Veere Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Veere

Ter Veere (Zeeuws)

The city of Veere in 2007

Flag	Coat of arms

Location in Zeeland

Country

Netherlands

Province

Zeeland

Government

• Body

Municipal council

Area

• Total

206.63 km² (79.78 sq mi)

• Land

133.13 km² (51.40 sq mi)

• Water

73.50 km² (28.38 sq mi)

Elevation

0 m (0 ft)

Population

(May 2014)

• Total

21,953

• Density

165/km² (430/sq mi)

Time zone

UTC+1 (CET)

• Summer (DST)

UTC+2 (CEST)

Postcode

4350–4379

Area code

0118

The municipality of Veere in 2015

Veere is a town and a municipality (which is like a local government area) in the southwestern Netherlands. It's located in the beautiful region of Walcheren, in the province called Zeeland. About 22,000 people live in the whole municipality, and around 1,500 live in the town itself.

Veere's Story: A Look Back in Time
Where is Veere?
- Towns and Villages in Veere
Fun for Tourists
Veere in Stories and Songs
Famous People from Veere
Images for kids
See also

Veere's Story: A Look Back in Time

The name Veere means "ferry." In 1281, a person named Wolfert Van Borssele started a ferry service and built a ferry house here. He called it the "camper-veer," which meant "Ferry of Campu." For a long time, especially in England, the town was known as Camphire. Later, it became simply "de Veer."

In the same year, 1281, Wolfert also built a castle called Sandenburg. It was built on one of the dikes he had created. In 1282, Count Floris V gave Wolfert the right to rule the land and the castle, including the ferry. From then on, Wolfert was known as Lord Van der Veer. Veere officially became a city in 1355, which meant it gained special rights.

The church in Veere, painted by Jan van der Heyden (1637–1712)

The "Admiraliteit van Veere" (Admiralty of Veere) was created in 1488. This was an attempt to set up a central navy office for the Burgundian Netherlands. Later, in 1560, this admiralty moved to Ghent. In 1561, the navy forces of the Habsburg empire also moved to Veere.

Veere was a very important trading port for Scotland from 1541 to 1799. In Scotland, it was known as Campvere. Before the wars between England and the Netherlands, Veere was a busy port. It imported many goods, including saffron from places like Wells in East Anglia.

Famous architects from Flanders, Antonis Keldermans and Evert Spoorwater, designed some of Veere's most important buildings. They designed the Grote Kerk (Great Church), the city's defenses, a water storage system called the Cisterne, and the town hall. During this rich period, the castle of Sandenburgh was a cultural center. It was home to the noble Van Borsele and Van Bourgondië families. A famous painter, Jan Gossaert van Mabuse, worked there. The poet Adrianus Valerius also lived and worked in Veere starting in 1591. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Veere was a thriving trading city. It had about 750 houses inside its walls back then, compared to about 300 in 2013.

At the start of Second World War, Veere had a Royal Netherlands Navy base for seaplanes. On May 12, 1940, German bombers attacked the base. On May 14, the seaplanes were told to leave for France and then England. They eventually ended up in the Dutch East Indies. On May 17, German soldiers crossed onto Walcheren island. By May 18, the Dutch forces on the island, including those in Veere, were told to give up. Veere was finally freed on November 7, 1944. Scottish troops of the British 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division liberated it during Operation Infatuate. As part of this operation, the island's sea dikes were bombed, causing much of the area to flood. Luckily, unlike many other towns on the island, Veere was mostly unharmed during the fighting.

In 1961, a dam was built across the Veerse Gat inlet. Because of this, Veere's fishing boats had to move to a new port in Colijnsplaat. Today, the main business in Veere is tourism.

The municipality of Veere became its current size in 1997. This happened after several nearby towns joined together. Over nearly 200 years, seventeen different small towns have merged to form the Veere we know today. Its original full name was Veere-de-Stad en Zanddijk-Binnen.

Where is Veere?

The town of Veere is located on the Veerse Meer lagoon. This lagoon is on the island of Walcheren in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands.

The entire municipality of Veere covers an area of about 135 square kilometers (13,496 hectares). It has a coastline of 34 kilometers and a population of around 22,000 people.

Towns and Villages in Veere

The municipality of Veere includes several towns and villages. Here are some of them with their populations from 2003:

Aagtekerke (1,479 people)
Biggekerke (895 people)
Domburg (1,481 people)
Gapinge (522 people)
Grijpskerke (1,377 people)
Joossesweg (20 people)
Koudekerke (3,620 people)
Meliskerke (1,477 people)
Oostkapelle (2,451 people)
Serooskerke (1,833 people)
Veere (1,520 people)
Vrouwenpolder (1,125 people)
Westkapelle (2,672 people)
Zoutelande (1,593 people)

Fun for Tourists

About 4 million tourists visit the Veere area every year! The main reasons people come here are the beautiful beaches and the marinas (places where boats are kept).

The Storm Surge Barrier on the Oosterschelde is the most popular place to visit in Zeeland. The Scoutcentrum Zeeland, located on the coast of the Veerse Meer, also attracts Scouts from all over the world.

Veere in Stories and Songs

Brian McNeill, 2006

The town of Veere is the setting for a book called "Van Loon's Lives" by Hendrik Willem Van Loon. This book, written in 1942, is a fantasy story where the main characters can magically bring famous historical people to their dinner parties. This leads to many funny situations! The book was written when Veere and the rest of the Netherlands were under Nazi control. Even though it's a light-hearted book, it shows how much the writer, who lived in the US, missed his home country.

A Scottish singer-songwriter named Brian McNeill wrote a song called "The Holland Trade." This song, from his album The Baltic tae Byzantium, is about the trade and cultural connections between Veere and Scotland that started in 1541.

Famous People from Veere

Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek, around 1810

Franca Treur, 2010

Many interesting people have connections to Veere and its surrounding villages:

Maryn Adriansen (born 1600 in Veere – died around 1654) was a boatswain who was one of the first settlers in New Netherland.
Peter Daane (born 1835 in Westkapelle – died 1914) was an American businessman and politician in Wisconsin.
Peter de Ru (born 1946 in Oostkapelle) is a photographer who lives in Sweden.
Maximiliaan de Vriendt (born 1559 at Zandenburg Castle, Veere – died 1614) was a poet who wrote in Neo-Latin.
Jurn de Vries (born 1940 in Vrouwenpolder) is a Dutch theologian, former politician, and journalist.
Nicolaas Everaerts (born 1461/62 in Grijpskerke – died 1532) was a Dutch lawyer and university professor.
Johannes Gabrielse (born 1881 in Westkapelle – died 1945) was a Dutch artist who worked in the Dutch East Indies.
Wim Hofman (born 1941 in Oostkapelle) is a Dutch author.
Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek (born 1778 in Veere – died 1851) was a Dutch painter and artist.
Aert H. Kuipers (born 1919 in Oostkapelle or Middelburg – died 2012) was a Dutch language professor who studied the languages of First Nations people in British Columbia.
Hans Peter Minderhoud (born 1973 in Westkapelle) is a Dutch dressage rider.
Matthijs Röling (born 1943 in Oostkapelle) is a Dutch painter, graphic designer, and artist.
Franca Treur (born 1979 near Meliskerke) is a Dutch writer and journalist.
Gerard von Brucken Fock (born 1859 in Koudekerke – died 1935) was a Dutch pianist, composer, and painter.
Hans Wijers (born 1951 in Oostburg) is a retired Dutch politician and has been the chairman of the ING Group since 2018.