Heemskerk Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Heemskerk

Assumburg castle in Heemskerk

Flag	Coat of arms

Location in North Holland

Region

Amsterdam metropolitan area

Government

• Body

Municipal council

Area

• Total

31.67 km² (12.23 sq mi)

• Land

27.26 km² (10.53 sq mi)

• Water

4.41 km² (1.70 sq mi)

Elevation

2 m (7 ft)

Population

(May 2014)

• Total

39,078

• Density

1,434/km² (3,710/sq mi)

Demonym(s)

Heemskerker

Time zone

UTC+1 (CET)

• Summer (DST)

UTC+2 (CEST)

Postcode

1960–1969

Area code

0251

Heemskerk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦeːmskɛr(ə)k]) is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located in the Kennemerland region.

History
- Agricultural village
Transportation
Notable residents
- Sportspeople
Gallery
See also

History

The town was formed during the Middle Ages. In an official deed from the year of 1063, the town was known as Hemezen Kyrica, Latinized Frisian meaning Church of Hemezen, a Frisian nun who lived in a religious house there. Heemskerk knows many historical monuments, among them the Huldtoneel (lit. the "Inaugurate Stage"), an artificial hill located near the current Rijksstraatweg, where once the Counts of Holland were inaugurated. According to tradition, the Huldtoneel was used before the Roman Era as a Germanic sanctuary. In the nineteenth century Jonkheer Gevers finally made the Huldtoneel a monument - as it is known today - and ordered passers-by to honour the monument.

Many battles have been fought in Heemskerk. Two castles—Oud Haerlem Castle and Heemskerk Castle—were built in the twelfth and thirteenth century respectively to protect the County of Holland against the West Frisians. In the fifteenth century the residents of Heemskerk fought each other during the Hook and Cod wars, in which both castles were destroyed. The Oud Haerlem castle was never rebuilt, Castle Heemskerk however was. In 1492, a rebellion by the people of Kennemerland was brutally beaten down by the Austrian conquerors, on the place where today the cemetery of the Hervormde Kerk (Reformed Church) is located.

Dutch Topographic map of Heemskerk, June 2015

Castle Heemskerk circa 1630.

In 1610, the Castle Heemskerk was renamed to Castle Marquette and was at first the residence for many nobles and later inhabited by patricians. The last noble family that lived there were the House of Gevers. Today Castle Marquette is owned by the Spanish hotelgroup NH Hoteles and is the site of many weddings, conferences, and company courses, while the estate grounds are favoured for wedding photos.

Located on the eastside of Heemskerk is Castle Assumburg, built from the remains of Kasteel Oud Haerlem in 1546. The Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) at the Nielenplein and Kerkplein is built in 1628, but it has a tower from the Middle Ages. In the graveyard around the church is a copy of a monument dedicated to the father of painter Maarten van Heemskerck. The original is located inside the church.

Agricultural village

The old village around 1915-30.

After the time of knights and nobles, Heemskerk remained a small, quiet village near the dunes. Its residents, who mainly worked in agriculture and keeping cattle, had good, but also some very bad times. From the time that products—mainly strawberries for the neighbouring town Beverwijk, where the fruits were sold—were brought to the market with donkeys, people from Heemskerk got the name of Donkey as a nickname and symbol.

The former town hall was built in 1911 after a design by Jan Stuyt and was raised with an additional floor in 1949. Today this is the building where Janssen's notary office is located. The Roman Catholic Laurentiuskerk, designed by architect J. H. Tonnaer, was completed in 1891 and is a rare example of a Catholic church in Holland in a neo-renaissance style. There is nothing left of other historical monuments, like Castle Oud Haerlem.