IJ (Amsterdam)

The IJ and port area in Amsterdam

The IJ ( Dutch Het IJ - pronounced [ ɛɪ ]) was originally an arm of the Zuiderzee in the Dutch province of North Holland , on which the historic port of Amsterdam was located. With the construction of the North Sea Canal , the IJ was polded up to the planned canal route and separated from the Zuiderzee at the eastern end by the IJ dam. The waterways on both sides of the dam have since been referred to as the Inner IJ and Outer IJ ( Buiten-IJ ).

Surname

The name IJ comes from the Germanic words Aa , Ae or Die for "water or waters". In Dutch, the name consists of the digraph Ĳ , which is interpreted as a single letter , which is why when substituting the two letters IJ, both are always capitalized at the beginning of a word.

history

The course of the IY 1850

Amsterdam 1544, north is down

At the southern end of the former North Sea bay Zuiderzee, the IJ extended as a side arm for around 30 kilometers to the west and ended with the Wijkermeer at the dunes of Velsen . Until the middle of the 19th century, there was the narrowest point in North Holland with a width of only seven kilometers.

As early as the 12th century, a dike was built along the south bank from the Gooi - east of Amsterdam - to the dunes in Kennemerland in the west, in order to protect the lower-lying parts of the country against the floods of the North Sea. After the recurring dike breaches on the IJ with the necessary extensions, the Spaarndammerdijk , the Haarlemmerdijk and the Sint Antoniesdijk , which continued within the city as the Zeedijk , emerged west of the city of Amsterdam . The latter was later replaced by the Hoogte Kadijk , the Zeeburgerdijk and the Diemer Zeedijk . Today street names in Amsterdam testify to these dike lines.

On the north side of the IJ there is a chain of dikes called Noorder IJ- en Zeedijk . Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the dike villages Durgerdam , Schellingswoude , Nieuwendam and Buiksloot were built here .

The task of building the dyke was and is still vital for the existence of the Netherlands. For this reason, it was seen as a national and communal task very early on and assigned to special water associations . These associations, known as Waterschapen , are considered to be the oldest form of self-government in the Netherlands, dating back to the 13th century. As a result of mergers, there are now a total of 21 Waterschapen, which take care of the water management in the respective region across all provinces . As the dikes maintain .

In the middle of the 19th century the decision was made to build the North Sea Canal, which was to connect the port of Amsterdam with the North Sea over a short distance. For this purpose, the IJ was polded up to the planned canal route and the dunes at Velsen were broken through. To the north of Spaarndam there is still a remnant of the unpolded inlet called Spaarndamer IJ . The seaport of IJmuiden with the large lock system was built at the western end of the canal . The eastern end of the canal is marked by the IJ dam northeast of central Amsterdam, where the Orange Locks connect to the Zuiderzee.

The first 7 km to the west between the IJ embankment and today's port of Amsterdam were referred to as the inland IJ , which now separates Amsterdam's city center from Amsterdam-North . The eastern part behind the IJ dam became the Outer IJ or IJmeer and is part of the Markermeer that has been separated from the IJsselmeer since 1976 by the Markermeer dike .

The water level in the North Sea Canal is kept at NAP -0.40 meters (NAP = Normaal Amsterdam Peil = Amsterdam level ) via the sluice and the pumping station in IJmuiden . In contrast, the water level in the Markermeer is 20 centimeters higher in summer at NAP -0.20 meters. In winter the Markermeer is dammed only slightly higher in order to be able to absorb the higher runoff during the season. The IJsselmeer, together with the Markermeer, is the largest freshwater reservoir in the Netherlands and provides drinking water for over one million inhabitants.

Artificial islands

Looking north to the IJ and Amsterdam Centraal

Three islands were built into the IJ at the level of the former mouth of the Amstel . The sand from the dunes near IJmuiden, which was produced when the North Sea Canal was built, could be used as material. Amsterdam Central Station ( Amsterdam Centraal ) was built on these islands ; as a result, the inner city of Amsterdam was separated from the IJ and the port area was moved.

In the eastern part of the Inner IJ, the eastern port area was created on artificial peninsulas at the end of the 19th century. A residential area was built there at the end of the 20th century. In the IJmeer , work has been going on for a number of years on the new district of IJburg , which is also located on washed-up land.

Before the construction of the America Harbor began, a polder was created in which the three islands of Ruigoord , DeHoorn and Jan Rebellenwaard were located.

Fort Pampus is located on an artificial island in the IJmeer . The fort belongs to the former defense ring around Amsterdam ( Dutch Stelling van Amsterdam ).

traffic

Since 1897 there has been a regular ferry service between the Centraal-Station and Amsterdam-Nord. Car ferries used to operate, today only pedestrian ferries. Today car traffic is routed via the three tunnels Coentunnel , IJtunnel and Zeeburgertunnel as well as a road bridge, the Schellingwouderbrug .