Purmerend
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| Purmerend | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country |  Netherlands |
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| Province |  North Holland |
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| Region | Holland |
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| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Leen Verbeek - (PvdA)[1] | ||
| - Aldermen | J.Th. Engels - (PvdA) J. Krieger - (VVD) V.D.M. Nijenhuis - (CDA) B. Daan - (PvdA) |
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| - Secretary | Mw. S. Borgers | ||
| Area (2006) | |||
| - Total | 24.56 km² (9.5 sq mi) | ||
| - Land | 23.74 km² (9.2 sq mi) | ||
| - Water | 0.82 km² (0.3 sq mi) | ||
| Population (1 November 2007) | |||
| - Total | 78.307 | ||
| - Density | 3,283/km² (8,502.9/sq mi) | ||
| - Randstad | 6,659,300 | ||
| - Demonym | Purmerender | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC) | ||
| Postcode | 1440-1448, 1481AR | ||
| Area code(s) | 0299 | ||
| Website: www.Purmerend.nl | |||
.png/280px-Bevolkingspiramide_-_Gemeente_Purmerend_(2007).png)
Purmerend [5] is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.
The city is surrounded by polders, such as the Purmer, Beemster and the Wormer. The city became the trade center of the region but the population grew relatively slow. Only after 1960 did the population start to grow from around 10.000 to the current 78.307 people (1 November 2007). From the 1960s onwards, Purmerend has seen major expansions. These expansions added new suburbs, providing homes for people working in Amsterdam. This expansion continues to the present date. Purmerend is part of the Randstad, one of the largest conurbations in Europe.[2]
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[edit] History
[edit] Early history
Purmerend was created out of the small fishing village the Purmer, which lay on the land between the Purmermeer (Purmer lake), the Beemstermeer (Beemster lake) and the Wormermeer (Wormer lake). On the south bank of the river de Weere, which used to connect the former Purmer lake and Beemster lake.
Purmerend was founded by a rich banker from Amsterdam, Willem Eggert. In 1410 he was allowed, by HRH Count William VI of Holland (Willem VI van Holland), to build his own fortified castle, Slot Purmersteijn. Construction on the castle was finished in 1413[3] and it remained standing until it was demolished in 1741 after it had fallen into decline.[4] In 1434 Purmerend was given city rights. And on 21 April 1484 (Some sources claim 14 April 1484) the city was given “marktrechten” (the right to organise two “jaarmarkten” annual markets and a “weekmarkt” weekly market) by Count Jan van Egmond.[3][5][6] This meant merchants from outside of Purmerend could now offer there merchandise for sale on the market. Before 1484 only food products for its own population were allowed to be sold.[7]
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[edit] 15th century
By 1500 Purmerend had grown considerably, as can be seen on maps dating from that time period. They show that the town had a rectangular shape and was crossed by two roads: one leading north-south, the other east-west. The draining of the Beemster Lake in 1612 and the Purmer Lake in 1622 meant a great loss in fishing grounds to Purmerend. However, the new and fertile soil favoured agriculture and livestock breeding, making Purmerend prosperous again. Purmerend now became the centre of an agricultural region, the produce of which was sold on the markets of Purmerend.
[edit] 20th century
During World War II Purmerend was occupied by Axis forces on 14 May 1940 when the Kingdom of the Netherlands capitulated to Nazi Germany after the bombing of Rotterdam. World War II ended for Purmerend when it was finally liberated from the Axis invaders on Wednesday 9 May 1945 by allied soldiers. After almost 5 years of occupation.[8]
[edit] 21st century
Purmerend was named Kermisstad van Nederland.[9] (Funfair City of the Netherlands) in 2003. After the funfair Purmerend is most famous for its cattle market, the so called Koemarkt (Cattle market), where cattle are sold and/or traded, most commonly cows and sheep. [6] After the many cattle diseases of the between 1995 and 2001 this has no longer been allowed. It was reinstated on a smaller scale on January 2002.[5]
After 400 years, 2008 saw the last cattle auction at the original location in downtown Purmerend. The auction was moved to the "Baanstee Oost" industrial area, in the north of Purmerend. This was decided for various reasons: freeing up downtown traffic congestion, allow more parking area downtown, more room for auction grounds and ease of moving trucks around at new site.
