Harderwijk

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Harderwijk is also a village in the Dutch municipality of Opmeer.

Country	Netherlands
Harderwijk

Province	Gelderland
Area (2006)
- Municipality	48.27 km² (18.6 sq mi)
- Land	38.46 km² (14.8 sq mi)
- Water	9.81 km² (3.8 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2007)
- Municipality	42,057
- Density	1,094/km² (2,833.4/sq mi)
	Source: CBS, Statline.
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)

Harderwijk is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands.

The grote kerk (Dutch for "large church") in Harderwijk

1 Population centres
2 The city of Harderwijk
3 History
4 Veluwe
5 Born in Harderwijk
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Population centres

Harderwijk
Hierden

[edit] The city of Harderwijk

Harderwijk received city rights from Count Otto II of Guelders in 1231^[1]. A defensive wall surrounding the city was completed by the end of that century. The oldest part of the city is near where the streets Hoogstraat and Grote Poortstraat are today. Around 1315 the city was expanded southwards, which included the construction of what is now called the Grote Kerk (Large Church). A second, northward expansion took place around 1425. Particularly along the west side of town much of the wall still exists, although often not in entirely original form. This also goes for the only remaining city gate, the picturesque Vischpoort.

Harderwijk was a member of the Hanseatic League. It lies on what used to be the Zuider Zee shore (Southern Sea, now the IJsselmeer) and consequently its economy was strongly based on fishing and seafaring in general. This dramatically changed after 1932, when the Zuiderzee was cut off from the North Sea for safety reasons.

Between 1648 and 1811 the University of Harderwijk operated in the city. Carolus Linnaeus graduated at this university. The university, together with the universities of Zutphen and Franeker was abolished by Napoleon.

Today, Harderwijk is probably known best for the Dolfinarium, a marine mammal park where dolphin shows are held and various other marine mammals and fish are kept.

[edit] History

Harderwijk used to be situated at the Zuiderzee and was an important fishingcity. There were markets where the whole region would come to to buy fish etc. Nowadays there aren't much fishing boats in the harbor anymore. Mostly yachts and touristships. You can still see how important the fishing was to Harderwijk on so-called Aaltjesdag, which means Eelday. On this day you can find people wearing traditional garment and singing traditional sailor songs. This garment usually consist of blue sweaters for the men and somewhat Volendam-like dresses for the women. Throughout the whole year except November, December, January and February you can buy fish at fishstands and restaurants on the boulevard. Tourists are common customers there, while the locals aren't living much from fish anymore. The sales of fish at this touristic parts of Harderwijk therefore gives a somewhat wrong view of the local population.