Monnickendam
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| The town centre (dark green) and the statistical district (light green) of Monnickendam in the municipality of Waterland. |
Monnickendam (usually Monnikendam in English)() is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Waterland, and lies on the coast of the IJsselmeer, about 8 km southeast of Purmerend. It received city rights in 1355 and suffered a lot of damage during the fires of 1500 and 1513.
Monnikendam was also the name of a warship in the Anglo-Dutch Wars.
Monnickendam was a separate municipality until 1991, when it was merged into Waterland.[1] Although it is a small fishing village today, it was an important port in earlier centuries. It possesses a seventeenth century weigh house, once used by merchants and port officials, and a bell tower that dates form 1591. The fourteenth century church of St. Nicholas, renovated in 1602, is particularly notable. The synagogue was built in 1894.[2] Jewish families named Monnikendam trace their roots to this town.
The town was the site of an artist's colony in the early twentieth century.
In 2001, the town of Monnickendam had 9546 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 1.34 km², and contained 3766 residences.[3] The wider statistical area of Monnickendam has a population of around 9680.[4]
[edit] Notable people associated with Monnickendam
Hermann Jung (about 1608-1678) was a famous Lutheran theologian and preacher in Monnickendam, a friend of Jan Amos Comenius and a correspondent of Philipp Jakob Spener. He was an early representant of the Lutheran pietism in the Netherlands.
Cf. Reinhard Breymayer: Jung (Junge, Jungius), Hermann. In: Biografisch lexicon voor de geschiedenis van het Nederlandse protestantisme, deel 4. Kampen 1998, 239-240.
'Gekke' Fred (1834-1897) was a well known fisherman from Monnickendam who became famous for revolutionizing the Dutch fishing industry. His most notable invention was the so called "vis op wielen", which inspired left-wing politician 'Manke' Leo to ban traditional fishing methods in the province of North-Holland. 'Gekke' Fred was burned for witchcraft in Grobbendonk, after trying to sell his 'vis op wielen' to a Belgian convoy in Jakarta, Indonesia. This act is rumoured to have lead to the burning of six Belgian fishermen in Vlissingen in 1907.
[edit] References
- ^ Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, "Repertorium van Nederlandse gemeenten", KNAW, 2006. [1]
- ^ Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning, by Carol Herselle Krinsky - 1996 ,p. 68
- ^ Statistics Netherlands (CBS), Bevolkingskernen in Nederland 2001 [2]. Statistics are for the continuous built-up area.
- ^ Statistics Netherlands (CBS), Gemeente Op Maat 2004: Waterland [3].
[edit] External links
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