Wormer

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Wormer is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Wormerland, and lies about 13 km northwest of Amsterdam.

In 2006, the town of Wormer had 12566 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town is 16.88 km² (of which water: 4.19 km²).^[1]

The town is situated in the Zaan district, on the eastern side of the river Zaan, across from Wormerveer. The town is surrounded by the nature area Wormer- en Jisperveld.

The village of Oostknollendam, the polder Schaalsmeer (reclaimed in 1631), the polder Enge Wormer (reclaimed in 1634) and a part of the Markerpolder also historically belong to the area of Wormer.

Wormer was a separate municipality until 1991, when it became a part of the new municipality of Wormerland.^[2]

1 History
2 Wormer in the news
- 2.1 The holes of Wormer
- 2.2 ADM Cocoa Wormer Distribution Centre Fire
3 Famous (former) residents of Wormer
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Founded by the Wijnodians and mentioned already in 1063 in a list of the abbey of Egmond as Weremere, Wormer is one of the oldest towns in the Zaanstreek. The inhabitants of Wormer repulsed several attacks of the Frisians and West Frisians in 1280. Floris V, Count of Holland rewarded this with an exemption from paying toll in Holland, an important privilege at that time. Important skirmishes between Spanish troups and the Geuzen took place in Wormer during the Eighty Years' War. At Whitsunday (Pentecost) 30 May 1574, 1400 Spanish soldiers tried to capture Wormer and Jisp. They were crushingly defeated by a combined force of locals, Geuzen and filibusters, bringing an end to the Spanish tyranny in the Waterland area. In the following century Wormer became very prosperous from the production of beschuit (rusk). At least 130 bakeries in the town were once supplying the countless ships of the Dutch East India Company. Other important industial activities in the town during this period were the production of starch and the processing of whale blubber. At least 66 windmills were once built in Wormer, but nowadays only one windmill (de Koker) has been preserved.^[3]

[edit] Wormer in the news

[edit] The holes of Wormer

In 1959, farmers Jongert and Grevers discovered strange holes of about 60 cm in diameter on their land in Wormer. For a brief period, Wormer became the Dutch Roswell and film crews from all over the world came over to Wormer to cover this story and the following excavations and investigations. Several theories were proposed for what might have caused the holes, varying from rockets, meteorites, a part of the Sputnik to geological causes. The bomb squad of the Dutch army had received a budget of 2500 guilders and one week time to excavate the largest hole (the second hole had already been filled up with rubble by Grevers to prevent his cows from falling into it). One person of the bomb squad personnel claimed to have felt something hard at 28 metres depth, but at the discovery the time and money had run out and the project ended without conclusion. The hole was filled up afterwards.

Sixteen years later, at 19 August 1975, again a mysterious hole was discovered by farmer Dokter on his land in Wormer. This time no excavations were executed, but again the affair was cause of many wild theories, especially since several people claimed to have seen a fireball the evening before the discovery of the new hole. At present, no clear explanation for the phenomena have been given.

[edit] ADM Cocoa Wormer Distribution Centre Fire

At 18 December 2003, a warehouse containing cocoa powder caught fire in Wormer, due to an accident. Since cocoa powder fires are extremely difficult to exthinguish and liberate high quantities of thick smoke, the fire caused a lot of inconvenience and media attention. Over 1200 inhabitants of Wormer had to be evacuated. There were no casualties.

[edit] Famous (former) residents of Wormer

Thijs Al mountainbiker/cyclo-cross racer.
George Baker (Hans Bouwens, 1944) singer and songwriter of the George Baker Selection.
Martinus Duncanus (Maarten Donc, 1505 - †1590), writer and lecturer.
Rop Gonggrijp (1968), Hacker, Internet pioneer
Tim Klijn (1979), Dutch diskjockey at Radio 538
Robin Koenders canoer
Pieter Jan Leeuwerink (1962), Dutch international volleyballer († 2004)
G.W. Sok vocalist of anarcho-punk band The Ex
Henk Sprenger (1919), Dutch cartoonist († 2005)
Jan Jansz Struys adventurer/explorer 1631 - 1694
Terrie guitarist of anarcho-punk band The Ex
Thorwald Veneberg professional road bicycle racer.
Michiel Wijnands (1990) champion of pigeon cage cleaning.
Piet de Wit (1946) track bicycle racer, worldchampion stayering in 1966 and 1967.

[edit] References

^ Gemeente Wormerland, Cijfers en feiten, [1].
^ Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, "Repertorium van Nederlandse gemeenten", KNAW, 2006. [2]
^ C. Mol, Uit de geschiedenis van Wormer, Meyer Pers N.V., Wormerveer.