Amstel (river)
|
Amstel Aeme office |
||
 Location of the Amstel |
||
| Data | ||
| location | North Holland | |
| source |
Aarkanal , South Holland 52 ° 12 ′ 24 ″ N , 4 ° 44 ′ 5 ″ E |
|
| muzzle |
Amsterdam Coordinates: 52 ° 22 '8 " N , 4 ° 53' 33" E 52 ° 22 '8 " N , 4 ° 53' 33" E
|
|
| length | 31 km | |
 Amstel near Amsterdam |
||
The Amstel ( Aeme-stelle , old Dutch name for irrigated area) is a 31-kilometer-long, canalized river in the south of North Holland . The area along the Amstel is known as Amstelland .
history
In the Middle Ages, the moorland (Dutch: veen ) was drained from the river . The area was used for agriculture, later peat was also extracted, which served as fuel. This resulted in the Amstelveen moor workers' settlement in this moorland west of Ouderkerk at the beginning of the 13th century .
The construction of a dam in the 13th century in the river mouth in the northern part of Nieuwer-Amstel gave rise to the fishing village of Amstelerdam , which was first mentioned on October 27, 1275 and was given town charter in early 1300. Due to the advantageous location on the Zuiderzee , the connection to Germany and further to Scandinavia and because of the river connection to Dordrecht and Antwerp , the settlement developed into a small town.
Originally the Amstel flowed past Rokin and Damrak into the IJ . Today the estuary is in the city center on Muntplein . The last part of the road along the Amstel is also called the Amstel. Today the Amstel flows into the IJ through pipelines under the filled-in parts of Rokin and Damrak, but most of the water is discharged via the canal system.
In the 17th and 18th centuries many rich citizens' residences were built along the Amstel. Most of them no longer exist. The houses Oostermeer and Westeramstel still stand on the Amsteldeich .
Course of the Amstel
The Amstel originally arose from the confluence of the Drecht and the Kromme Mijdrecht south of Uithoorn . Due to the canalisation and the construction of the Amstel-Drecht Canal , the old course is no longer clearly recognizable. Part of the former Amstel is now part of the Amstel-Drecht Canal, which begins at the confluence of the Drecht and the Aark Canal at Nieuwveen and continues to Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, where the Bullewijk flows. In total, the Amstel and its canal are 31 kilometers long. During the hot summer of 2003 , the direction of flow of the Amstel was reversed in order to supply the Groene Hart with sufficient water.
Bridges over the Amstel
Several well-known bridges lead across the Amstel in Amsterdam.
- Blauwbrug
- Skinny Brug
- Hogesluis
- Toronto Brug
- Nieuwe Amstelbrug (Ceintuurbaanbrug)
- Berlagebrug
- Utrechtsebrug
- Rozenoordbrug
literature
- Adriaan Brille, Nikki Brand: Amstelland. Land van water en veen. Uitgeverij Matrijs, 2005, ISBN 90-5345-260-5 (Dutch)
- Hildegard Kretschmer: Amsterdam. With Gooiland, Amstelland, Zaanstreek and Waterland. Artemis & Winkler Verlag, 1989, ISBN 3-7608-0758-5
