Maassluis Facts for Kids

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Maassluis

Aerial view of Maassluis

Flag	Coat of arms

Location in South Holland

Government

• Body

Municipal council

Area

• Total

10.12 km² (3.91 sq mi)

• Land

8.49 km² (3.28 sq mi)

• Water

1.63 km² (0.63 sq mi)

Elevation

4 m (13 ft)

Population

(May 2014)

• Total

32,230

• Density

3,796/km² (9,830/sq mi)

Demonym(s)

Maassluizer

Time zone

UTC+1 (CET)

• Summer (DST)

UTC+2 (CEST)

Postcode

3140–3147

Area code

010

Maassluis (Dutch pronunciation: [maːˈslœys]) is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of 32,230 in 2014 and covered 10.12 km² (3.91 sq mi) of which 1.63 km² (0.63 sq mi) was water.

It received town rights in 1811.

History
- Jewish history
Economy
People born in Maassluis
- Sport
Image gallery
See also

History

Maassluis in 1867.

Maassluis was founded circa 1340 as a settlement next to a lock (in Dutch: sluis) in the sea barrier between the North Sea and Rotterdam. Originally Maeslandsluys, it was part of Maesland. In 1489 the settlement was sacked. During the Eighty Years' War, Philips of Marnix, lord of Sint-Aldegonde, started to build a defense wall but before its completion, the Spanish captured it in 1573 and Philips of Marnix was taken prisoner. A year later Maeslandsluys was looted by mutinous Spanish troops.

On 16 May 1614, Maeslandsluys was separated from Maesland by the counts of Holland and renamed Maassluis. This separation may have been religiously motivated: Maassluis was predominantly Protestant and Maasland Catholic. In 1624 the defense wall was demolished to make way for the Great Church, started in 1629. Construction stopped for five years because privateers from Dunkirk raided fishing boats from Maassluis, throwing their crew overboard. It was finished in 1639. On 4 December 1732, the Garrels Organ was inaugurated. Built from 1730 to 1732 by Rudolf Garrels, a pupil of Arp Schnitger, it was a gift by Govert van Wijn, ship-owner from Maassluis.

In 1811 Napoleon Bonaparte granted town rights.

During World War II, the working population was transferred to Germany for the war industry. Maassluis' ancient church was hit by allied bombers.

Dutch Topographic map of Maassluis, June 2015

Church: de Grote Kerk

Jewish history

The Jewish community had its own synagogue, a teacher, a singer and a ritual butcher. Its most common professions were salesman, street trader and butcher. The economy was vulnerable and community growth ended with the industrial revolution. The area became easier to reach and competition became too much. The number of Jews fell from 92 to eight between 1892 and 1930. A cause was the building of a railway in 1881 between Maassluis and Rotterdam. Most Jewish traders moved to Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam, which in the last decade of the 19th century had a growing Jewish population.

Integration in Maassluis ended during the Second World War. The Coltof and Van Gelderen families were deported in 1942 and murdered in Auschwitz.

Economy

Maassluis was historically dependent on the fishing near the coast and off Iceland. In the 19th century the tugboat company, L. Smit, and the marine salvage company W.A. van den Tak merged to become Smit-Tak, now a division of the world's largest salvage company, Smit International. Also, there is still a large shipping agency called Royal Dirkzwager. Maassluis is now mainly a commuter town for Rotterdam.

People born in Maassluis

Abraham Kuyper, 1905

Bartholomeus Meyburgh (1624-1708) a Dutch Golden Age painter of portraits and history
Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) journalist, theologian & Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1901/1905
Louis Fles (1872-1940), businessman, activist and author
Cornelis Lievense (1890-1949) businessman, president of the Union Banking Corporation
Arie Bijl (1908–1945) a Dutch theoretical physicist and WWII resistance man
Maarten 't Hart (born 1944) biologist and writer
Agnes van Ardenne (born 1950) a retired Dutch politician and diplomat
Niko Koffeman (born 1958) a Dutch politician and animal rights activist
Chris Woerts (born 1959) former journalist, businessman interested in sport