Vlaardingen
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| Vlaardingen | |
| Country | Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Province | South Holland |
| Area (2006) | |
| - Municipality | 26.71 km² (10.3 sq mi) |
| - Land | 23.76 km² (9.2 sq mi) |
| - Water | 2.95 km² (1.1 sq mi) |
| Population (1 January 2007) | |
| - Municipality | 71,314 |
| - Density | 3,001/km² (7,772.6/sq mi) |
| Source: CBS, Statline. | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
Vlaardingen (pronunciation (help·info)) is a city in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas/Nieuwe Waterweg river where it connects with the Oude Maas. On the east the city is separated from Schiedam by a motorway. Other places nearby are Maassluis to the west and Schipluiden and Delft to the north. The city forms a gemeente (municipality) which administers an area of 26.71 km², of which 23.81 km² is land, with 71,938 residents (in May 2006).
The "Haring en Bierfeest" (herring and beer festival) is held each year on the first Saturday of June. In 2003 the mayor decided to close this festivity, because there was a lot of fighting in the city. At the moment this event is called "Vlaardings Loggerfestival".
The centre of the city is on the west side of the old harbour, which is a widened section of the canal (Vlaardingse vaart) which runs from Vlaardingen to the northwest. Some historical buildings in the centre are the Grote Kerk (big church), the old city hall, the Waag (Weighbridge), the Visbank (Fishing Bank) and the Oude Lijnbaan (literally the Old Line Road, where in the past ropes were made).The Grote Kerk was probably established between 1156 and 1164 and has been expanded, damaged and rebuilt over the centuries. To the north of the old harbour is the old windmill, which is still in operation and sells ground cereals. The harbour itself now seems to be occupied mainly by recreational and antique boats. Near the harbour is a fishing museum.
A Unilever research centre is located in Vlaardingen. There are still some ship repair business(es) in east Vlaardingen beside the Nieuwe Maas River.
Contents |
[edit] History
The area around Vlaardingen was already settled by about 2900BC to 2600BC. In 1018 it was a stronghold of Dirk III, who defeated an army of HRE Henry II in the Battle of Vlaardingen. Vlaardingen later became a ship-building area and a significant harbour for the herring fishing industry. The fishing boats ceased to use Vlaardingen in the years after World War II.
It received city rights in 1273.
[edit] Policing
Mayor: mr. T.P.J. Bruinsma (PvdA)
Seats in the city council after the municipal elections in March 2006:
- Labour Party (PvdA), 12 seats
- Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), 5 seats
- Socialist Party (SP), 4 seats
- People's Party for Democracy and Freedom (VVD), 4 seats
- Vlaardingen Ahead 2000/Livable Vlaardingen (VV2000/LV), 3 seats
- GreenLeft (GL), 3 seats
- Christian Union/Political Reformed Party (CU/SGP), 2 seats
- General Union for the Elderly (AOV)), 1 seat
- City Interests Vlaardingen (SBV), 1 seats
Coalition: PvdA+CDA+GroenLinks (12+5+3=20).
Aldermen:
- A. Attema (PvdA),
- J. Versluijs (PvdA)
- C. Oosterom (CDA)
- B.E. van der Velde (GreenLeft),
- City secretary: mr. ing. J. Brinkman
[edit] Notable people
- Bassie en Adriaan, actors in a children's tv-show
- Wouter Bos, politician, leader of the Dutch Labour Party PVDA
- Frieke Buys, swimmer
- Wilma van Hofwegen, swimmer
- Mark Huizinga, gold medal winner on the olympics - judo
- Karen Mulder, supermodel
- Martyn LeNoble, bassplayer
- Ted van de Parre, World's Strongest Man (1994)
- Roel Pieper, internet businessman
- Winston Post, actor, model & deejay
- Denise Post-Van Naaldwijk, former Vengaboy (girl), married to Winston Post
- Remi Poppe, politician, member of the Socialist Party SP
[edit] External links
- Alles over de historie van vlaardingen -- http://www.vlaardingen.tk
- Gemeente Vlaardingen -- http://www.vlaardingen.nl
- http://www.sdu.nl/staatscourant/gem/gem494zh.htm
- Detailed Cito-plan map
- Detailed Falkplan map
