Ameland
 flag |
 coat of arms |
| province |
 Fryslân
|
| mayor | Leo Pieter Stoel ( VVD ) |
| Seat of the municipality | Ballum |
|
Area - land - water |
268.5 km 2 58.66 km 2 209.84 km 2 |
| CBS code | 0060 |
| Residents | 3,685 (Jan 31, 2019) |
| Population density | 14 inhabitants / km 2 |
| Coordinates | 53 ° 27 ' N , 5 ° 45' E |
| prefix | 0519 |
| Postcodes | 9161-9164 |
| Website | Homepage of Ameland |
 |
|
Ameland is one of the five inhabited West Frisian islands in the North Sea . She belongs to the Netherlands . The island is a popular holiday, travel and excursion destination for families, caravan campers, school classes and holiday camps. From the mainland you can reach Ameland with the ferries "Sier" and "Oerd" from Holwerd . The crossing usually takes 45 minutes. It's much faster with the water taxi. The capital of Ameland is Nes with numerous shopping opportunities .
geography
The island is north of Holwerd off the Dutch coast. Neighboring islands are Schiermonnikoog to the east and Terschelling to the west .
Creation of the island
The West Frisian Islands were formed around 10,000 years ago. After the last ice age, the Vistula glaciation, the sea level rose and filled the southern North Sea with water. Large bogs formed on the shore, overlaid with tidal heights such as sand and clay. The waves of the North Sea pushed sand ever further towards the coast and sandbanks formed off the coast. As the plants grew, they gradually grew taller and formed a closed dune cover. A few centuries after the beginning of our era, the sea broke the chain of dunes into individual parts. Water penetrated and flooded today's Wadden Sea. This is how both the West and East Frisian Islands came into being.
places
Ameland has 3685 inhabitants (as of January 31, 2019). There are four towns on the island (listed from east to west):
- Buren ( ) (715 inhabitants; as of January 1, 2017) is the easternmost village on the island. Originally a farming village, whose inhabitants supplemented their meager income with beach robberies ( Dutch: strandjutten ). The place is characterized in summer by the many holiday camps that find accommodation in converted farms. In the center of the village you can find some food stalls, a supermarket and some smaller shops.
- In Nes (1,225 inhabitants; as of January 1, 2017) is the port where the ferry from the mainland ( Holwerd ), 25 km northeast of the provincial capital Leeuwarden , docks. The tourist association, the natural history museum and the police station of the island as well as one of the two Ameland fire brigades can be found in Nes.
- Ballum (425 inhabitants; as of January 1, 2017) is a village west of Nes that is less influenced by tourism. This is where the island's town hall stands, on the spot where the Camminghas castle once stood. Near Ballum is the Ameland airfield, from which sightseeing flights over the island and flights to the mainland take place. The Roosdunen campsite is opposite the airport.
- In Hollum (1,260 inhabitants; as of January 1, 2017) there is the Bornrif lighthouse (built in 1880), which can be seen from almost anywhere on the island and offers a view of the entire island. The place is the largest village on the island.
- The town of Sier has now disappeared, it is said to have been in the west of the island, some wells that were excavated and the name of a ferry that connects Ameland with the mainland Holwerd still remind us of it . The second ferry "Oerd" is also named after a place in the east of the island that has long since disappeared. It is believed that the place was on the site of the dunes "Het Oerd" in the Ameland nature reserve.
history
The early history of the island is in the dark, there are hardly any sources or archaeological finds. However, with Pliny d. Ä. mentions an island which "is called Austeravia by the barbarians ... [and by the Roman general] Germanicus Glaesaria , because amber is made on it ...". Some authors think this is Ameland, which is controversial. It is also known that seafarers and fishermen used the island as a refuge from storms, which probably led to the first settlements. A church is said to have existed as early as 800, the church in Hollum stands on foundations from the beginning of the 12th century.
