theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
festival.
Other yearly events on the Grote Markt are "Haarlem Jazzstad" (a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
festival), "Haarlem Culinair" (a culinary event) and the "Haarlemse Stripdagen" (Haarlem comic days).
Sports
Haarlem is home to many different sport clubs practicing a great diversity of sports.There are several amateur association football clubs. Haarlem also had a professional football club, HFC Haarlem
HFC Haarlem
HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889. The club won the Dutch national title in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912...
, which went bankrupt in January 2010. Another Haarlem based football club still in existence is Koninklijke HFC
Koninklijke HFC
Koninklijke HFC is a football club in Haarlem, the Netherlands. It is the oldest club in Dutch history, founded by Pim Mulier in 1879. During the first years the only team played rugby but due to financial problems they switched to association football...
(Royal Haarlemsche Football Club). It was founded by Pim Mulier
Pim Mulier
Willem Johan Herman Mulier was one of the leading figures in sporting history of the Netherlands.-Biography:...
in 1879 as the first football club in the Netherlands, making it the oldest club in Dutch history.
Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
club HLTC Haarlem, founded in 1884, and judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
association Kenamju, founded in 1948, are also the oldest Dutch clubs in their sports.
Haarlem is known for hosting several international sports tournaments as well: the Haarlemse Honkbalweek (Haarlem Baseball Week), a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
event held every two years at the Pim Mulier Stadium (named after Pim Mulier
Pim Mulier
Willem Johan Herman Mulier was one of the leading figures in sporting history of the Netherlands.-Biography:...
), and the Haarlem Basketball Classic, a basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
event.
The first international bandy
Bandy
Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.The rules of the game have many similarities to those of association football: the game is played on a rectangle of ice the same size as a football field. Each team has 11 players,...
match was played between Haarlem and Bury Fen Bandy Club.
Cultural references
- Folk singer Al StewartAl StewartAl Stewart is a Scottish singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician.Stewart came to stardom as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s, and developed his own unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of the great characters and events from history.He is...
mentions Haarlem in his song "Amsterdam". - The train station of Haarlem was part of a set during the movie Ocean's TwelveOcean's TwelveOcean's Twelve is a 2004 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2001's Ocean's Eleven. Like its predecessor, which was a remake of the 1960 film Ocean's 11, the film used a celebrity ensemble cast. It was released in the United States on December 10, 2004. A third film, Ocean's Thirteen, was...
. - The book Confessions of an Ugly StepsisterConfessions of an Ugly StepsisterConfessions of an Ugly Stepsister is a novel by Gregory Maguire, retelling the tale of Cinderella through the eyes of one of her "ugly stepsisters." In 2002, the book was adapted into a TV movie of the same name, directed by Gavin Millar.-Plot:...
by Gregory MaguireGregory MaguireGregory Maguire is an American writer. He is the author of the novels Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and many other novels for adults and children...
is set in Haarlem. - The book The Black TulipThe Black TulipThe Black Tulip is a historical novel written by Alexandre Dumas, père.-Plot:The story begins with a historical event — the 1672 lynching of the Dutch Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis, by a wild mob of their own countrymen — considered by many as one of the most painful...
by Alexandre Dumas, pèreAlexandre Dumas, pèreAlexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
has several scenes in Haarlem, most notably the ending, and it is the Horticultural Society of Haarlem that offers a reward for a black tulipBlack TulipOperation Black Tulip was a plan in 1945 by Dutch minister of Justice Kolfschoten to evict all Germans from the Netherlands. The operation lasted from 1946 to 1948 and in the end 3,691 Germans were deported....
. - In 1628 a chemistChemistA chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
in Haarlem goes broke, and decides to join the VOCDutch East India CompanyThe Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
to sail to the East. His name, Jeronimus Cornelisz, will always be connected with the BataviaBatavia (ship)Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company . It was built in Amsterdam in 1628, and armed with 24 cast iron cannons and a number of bronze guns. Batavia was shipwrecked on her maiden voyage, and was made famous by the subsequent mutiny and massacre that took place among the survivors...
ship.
Buildings and locations
- The city is notable for its many hofjeHofjeA hofje is a Dutch word for a courtyard with almshouses around it. They have existed since the Middle Ages.A hofje provided housing for elderly people . They were privately funded, and served as a form of social security...
s: almshouses built around courtyards. These were mainly privately funded houses for elderly single women. Nowadays there are 19 hofjes in HaarlemHofjes in HaarlemHaarlem is one of the cities in the Netherlands that has a number of hofjes. Some of them are even still in use with boards of regents. Many of these are members of the Stichting Haarlemse Hofjes . The word 'hofje' just means small garden, because the hofjes are generally small houses grouped...
; many open to the public on weekdays. Many hofjes are still owned by the original foundations, and are still mainly used for single elderly women. - The Grote Markt (central market square), with:
- the City HallCity Hall (Haarlem)The City Hall in Haarlem is the seat of the city's government.-History:Around 1100 a wooden building was constructed on the location of the current Gravenzaal of the City Hall. Traces of this building were found in 1955....
- the VleeshalVleeshalThe Vleeshal is a historical building dating from 1603 on the Grote Markt in Haarlem, Netherlands.-History:Vleeshal means meat-hall; it was the only place in Haarlem where fresh meat was allowed to be sold from 1604 to the 18th century. The ox-heads on the front of the building indicate the...
or meat market (home to two museums) - the HoofdwachtHoofdwacht, HaarlemDe Hoofdwacht is a historical building on the Grote Markt in Haarlem, Netherlands.It was built in the 13th century. Traces in the wall indicate that this is one of the oldest buildings in the city. From 1250 to around 1350 it served as the first city hall of Haarlem. After that, various important...
- the Grote or Sint-BavokerkSint-BavokerkThe Grote Kerk or St.-Bavokerk is a Protestant church and former Catholic cathedral located on the central market square in the Dutch city of Haarlem...
- the City Hall
- Stadsbibliotheek HaarlemStadsbibliotheek HaarlemThe Stadsbibliotheek Haarlem is a collective namefor all public libraries in the Haarlem area of theNetherlands. The first public library of Haarlem opened in 1921 at thecloisters of the Haarlem City Hall where the academic...
, the Haarlem Public Library, an historic landmark - The JanskerkJanskerk (Haarlem)The Janskerk or St. John's Church is a former church in the Dutch city of Haarlem. Today it houses the North Holland Archives .-History:...
has an exhibition area in the former choir - Sint-Bavo Cathedral
- Castle ruin Huis ter KleefHuis ter KleefThe ruins of the Huis ter Kleef castle are located in the city gardens of Haarlem.-History:The castle is located about halfway between the Castle Brederode and the Haarlem City Hall, which were built respectively in the second half of the 13th century and 1370, and probably dates from that period,...
- The Teylers MuseumTeylers MuseumTeyler's Museum , located in Haarlem, is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. The museum is in the former home of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst . He was a wealthy cloth merchant and Amsterdam banker of Scottish descent, who bequeathed his fortune for the advancement of religion, art and science...
is the oldest museum of the Netherlands - Frans Hals MuseumFrans Hals MuseumThe Frans Hals Museum is a hofje and municipal museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. The museum was founded in 1862 in the newly renovated former cloister located in the back of the Haarlem city hall known as the Prinsenhof...
of Art - Haarlem Historisch Museum
- The Ten Boom MuseumTen Boom MuseumThe Ten Boom Museum is a museum dedicated to The Hiding Place, the subject of a book by Corrie ten Boom.The Ten Boom family ran a watch shop on the corner of an alleyway and the main shopping street of Haarlem, the Netherlands...
- Het DolhuysHet DolhuysHet Dolhuys is a national museum for psychiatry in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The museum was founded in 2005 in the newly renovated former old age home known as Schoterburcht, located just across the Schotersingel from the Staten Bolwerk park. The whole complex is much older than that however,...
Museum of Psychiatry - Windmill De AdriaanDe AdriaanDe Adriaan is a windmill in the Netherlands that burnt down in 1932 and was rebuilt in 2002. The original windmill dates from 1779 and the mill has been a distinctive part of the skyline of Haarlem for centuries.-Goevrouwetoren:...
- The Amsterdamse Poort city gate
- The art nouveau railway station of HaarlemStation HaarlemHaarlem is a railway station in the Netherlands, located in the city of Haarlem on the Amsterdam–Rotterdam railway, the original train line linking Amsterdam to Zandvoort and Amsterdam to Leiden. The station building itself is a rijksmonument...
