Middelburg

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Middelburg municipality
Flag of the municipality of Middelburg
flag 		Coat of arms of the municipality of Middelburg
coat of arms
province Zeeland Zeeland
mayor Harald Bergmann ( VVD )
Seat of the municipality Middelburg
Area
 - land
 - water 		53.04  km 2
48.42 km 2
4.62 km 2
CBS code 0687
Residents 48,587 (Jan 31, 2019)
Population density 916 inhabitants / km 2
Coordinates 51 ° 30 ′  N , 3 ° 37 ′  E Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′  N , 3 ° 37 ′  E
height 3  m NAP
Important traffic route A58 E312 N57 N254 N660 N661 N663 N665
prefix 0118
Postcodes 4330-4340
Website Homepage of Middelburg
LocatieMiddelburg.png
Template: Infobox location in the Netherlands / maintenance / map
Stadhuis (town hall)
Stadhuis (town hall)Template: Infobox location in the Netherlands / maintenance / picture 1

Middelburg ( listen ? / I ) is a municipality and the capital of the Dutch province of Zeeland . Audio file / audio sample

Rouaansekaai

geography

Middelburg is located north of Vlissingen on the Walcheren peninsula in the province of Zeeland .

In addition to the city, the municipality also includes the towns of Arnemuiden , Kleverskerke , Sint Laurens and Nieuw- en Sint Joosland .

history

Prehistory and early history

The national oral interpretations want as the founder of Metelliusburg see (Middelburg) a legendary Metellius as Ulyssingen ( Vlissingen ) by Ulysses ( Odysseus ) itself and Zierikzee even after the home of Kirke should be named.

The story of Middelburg is likely to start much later. Celtic settlements on Zeeland and also in the area of ​​Middelburg are possible, a Roman settlement is even more than likely. But even if the first historical traces point to a time of Roman settlement and this settlement may even have been on the Arne in the area of ​​today's city, one can only speak of Middelburg with the 9th century.

The escape castle on which the future city is based was built around 880 to 890, as were other Zeeland festivals, which later became small cities ( Oostburg , Oost-Souburg , Domburg and Burgh ). The name of the city comes from here, as it was located in the middle between Soeburg (Südburg) and Domburg, in connection with the incursions of the Normans who attacked the country at that time.

Middle Ages and Renaissance

The Liebfrauen Abbey was founded in Middelburg around 1125 . It includes two churches, the Koorkerk ( Chork Church ) from the 14th century and the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) from the 15th century. The 85 m high tower of the Koorkerk, which bears the name Lange Jan , is a landmark of the city. Today the buildings of the abbey house the provincial administration and the "Zeeuws Museum".

Abbey, engraving from 1746
City plan in the 18th century

In 1217 Middelburg was granted city rights by Count Willem I and Countess Johanna von Flanders .

In the 15th century, the Sloe estuary to the east of the city was still navigable, which enabled Middelburg to develop into a prosperous trading town and at times even to be the most important after Amsterdam.

During the Dutch War of Independence in 1572, Middelburg sided with the Spanish Kingdom , but after a long siege, in 1574 the city switched to the side of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces under the direction of Wilhelm von Oranjen .

Between 1579 and 1585 Johan van Rijswijk equipped the city with a new wall with pointed bastions at the height of the technology of the time. The watercourse of the Arne, which serves as a city moat, was adapted to the requirements of the fortress construction.

In 1608 Hans Lipperhey invented the telescope in this town .

Towards the end of the 17th century, Middelburg had around 30,000 inhabitants, a large city for the time, making it the fifth largest city in the Dutch Republic. Both the VOC and the WIC had a branch here. Many street and house names still refer to the far-reaching foreign relations of Middelburg at that time.

18th and 19th centuries

Middelburg lost importance with the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War 1780–1784 and the occupation by the French shortly thereafter. In addition, the sloe silted up more and more and the harbor became increasingly difficult to reach. In 1815 a new canal was dug towards Veere. In 1878 the city was connected to the railway network.

