Damme (Belgium)

Dams
	Dams
	Dams
State :	Belgium
Region :	Flanders
Province :	West Flanders
District :	Bruges
Coordinates :	51 ° 15 ′ N , 3 ° 17 ′ E Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ′ N , 3 ° 17 ′ E
Area :	89.52 km²
Residents:	10,993 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density:	123 inhabitants per km²
Post Code:	8340
Prefix:	050
Mayor:	Joachim Coens ( CD&V )
; Local government address :	Vissersstraat 2a ; 8340 Moerkerke (Damme)
Website:	www.damme.be

Damme is a city in West Flanders , Belgium with 10,993 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019). With its cozy town center, it attracts many tourists when visiting Bruges or the Belgian North Sea coast as an excursion destination.

structure

The sub-municipalities of Damme are: Damme itself, Hoeke, Lapscheure, Moerkerke, Oostkerke and Sijsele (Sijsele and the associated district Rostune (Rostuyne) are among the oldest fiefdoms in the county of Flanders ).

history

From the middle of the 11th century, the Wadden Sea off Bruges increasingly silted up and the place lost direct access to the sea. After a flood in the early 12th century, a dike was built. Behind the Dwarsdam was the place that was granted city rights in 1169 . In the Middle Ages , Damme was at times the outer port of Bruges. On July 3, 1468, the Duke of Burgundy , Charles the Bold , and Margaret of York married in Damme . Like Bruges, Damme lost its importance through the silting up of the Zwin bay towards the end of the Middle Ages. The writer Charles de Coster had La Légende de Thyl Ulenspiegel (see also Till Eulenspiegel ) set in Damme in the 19th century , which was the basis for Damme today to present itself as a “ book village ”. In addition to restaurants and hotels, there are numerous bookstores and a regular book market.

Attractions

The center of the village is the Gothic town hall from 1468. Before that, it was a warehouse and market hall.

There is a memorial to the poet Jacob van Maerlant in the forecourt .

From the year 1225 the great style comes Scheldt Gothic style built in Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk .

Damme attracts bibliophile visitors with its eight second-hand bookshops .

Town twinning

Damme ( Germany ), since 1986

photos

Gothic town hall in Damme
Damme: panorama of the city
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwkerk (Church of Our Lady) in Damme

Footnotes

^ Wilfried Koch : Architectural Style. European architecture from antiquity to the present . Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-570-06234-1 , p. 178.

Web links

Commons : Damme (West Flanders) - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Dam in the Topographia Circuli Burgundici (Mathäus Merian) - sources and full texts

Wikivoyage: Damme (Belgium) - travel guide

[1] Wilfried Koch : Architectural Style. European architecture from antiquity to the present . Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-570-06234-1 , p. 178.