Delft

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For other uses, see Delft (disambiguation).
Delft
City and Municipality
Historic centre of Delft with Nieuwe Kerk and Oude Kerk

Flag
Coat of arms
Highlighted position of Delft in a municipal map of South Holland
Location in South Holland
Coordinates: 52°1′N 4°22′E / 52.017°N 4.367°E / 52.017; 4.367Coordinates: 52°1′N 4°22′E / 52.017°N 4.367°E / 52.017; 4.367
Country Netherlands
Province South Holland
Government[1]
 • Body Municipal council
 • Mayor Bas Verkerk (VVD)
Area[2]
 • Total 24.06 km2 (9.29 sq mi)
 • Land 22.82 km2 (8.81 sq mi)
 • Water 1.24 km2 (0.48 sq mi)
Elevation[3] 0 m (0 ft)
Population (November 2013)[4]
 • Total 100,051
 • Density 4,384/km2 (11,350/sq mi)
Demonym Delftenaar
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postcode 2600–2629
Area code 015
Website www.delft.nl

Delft (Dutch pronunciation: [dɛɫft],  pronunciation (help·info)) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland (Zuid-Holland), in the Netherlands. Delft is located between the larger cities of Rotterdam and The Hague. Delft is primarily known for its historic town centre with canals; also for the painter Vermeer, Delft Blue pottery (Delftware), the Delft University of Technology, and its association with the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau.

History

The city of Delft erupted aside a canal, the 'Delf', which come from the word delven, meaning digging, and led to the name Delft. It presumably started around the 11th century as a landlord court.

From a rural village in the early Middle Ages Delft developed to a city, that in the 13th century (1246) received its charter.<br>(For some more information about the early development, see the article "Gracht", section "Delft as an example").

The town's association with the House of Orange started when William of Orange (Willem van Oranje), nicknamed William the Silent (Willem de Zwijger), took up residence in 1572. At the time he was the leader of growing national Dutch resistance against Spanish occupation of the country, which struggle is known as the Eighty Years' War. By then Delft was one of the leading cities of Holland and it was equipped with the necessary city walls to serve as a headquarters.

After the Act of Abjuration was proclaimed in 1581 Delft became the de facto capital of the newly independent Netherlands, as the seat of the Prince of Orange.

When William was shot dead in 1584, by Balthazar Gerards in the hall of the Prinsenhof, the family's traditional burial place in Breda was still in the hands of the Spanish. Therefore, he was buried in the Delft Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), starting a tradition for the House of Orange that has continued to the present day.

Delft Explosion

The Delft Explosion, also known in history as the Delft Thunderclap, occurred on 12 October 1654 when a gunpowder store exploded, destroying much of the city. Over a hundred people were killed and thousands wounded.

About 30 tonnes (66,138 pounds) of gunpowder were stored in barrels in a magazine in a former Clarissen convent in the Doelenkwartier district. Cornelis Soetens, the keeper of the magazine, opened the store to check a sample of the powder and a huge explosion followed. Luckily, many citizens were away, visiting a market in Schiedam or a fair in The Hague. Artist Carel Fabritius was wounded in the explosion and died of his injuries. Later on, Egbert van der Poel painted several pictures of Delft showing the devastation. The Delft Explosion is the principal reason why Delft University of Technology maintains explosion science as a key topic within its research portfolio and graduate skill-set.

Delft in 1652 (Blaeu)
Egbert van der Poel: A View of Delft after the Explosion of 1654
View of Delft by Johannes Vermeer, 1660–1661
The Gemeenlandshuis and the Old Church in (1877) by Cornelis Springer,

Sights

The city centre retains a large number of monumental buildings, whereas in many streets there are canals of which the borders are connected by typical bridges,[5] altogether making this city a notable tourist destination.[6]

Historical buildings and other sights of interest include:

  • Oude Kerk (Old Church). Buried here: Piet Hein, Johannes Vermeer, Anthony van Leeuwenhoek.
  • Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), constructed between 1381 and 1496. It contains the Dutch royal family's burial vault, which between funerals is sealed with a 5,000 kg (11,023 lb) cover stone.
  • A statue of Hugo Grotius made by Franciscus Leonardus Stracké in 1886, located on the Markt near the Nieuwe Kerk.
  • The Prinsenhof (Princes' Court), now a museum.[6]
  • City Hall on the Markt.
  • The Oostpoort (Eastern gate), built around 1400. This is the only remaining gate of the old city walls.
  • The Gemeenlandshuis Delfland, or Huyterhuis, built in 1505, which has housed the Delfland regional water authority since 1645.
  • The Koninklijk Nederlands Legermuseum, the national museum of the Royal Dutch Army housed in the Armamentarium.
  • The Vermeer Centre in the rebuilt Guild house of St. Luke.
  • The historical "Waag" building (Weigh house).
City sight ("Vrouw Juttenland")
Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)
Delft City Hall
The Eastern Gate ("Oostpoort")
Legermuseum (Army museum)
"Gemeenlandshuis"
Oude Kerk ("Old church")
"Koornbeurs"

Culture

Delft blue is most famous but there are other kinds of Delftware, like this plate faience in rose

Delft is well known for the Delft pottery ceramic products[6] which were styled on the imported Chinese porcelain of the 17th century. The city had an early start in this area since it was a home port of the Dutch East India Company. It can still be seen at the pottery factories De Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles (or Royal Delft) and De Delftse Pauw.