In 1398 the Dutch counts gave Ameland to Arend van Egmond as a fief . After 1400, however, Ameland soon withdrew from Dutch authority. The Landtag 1405 in Hartwerd (near Bolsward ) regulated the relationship between this island and Friesland; the agreement reached was tantamount to independence. It was confirmed by Philip the Good in 1428 and Charles the Bold in 1469 .
As on Terschelling, Frisian chiefs ruled the island of Ameland, first from the Jelmera family. Ritske Jalmera built a stone house ("stins"), a small castle, in Ballum around 1400. Then came the rule of the Donia family and finally from 1463 a Heringa, which later called itself Hayo von Cammingha. In 1474 the castle was officially assigned to him in a process, including hereditary maritime law. In 1494, the Roman-German King Maximilian I recognized Pieter Cammingha as the heir of Ameland.
The Camminghas ruled the island for two hundred years. They were essentially neutral. The Eighty Years' War is an example . The States of Friesland recognized this neutrality and independence, the States General and the States of Holland, however, raised claims on the island. There were some disputes with the water geusen . Ameland, like Terschelling, was briefly occupied in 1569.
The Cammingha family managed to survive into the second half of the 17th century. Frans Duco van Cammingha died childless in 1680. The rule of Ameland passed to three nieces in 1681 (family Theo Schwartsenberg Hohenlandsberg). In 1704 they sold the island for 170,000 guilders to Johan Willem Friso van Nassau-Dietz , inheritance holder of Friesland and Groningen . Ameland was initially in the hands of the Orange until they lost it again in 1795 by the French occupation. Ameland was added to the province of Friesland in 1801. When the independence of the Netherlands was restored in 1813, Ameland's status as Free Glory ended . The castle of the Camminghas, which was now occupied by the mayor, finally fell into the possession of the merchant Jan Scheltema, who bought it for demolition and had it razed to the ground in 1829.
In the 18th century, whaling was the main source of income for the islanders. In 1770 there were 128 seamen and captains living on the island, who went to sea in whalers and brought the island to an unprecedented level of prosperity. This heyday came to an abrupt end when, in 1777, many Amelands died in the Arctic pack ice , which was described in detail by the then commander Hidde Dirks Kat in his diary.
The number of inhabitants fell sharply over the years, and it was only with the construction of dikes that the island could be used for agriculture. Tourism has been playing an increasing role since the middle of the 20th century and has become the island's main source of income.
Tourism and transport
There have been children's camps on Ameland for at least 75 years, the first German children from the Lower Rhine came to the island in 1920 or 1921 for “ Kinderlandverschickung ”. Especially after the Catholic priest Edmund Janssen made contact with Ameland, farmers made their stables available, some of which have been renovated to provide the children with overnight accommodation. Many new group accommodations ("camps") have been added in recent years. During the summer holidays, 20,000 young people populate the island and are therefore a source of income that should not be underestimated. During the summer holidays of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Malteser Aid Service from the diocese of Münster in Buren sets up an outpatient clinic for the youth camps to relieve the local doctors. In addition, the diocese of Münster sends the so-called pastoral team in the same period, which organizes German-language church services, networks the holiday camps and offers them psychosocial counseling. In addition to group accommodation, there are four large campsites, a few hotels and a large number of holiday apartments on the island. The island is home to the smaller of the two airports on the West Frisian Islands. In 2001 it counted almost 6,000 take-offs and landings, which means that the number has more than doubled compared to 1986.
care
The island is supplied with energy by the Dutch natural gas producer ENECO . This operates natural gas production platforms off the island and had to build a supply line to connect them to the Dutch network.
Field tests for injecting hydrogen into the local natural gas network have been carried out on the island since the end of 2007 . For this purpose, a small group of houses near the main town of Nes was disconnected from the grid and connected to a separate supply station. The hydrogen content is currently 15% and can be increased to 20% if necessary.