Recent history

During the Second World War , the Wehrmacht attacked the Benelux countries on May 10, 1940; this was the first part of the western campaign directed against France . After the bombing of Rotterdam on the afternoon of May 14th, the Netherlands announced their surrender by radio at 8:30 p.m.

On Zeeland, an island that is easy to defend because of its location and its military development, Dutch and French troops ignored this; they kept fighting. Only when the German air force and French artillery bombed Middelburg on May 17, 1940, with the inner city of Middelburg being almost completely destroyed, they too surrendered.

In the autumn of 1944, Middelburg suffered badly from the bombings of the Western Allies. In addition, the city was partially submerged in October 1944 (Western Allied bombers had deliberately bombed dikes to flood large areas). In the course of the battle of the Scheldt estuary between October 2 and November 8, 1944, the 1st Canadian Army conquered Zeeland; Canadian troops captured Middelburg on November 6th. Two days later, the German resistance finally ended.

Of the masonry decorations of the late Gothic town hall, only the figures of the Zeeland counts and countesses created in 1458 survived the hail of bombs. Today they are back in their original place in the facade of the reconstructed building. The uninterrupted cityscape that looks historic today is based on a large-scale reconstruction that was planned in the post-war years.

The asteroid (346886) Middelburg has been named after the city since 2017 .

Arnemuiden

Arnemuiden , whose name means the mouth of the Arne , was a fishing village in the late Middle Ages. It is still a somewhat closed community, where traditional costumes are sometimes worn not only for going to church on Sundays . Many of the almost 5,000 inhabitants make their living from fishing or fish processing . Located in the lee of the island of Walcheren, the sea area in front of Arnemuiden was used as a roadstead in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period to wait for better weather or more favorable winds. This roadstead was important for both Middelburg and Antwerp . Arnemuiden even threatened to outstrip Middelburg in its development into the city. But since it was on the territory of Middelburg, the Middelburg city rulers forbade all port activities in Arnemuiden. With the silting up of the canal to Middelburg and the sea area in front of Arnemuiden, its importance also declined. A new canal was also dug past Arnemuiden. The roadstead shifts further into the Westerschelde in front of Fort Rammekens . Today Arnemuiden lies on polderland between the former islands of Walcheren and Südbeveland .

politics

Local elections 2018
 %
20th
10
0
18.7
11.8
11.5
11.3
11.0
10.5
10.2
8.8
6.3
Gains and losses
compared to 2014
 % p
   8th
   6th
   4th
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
+3.5
-1.4
+6.1
+0.9
-3.7
-0.7
+1.6
-1.2
-3.1
Distribution of seats in the municipal council

The local elections on March 21, 2018 resulted in the following distribution of seats:

Political party Seats
2006 2010 2014 2018
Local partij Middelburg - 4th 4th 6th
CDA 5 4th 4th 4th
GroenLinks 2 3 2 3
VVD 3 3 3 3
SGP 3 3 3 3
ChristenUnie 3 3 3 3
PvdA 7th 5 4th 3
D66 0 2 3 2
SP 3 2 3 2
Politieke Partij Middelburg 2 - - -
Middelburg Transparant 1 - - -
total 29 29 29 29

Attractions

  • Stadhuis Middelburg : one of the most important Gothic town halls in the Netherlands .
  • Abdij Onze Lieve Vrouw : Liebfrauenabtei, former monastery of the Premonstratensians from the 15th century, with the seat of the provincial administration. Renovated between 1948 and 1955 after the destruction of the Second World War.
  • Lange Jan : 91 m high, octagonal tower of the abbey.
  • St. Jorisdoelen: House of the rifle guild (copy), originally from 1582.
  • Oostkerk : Protestant central building with dome from 1667.
  • Lutherse Kerk : Baroque hall from 1742, former Evangelical-Lutheran parish church, today belongs to the Protestant community of Middelburg.
  • Engelse Kerk : Former monastery chapel of the Alexians (1471 to 1484)
  • Gasthuiskerk : Late Gothic chapel of the former St. Barbara hospital (1493/94)
  • Koepoort: City gate from 1753 in the style of Louis XIV.
  • Kuiperspoort: Warehouses of the Cooper's Guild from 1586.
  • City ramparts
  • Zeeuws Museum: Provincial Museum, with, among other things, an important collection of tapestries . The museum is located in a wing of the abbey.
  • Mini Mundi : Leisure park, contains the formerly independent model system Miniatuur Walcheren, in which buildings on the Walcheren peninsula are reproduced on a 1:20 scale.