The painter Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) was born in Delft. Vermeer used Delft streets and home interiors as the subject or background of his paintings.[6] Several other famous painters lived and worked in Delft at that time, such as Pieter de Hoogh, Carel Fabritius, Nicolaes Maes, Gerard Houckgeest and Hendrick Cornelisz. van Vliet. They all were members of the Delft School. The Delft School is known for its images of domestic life, views of households, church interiors, courtyards, squares and the streets of Delft. The painters also produced pictures showing historic events, flower paintings, portraits for patrons and the court, and decorative pieces of art.

Education

TU Delft buildings
Site at business park "Delftechpark"

Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) is one of three universities of technology in the Netherlands. It was founded as an academy for civil engineering in 1842 by King William II. Today well over 16,000 students are enrolled.

The UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, providing postgraduate education for people from developing countries, draws on the strong tradition in water management and hydraulic engineering of the Delft university.

Economy

In the local economic field essential elements are:

Nature and recreation

East of Delft a relatively vast nature and recreation area called the "Delftse Hout" ("Delft Wood")[7] is situated. Apart from a forest, through which bike-, horseride- and footpaths are leading, it also comprises a vast lake (suitable for swimming and windsurfing), narrow beaches, a restaurant, community gardens, plus campground and other recreational and sports facilities. (There is a possibility to rent bikes at the station).

Inside the city apart from a central park there are also several smaller town parks, like "Nieuwe Plantage", "Agnetapark", "Kalverbos" and others. Furthermore there's a Botanical Garden of the TU and an arboretum in Delftse Hout.

Springtime in Delft
The Delftse Hout lake
Site at Delft City park
"Nootdorpse Plassen", (partly) a Delft nature area
"Plantagegeer", one of Delft several smaller city parks

Notable people

Delft was the birthplace of among others these famous persons:

Before 1900

Michaëlla Krajicek

After 1900

Otherwise related

Miscellaneous

One of the 6 different Nuna cars
  • Nuna is a series of manned solar powered vehicles, built by students at the Delft University of Technology, that won the World solar challenge in Australia five times, of which four in a row, (in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007) and one in 2013.
  • The so-called "Superbus" project aims to develop high speed coaches capable of speeds of up to 250 kilometres per hour (155 mph) together with the supporting infrastructure including special highway lanes constructed separately next to the nation's highways; this project is led by Dutch astronaut professor Wubbo Ockels of the Delft University of Technology).
  • Members of both Delft Student Rowingclubs Proteus-Eretes and Laga have won many international trophy's, among which Olympic medals, in the past.[11]
  • In this town, where once Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered existence of microbes and later on viruses were discovered, since 2001 a (1994 at The Hague set up) foundation is settled, that is promoting contemporary philosophy of life called "Vivism",[12] according to which it's very important for mankind to respect life and well-being of all kinds of creatures, including microbes.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Netherlands

Twin towns — Sister cities

Delft is twinned with:[13]

Transport

Trains stopping at these stations connect Delft with, among others, nearby cities of Rotterdam and The Hague, up to every five minutes, for most of the day.

There are several bus routes from Delft to similar destinations. Tram lines frequently travel between Delft and The Hague via special double tracks crossing the city. One of those two lines is still under construction inside Delft and is meant to connect The Hague with a science park, which being developed on the southern (Rotterdam) side of Delft and is a joint project by the Delft and Rotterdam municipalities.[16]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Maak kennis met..." [Meet...]. Burgermeester Verkerk (in Dutch). Gemeente Delft. Retrieved 18 July 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten" [Key figures for neighbourhoods]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013. 
  3. ↑ "Postcodetool for 2611GX". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 18 July 2013. 
  4. ↑ "Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand" [Population growth; regions per month]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  5. ↑ Bridges in Delft
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Martin Dunford (2010). The Rough Guide to The Netherlands. Penguin. p. 169. ISBN 978-1-84836-882-8. Retrieved 24 November 2011. 
  7. ↑ Delftse Hout images on Commons
  8. ↑ Nico Haak song on youtube
  9. ↑ Tee Set hit on youtube
  10. ↑ Jody Bernal hit on youtube
  11. ↑ List of trophy's won by Proteus-Eretes members
  12. ↑ www.vivism.info
  13. ↑ (source: Delft municipality guide 2005)
  14. ↑ "List of Twin Towns in the Ruhr District". © 2009 Twins2010.com. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
  15. ↑ Images of the "Spoorzone-project"
  16. ↑ "Nieuwe tram -en buslijnen" [New tram and bus lines]. Traffic and Transit (in Dutch). Haaglanden Urban Regio. Retrieved 16 March 2013. 

Further reading

Published in the 19th century
  • "Delft", A Handbook for Travellers on the Continent (8th ed.), London: John Murray, 1851 
  • "Delft", Belgium and Holland (6th ed.), Leipsic: Karl Baedeker, 1881 
Published in the 20th century
  • "Delft", Belgium and Holland (15th ed.), Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1910, OCLC 397759 
  • "Delft", The Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.), New York: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1910, OCLC 14782424 
Published in the 21st century

External links

Find more about Delft at Wikipedia's sister projects
Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
Travel guide from Wikivoyage
 Rijswijk, The Hague
Midden-Delfland Pijnacker-Nootdorp
   Delft  
Rotterdam
   Municipalities of South Holland


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