Excursion destinations
The most popular excursion destinations on Ameland are the lighthouse and the long beach towards the North Sea. Another popular destination is the water playground "in de Vleyen" near Nes. In the immediate vicinity, the newly built nature center with its observation tower opened in June 2009 at the old location on Strandweg. There is also a flotsam and agriculture museum and the Nassau duck bunk in Buren, as well as the rescue museum and the “Sorgdrager” cultural history museum in Hollum. The seal and mussel trips to seal banks from the harbor are also known on Ameland. In Buren there is a small modern swimming pool with a children's pool, slide and a pool with normal depth. There is also the Strandexpress, which allows you to take a tour of the De Hon nature reserve. The old large swimming pool in Nes was shut down years ago due to lack of money and hygienic inadequacies.
Events
- in summer (mostly twice a month) - in winter (mostly monthly): watering the lifeboat "Abraham Fock"
- June: Ameland Beach Rugby Festival
- July: MadNes Festival
- August: Rye Festival in Nes
- September: The ETU Cross Triathlon ("Tri-Ambla") takes place annually on Ameland .
- November: Art market in Nes and on the entire island Art Month (Kunstmaand)
- The Ameland motorcycle Pentecost meeting in Duinoord took place until 2005
politics
In the local elections in 2018, the new local party AmelandEén won the election with more than two fifths of the votes. They form a coalition with the PvdA in the legislative period from 2018 to 2022 .
Municipal council
The municipal council has been formed as follows since 1982:
| Political party | Seats | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 | |
| AmelandEén | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 |
| Algemeen Belang Ameland | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4th | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| CDA | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| PvdA | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Ameland '82 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4th | 3 | 4th | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| VVD | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Christelijk Arbeid Ondernemend Partij | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | - |
| Concerns Combinatie Ameland | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| D66 | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Lijst De Jong | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| total | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
College of Mayors and Aldermen
The following people belong to the College van burgemeester en wethouders of the municipality of Ameland:
- mayor
- Leo Pieter Stoel ( VVD ; Appointed: January 16, 2020)
- Alderman
- Theo Faber (AmelandEén)
- Ellen Bruins Slot ( PvdA )
- Community Secretary
- Febo Perdok (acting)
badges and flags
Once upon a time, some Amelanders are said to have stolen wooden beams from the island of Terschelling at night in order to build a gallows. A well-known rhyme is: De Amelander schalken, stalen eens 3 barken, des avonds in de maneschijn, daarom zal dit hun wapen zijn .
The coat of arms was determined by royal decree on February 20, 1816 as follows: a shield, cut in the middle, the right half of gold, decorated with three black bars running from top left to bottom right, the left half is glazed and loaded with a growing moon in silver. The top of the shield is covered by a golden crown.
The appearance of the municipal flag was determined by a council resolution on June 27, 1950: four equal-high lanes of blue and yellow, with a crescent moon in the middle of the blue one, three black oblique wooden beams next to each other in the yellow lane.
Web links
- Website of the municipality of Ameland (Dutch)
- Ameland Tourist Board website (German, Dutch, English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Nieuwe burgemeester in Ameland. In: rijksoverheid.nl. Rijksoverheid, November 29, 2019, accessed January 16, 2020 (Dutch).
- ↑ Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand . In: StatLine . Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (Dutch)
- ↑ Pliny the Elder: Historia naturalis. Book VI, chap. 11 (42); in F. Waldmann: The amber in antiquity. Fellin 1883; in German translation.
- ^ William Smith: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London 1854
- ↑ Jacobus Hofstede u. a .: Human Activities . In: Wadden Sea Ecosystem , No. 19, 2005, p. 33, PDF
- ↑ a b Results of the local elections: 1982–2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 , accessed on December 29, 2018 (Dutch)
- ^ College speeches . In: ameland.nl . Gemeente Ameland, accessed December 29, 2018 (Dutch)
Noorderhaaks | Texel | Vlieland | Richel | Terschelling | Griend | Ameland | Rif | Engelsmanplaat | Schiermonnikoog | Simonszand | Rottumerplaat | Rottumeroog | Zuiderduintjes