- Theater De ToneelschuurToneelschuurDe Toneelschuur is a theater in Haarlem, Netherlands.The building has two theaters and two movie theaters. In the latter more alternative movies are shown . The name Filmschuur is often used to indicate the movie theaters....
- Villa WelgelegenVilla WelgelegenVilla Welgelegen is a historical building in Haarlem, the Netherlands, which currently houses the offices of the provincial executives of North Holland. Located at the north end of a public park in the city, it is an example of neoclassical architecture, unusual for its style in the...
(parts are open to the public) - HaarlemmerhoutHaarlemmerhoutThe Haarlemmerhout is the oldest public park of the Netherlands. It lies on the south side of Haarlem, on the same old sandy sea wall that is shared by the public park Haagse Bos in the Hague and the Alkmaarderhout in Alkmaar.-History:...
park - The Bosch and Vaart neighbourhood
- The monumental buildings of the Stedelijk Gymnasium HaarlemStedelijk Gymnasium HaarlemThe Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem or the Latin School of Haarlem is an elite secondary school in Haarlem, The Netherlands. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious and academically rigorous schools in The Netherlands. The school was founded in 1389 and is therefore one of the oldest schools in...
Latin School of Haarlem, also host of the Haarlem Model United NationsHaarlem Model United NationsHaarlem Model United Nations is an annual Model United Nations conference hosted by the Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem, the Latin school of Haarlem in the Netherlands. HMUN was founded in 1998 and was an initiative of the students of the Latin School. The MUN is held in the monumental building of...
Transportation
Haarlem is served by two railway stations of the Nederlandse SpoorwegenNederlandse Spoorwegen
Nederlandse Spoorwegen , or NS, is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands.Its trains operate over the tracks of the Dutch national railinfrastructure, operated by ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003...
(Dutch Railways). From Haarlem railway station there are 6 trains an hour to Amsterdam, with a journey time of 15 to 20 minutes, 6 trains an hour to Leiden
Leiden Centraal railway station
Leiden Centraal is the main railway station in Leiden, a city in the Netherlands.-History:Leiden Centraal station opened on 17 August 1842 as the southern terminal of the first expansion of the Old Line from Haarlem. The original building was replaced by a new one, designed by D.A.N. Margadant, in...
and The Hague (two stations), and 2 trains an hour to Zandvoort aan Zee. On the east of Haarlem, there is Haarlem Spaarnwoude
Haarlem Spaarnwoude railway station
Haarlem Spaarnwoude is a small railway station, located in Spaarnwoude, near Haarlem, the Netherlands. It is located on the Haarlem branch of line 10, on the Amsterdam–Rotterdam railway . The station lies to the east of Haarlem. The N200 road runs parallel to the railway on the south side...
, which has 2 trains per hour to Amsterdam.
The city is also served by several bus lines of Connexxion
Connexxion
Connexxion is the largest public transport bus company in the Netherlands, operating in the west, middle, east and far northern part of the country. It was formed in 1999 as result of a fusion between the public transport companies NZH, ZWN, Midnet and Oostnet. Its name is a mutation of the French...
. These buses traverse a large region around Haarlem, including Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. There is a special bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
too, called the Zuidtangent
Zuidtangent
The Zuidtangent is a bus rapid transit service operated by Connexxion in the Netherlands.Its network consists of two lines:* Line 300 from Haarlem via Hoofddorp, Schiphol Airport and Amstelveen to Amsterdam Zuidoost....
which is operated by Connexxion. This bus goes from Haarlem to Amsterdam via Schiphol Airport.
Local government
The municipal council of Haarlem consists of 39 seats, which are divided as follows:- PvdALabour Party (Netherlands)The Labour Party , is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. Since the 2003 Dutch General Election, the PvdA has been the second largest political party in the Netherlands. The PvdA was a coalition member in the fourth Balkenende cabinet following 22 February 2007...
- 11 seats - VVDPeople's Party for Freedom and DemocracyThe People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in...
- 7 seats - CDAChristian Democratic AppealThe Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...
- 4 seats - GroenLinks - 4 seats
- StadsPartij/Leefbaar Haarlem - 4 seats
- D66Democrats 66Democrats 66 is a progressive and social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned, young intellectuals, led by journalist Hans van Mierlo. The party's main objective was to democratise the political system; it proposed to create an...
- 2 seats - Actiepartij - 1 seat
- SPSocialist Party (Netherlands)The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. After the 2006 general election, the Socialist Party became one of the major parties of the Netherlands with 25 seats of 150, an increase of 16 seats. The party was in opposition against the fourth Balkenende cabinet...