The late Gothic Waalse Kerke of the former Begardenhof was destroyed in the Second World War . Middelburg had already lost two large Gothic sacred buildings, the West Minster Church of St. Maarten , which had dominated the market square in front of the town hall until 1575, and the North Minster Church of St. Pieter , which was closed in 1833. It was temporarily the episcopal church of the short-lived Diocese of Middelburg .

  • the town hall

  • The abbey

  • Inner courtyard of the abbey

  • Long Jan

  • View of Lange Jan from the train station

  • St. Jorisdoelen

  • Monumental building: the Kloveniersdoelen

  • The Oostkerk

  • City gate Koepoort

  • Kuiperspoort

  • Lutheran Kerk

  • de Londense Kaai

  • de Vlasmarkt

  • Mill: molen de hoop

  • Mill: de Seismolen

  • Blauwe of Gistpoort

Personalities

Sons and daughters

Personalities who worked on the spot

  • Elisabeth von Braunschweig (1230–1266), wife of the Roman-German King Wilhelm of Holland ; buried in the abbey church of Middelburg
  • Caspar Heidanus (1530–1586), Reformed theologian and preacher
  • Zacharias Janssen (around 1588 – around 1631), Dutch optician, who mostly lived in Middelburg
  • Hans Lipperhey (around 1570–1619), German-Dutch eyewear maker and inventor of the Dutch telescope (also called Galilei telescope)
  • Menasse ben Israel (1604–1657), Sephardic Jew, scholar, diplomat, writer, Kabbalist, printer and publisher; died in Middelburg

traffic

Middelburg is connected to the Dutch motorway network via the A58 (E312) and connected to Europoort via the N57 .

On Middelburg Railway Station every half hour hold IC . The trains also serve the Arnemuiden station , a village incorporated in 1971. By train you can get to Vlissingen or Rotterdam , Den Haag ( HS-Bahnhof ) , Leiden , Amsterdam and Lelystad without changing on the Zeeuwse Lijn .

Connexxion regional buses from Middelburg station go to the next towns.

Middelburg is the starting point of the LF13, one of the Landelijke Fietsroutes .

Located directly on the canal through Walcheren , it can also be reached by water.

economy

Middelburg has had a University College since 2004 - the Roosevelt Academy , founded by its sister university in Utrecht . It is the smallest university in the Netherlands and, besides the Hogeschool Zeeland, the only one in the province.

As the provincial capital, Middelburg is an important administrative center. There is the provincial administration, two courts and a prison. The city also has a lot of commerce and small businesses. Tourism, which also gives the retail trade a strong boost, is also an important economic factor.

Fishing is important in Arnemuiden.

Web links

Commons : Middelburg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Middelburg  - travel guide
Wikisource: Middelburg in the Topographia Circuli Burgundici (Mathäus Merian)  - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand . In: StatLine . Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (Dutch)
  2. ^ Illustration by Frans Hogenberg from 1574: The occupation of Middelburg. Here you can see in what form, To the prince's ship great power, ... ( digitized version )
  3. ↑ Middelburg . Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  4. ↑ JP Sigmond: Nederlandse zeehavens tussen 1500 en 1800 . Amsterdam 1989
  5. ↑ Result of the local elections ( memento of the original from April 7, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Gemeente Middelburg, accessed April 6, 2018 (Dutch) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.middelburg.nl
  6. ↑ Allocation of seats in the municipal council ( memento of the original from April 7, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Gemeente Middelburg, accessed April 6, 2018 (Dutch) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.middelburg.nl