Sexbierum
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Sexbierum is a village in the municipality of Franekeradeel (province of Friesland), in the north of the Netherlands.
The village is famous for its contraction of the words "Sex", "Bier" (the Dutch word for beer) and "Rum". Because of this, the traffic sign of the village is subject to street sign theft.
In history the town is mentioned as Sixtebeeren (1322), or Sixtusbarra. The name Sixtebeeren is thought to derive from a combination of the name of the pope Sixtus II and the old Frisian word for house, bere.
In the Frisian language the village is called Seisbierrum. The village consists of about 600 houses and 1800 habitants, including the twin-village Pietersbierum. Both villages grew together in the late sixties of the 20th century.
Frisian is the main language in Sexbierum, but the Dutch language has an increasing influence. Since about 1972 the primary schools in Sexbierum switched to Dutch as main teaching language, instead of Frisian. Before 1972 the only lessons thaught in Dutch were the Dutch language lessons.
Sexbierum has three major religious groups: about 1/3 are non-religious, about 1/3 are Nederlands Hervormd and about 1/3 are Gereformeerd. Even though the latter two churches merged in 2004, this still plays some role in day-to-day society. Some of the clubs and foundations stipulate in their statutes that the representative-background must be according to this division (see also Pillarisation).
Sexbierum is located about 7 kilometers north-east of Harlingen, about 7 kilometers north-west of Franeker, and about 100 kilometer north-west of Amsterdam, the capital of The Netherlands.
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