[edit] Geography and Climate
[edit] Geography
Purmerend lies on a swampy and watery area known as Waterland. When the first settlers began cultivating the land, consisting mostly of turf (veen), they dug ditches that run parallel to each other to drain excess water. As a side effect of this process the land began to sink. This resulted in a never ending battle against the water. And made agriculture near impossible at the time. It also meant that any structure needed to be build on an artificial Terp or natural hill. The former being true for Purmerend which was build on the bank of the river de Where, that linked the former Beemster and Purmer lakes.
[edit] Districts
Purmerend is made up of the following districts.
- Centrum ('het stadje')
- Zuiderpolder
- Overwhere-Noord
- Overwhere-Zuid
- De Gors
- De Gors-Zuid
- De Gors-Noord
- West
- Purmer-Zuid
- Purmer-Noord
- Wheermolen
- Weidevenne
- Baanstee-West
- Baanstee-Oost
- Baanstee-Noord
- De Koog
- Molenkoog
- Hazepolder
The municipality of Purmerend also contains the towns/hamlets of Purmerbuurt and partially the Purmer. (The Purmer is shared with Edam-Volendam and Waterland)
[edit] Climate
| Month | JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high °C (°F) |
5.4 (41.7) |
6.0 (42.8) |
9.2 (48.6) |
12.4 (54.3) |
17.1 (62.8) |
19.2 (66.6) |
21.4 (70.5) |
21.8 (71.2) |
18.4 (65.1) |
14.1 (57.4) |
9.2 (48.6) |
6.5 (43.7) |
13.4 (56.1) |
| Avg low °C (°F) |
0.5 (32.9) |
0.2 (32.4) |
2.4 (36.3) |
4.0 (39.2) |
7.8 (46.0) |
10.4 (50.7) |
12.5 (54.5) |
12.3 (54.1) |
10.2 (50.4) |
7.0 (44.6) |
3.9 (39.0) |
1.9 (35.4) |
6.1 (43.0) |
| Source: [KNMI http://www.knmi.nl/] | |||||||||||||
[edit] Public transportation
Public transportation is mainly focused on Amsterdam, with several bus services and a train service via Zaandam.
The bus station in Purmerend is called "Tramplein" (or, Tram Square), but not because any trams run in Purmerend today. History is that a tram ran from Amsterdam Centraal to Purmerend, ending at the Tramplein location. Although the tram service discontinued years ago, the end stop has remained named Tramplein.
[edit] Local government
The municipal council of Purmerend consists of 35 seats, which are divided as follows:
| Party: PvdA VVD Leefbaar Purmerend SP CDA AOV Stadspartij P'93 GroenLinks D66 |
Seats: - 9 seats - 6 seats - 5 seats - 4 seats - 3 seats - 3 seats - 2 seats - 2 seats - 1 seats |
The mayor of Purmerend is Leen Verbeek. [1] (PvdA)
[edit] Born in Purmerend
Notable people born in Purmerend:
- Jan Stuyt (1868), architect
- Pieter Oud (1886), minister of finance and mayor of Rotterdam
- Jacobus Oud (1890), architect
- Mart Stam (1899), architect, urban planner, and chair designer
- Hans Klok (1969), illusionist
- Vincent van der Voort (1975), darts player
[edit] Sister cities
Purmerend currently has one sister city:
[edit] Sources
- Statistics have been taken from the SDU Staatscourant
- ^ a b (Dutch) http://www.nieuwsbank.nl/inp/2003/03/28/R167.htm
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randstad
- ^ a b (Dutch) http://www.waterlandziekenhuis.nl/frames.html?readform&page=http://www.waterlandziekenhuis.nl/paginas/4CC61895197C4C43C1256F6D002E9636
- ^ (Dutch) http://www.kasteleninnoordholland.nl/Kasteelbeschrijvingen/PurmersteinPurmerend.htm
- ^ a b (Dutch) http://www.purmerend.nl/eCache/INT/102.html
- ^ Museum of Purmerend - [1]
- ^ (Dutch) http://www.purmerendsmuseum.nl/nl/museum_en_collectie/purmerend_marktstad/
- ^ (Dutch) http://www.nieuwsbank.nl/inp/2005/05/05/R058.htm
- ^ (Dutch) http://www.plaatsen-gids.nl/Purmerend/
- ^ (Dutch) Official Purmerend Website - [2]
- ^ (Czech) Official Jihlava website - [3]
- ^ (Dutch) Official blog of the Mayor of Purmerend - [4]
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