- 7 seats - ChristenUnie/SGP - 1 seat
- Partij Spaarnestad - 1 seat
- Senior Citizen's Party (Ouderenpartij) - 1 seat
Police and law enforcement
The police services in Haarlem are provided by the Kennemerland police corps. The city of Haarlem also employs uniformed municipal enforcement officers, their duties consist of parking, sanitation, traffic, permit enforcement, and patrols throughout the city.Local beer
Beer brewing has been a very important industry for Haarlem. The heyday of beer brewing in Haarlem goes back to the 15th century, when there were no fewer than 100 breweries in the city. When the town's 750th anniversary was celebrated in 1995 a group of enthusiasts re-created an original Haarlem beer and brewed it again. The beer is called Jopenbier, or Jopen for short, named after an old type of beer-barrel.Jopen Koyt and Jopen Adriaan are based on old recipes from 1402 and 1407 respectively. Jopen Adriaan is named after the windmill
De Adriaan
De Adriaan is a windmill in the Netherlands that burnt down in 1932 and was rebuilt in 2002. The original windmill dates from 1779 and the mill has been a distinctive part of the skyline of Haarlem for centuries.-Goevrouwetoren:...
that re-opened in 2002. Jopenbier also features a bock beer
Bock
Bock is a strong lager of German origin. Several substyles exist, including maibock or helles bock, a paler, more hopped version generally made for consumption at spring festivals; doppelbock, a stronger and maltier version; and eisbock, a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer...
and a light beer ("spring beer"). Jopenbier is now generally available again, mainly in the Haarlem area. Initially the beers were brewed at brewery De Halve Maan in Hulst
Hulst
Hulst is a municipality and a city in southwestern Netherlands in the east of Zeelandic Flanders.- History :Hulst received city rights in the 12th century....
but now they are brewed at De Koningshoeven, the brewery of La Trappe
La Trappe
La Trappe is :*La Trappe Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Soligny-la-Trappe, France*a brand of Trappist beers brewed by De Koningshoeven Brewery...
, in Tilburg
Tilburg
Tilburg is a landlocked municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant.Tilburg municipality also includes the villages of Berkel-Enschot and Udenhout....
. A local chess-club is called "De Haarlemse Jopen".
Harlem, Manhattan
In 1658, Peter StuyvesantPeter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...
, the Director-General
Director-General of New Netherland
This is a list of Directors, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, of the 17th century Dutch province of New Netherland in North America...
of the Dutch colony of Nieuw Nederland (New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
), founded the settlement of Nieuw Haarlem in the northern part of Manhattan Island as an outpost of Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
) at the southern tip of the island. After the English
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
capture of New Netherland in 1664, the new English colonial administration renamed both the colony and its principal city "New York," but left the name of Haarlem more or less unchanged. The spelling changed to Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
in keeping with contemporary English usage, and the district grew (as part of the borough of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
) into the vibrant center of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
culture in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
generally by the 20th century.
Twin cities
OsnabrückOsnabrück
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...
, 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...
, since 1961 Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, since 1964 Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(friendship link) Mutare
Mutare
Mutare is the fourth largest city in Zimbabwe, with a population of around 170,000. It is the capital of Manicaland province.-History:...
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
See also
- People from Haarlem
- Zuid-Kennemerland National ParkZuid-Kennemerland National ParkNationaal Park Zuid-Kennemerland is a national park in the province Noord-Holland, the Netherlands, west of Haarlem, within the municipalities of Bloemendaal, Velsen and Zandvoort. It includes the southern portion of the region known as Kennemerland. The park was established in 1995.- Geography...
- HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
External links
- Map of Haarlem and surroundings
- Bus map with stops
- Haarlem Shuffle: English language resources for Haarlem, the Netherlands
- Haarlem Paintings by Jacob van Ruisdael
- Ride the 50 km (31 mi). long bicycle route to explore Haarlem and its surroundings.
- Video tour of Haarlem
- Haarlem Coffeeshop Tour (Google Earth)
- Photo of electric train at Haarlem Station c1931
- Bloemencorso Bollenstreek
- Bevrijdingspop
- Haarlem Jazzstad
- Haarlem Culinair
- Haarlemse Stripdagen
- Haarlemmerhoutfestival
- Patronaat