Almelo


Almelo is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres are Almelo itself and the villages of Aadorp, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek. Almelo has about 75,000 inhabitants in the middle of the rolling countryside of Twente, with the industrial centres of Enschede and Hengelo as close neighbours but also with tourist towns like Ootmarsum, Delden and Markelo only a bicycle ride away.
Almelo received city rights in 1394. Within the city limits lies the castle of the Counts of Almelo. Located in the city centre is Huize Almelo, a castle that in its current form dates back to 1662 but is not open to the public.
The city is also known for its local association football club Heracles Almelo, which plays in the Eredivisie, the highest football league in the Netherlands, and uses the Erve Asito stadium. Some of the Almelo population speak the Tweants dialect.
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History

The name Almelo comes from the Germanic words alma and lauha.
The city had a moat, but no walls, and therefore never held any military significance. Huis Almelo likely existed since the 12th century and remains in the hands of the Van Rechteren Limpurg family to this day. For centuries, the family held various rights in the city of Almelo, including the right to administer justice.
After the then lord of Almelo, Zeger van Rechteren banned the practice of Catholicism in 1664, the nuns of the St. Catherine Monastery in Almelo left in 1665 and settled 300 meters across the German border, just southwest of Glane in the Netherlands, in a monastery they named Maria Vlucht. After the monastery was closed, the church treasures were dispersed throughout the region.
At the end of the 19th century, textile emerged as a major employer and drew many workers to Almelo, at first from within the Netherlands.
The municipality of Almelo was formed from a merger between the municipalities of Ambt Almelo and Stad Almelo.

World War II

During World War II, Almelo was one of the locations where the Twente raid took place in September 1941. Ten Jewish men were arrested in Almelo and perished in the Mauthausen concentration camp. A monument commemorating the 242 Jews from Almelo who died, as well as those who hid them, stands in the Almelo Jewish cemetery.
On 15 November 1944, eight resistance fighters against the Reichskommissariat Niederlande regime robbed the De Nederlandsche Bank on Wierdensestraat. The loot amounted to 46.1 million guilders, the largest haul ever during a robbery in the Netherlands.

After war

Since the 1960s workers from Spain and Turkey came to Almelo. The first mosque of the Netherlands was built in Almelo in 1976 for the Turkish population of the city. Almelo also has a sizeable number of Armenians who built their own Armenian Apostolic Church in 2003.
In the 1970s the industry dwindled and most factories were relocated to countries with cheaper labour. Some factories remain in the city centre and are now in use for apartments or offices.

Economy

Currently, a major employer in Almelo is Urenco Nederland. This is a uranium enrichment plant which uses the gas centrifuge method and produces uranium with about five percent U-235, for nuclear reactors. An industrial bakery, Bolletje, Malvern Panalytical, the Stichting Ziekenhuisgroep Twente and the regional court are also major employers.

Demographics

As of 2020, Almelo has a total population of about 73,107. The city has a significant Turkish population.
2020Numbers%
Dutch natives53,86673.6%
Western migration background7,62010.4%
Non-Western migration background11,62115.9%
Armenia~7,00010%
Turkey5,7978%
Indonesia2,2403.06%
Morocco565
Netherlands Antilles and Aruba362
Suriname340
Total73,107100%

Transport

Almelo has 2 railway stations:
The main station is Almelo and offers links to Hengelo, Enschede, Amersfoort, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Utrecht, Gouda, Rotterdam, The Hague and Zwolle. There is also a train every 2 hours into Germany serving cities such as Osnabrück, Hannover and Berlin.
There are mosaics which decorate the walls of the tunnel close to the railway station.

Sports

Football

Heracles Almelo, a professional football club playing in the Eredivisie is based in Almelo.

Cycling

Since 1983 Almelo has organised the Profronde van Almelo, an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle racing event.

Notable people

Sports

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Almelo is twinned with: