Amstelveen


Amstelveen is a municipality and city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands, with a population of 95,996 as of 2024. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area.
The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villages of Bovenkerk and Nes aan de Amstel. In addition, as well as Downtown Amstelveen, it contains the following neighbourhoods: Westwijk, Bankras-Kostverloren, Groenelaan, Waardhuizen, Middenhoven, Randwijk, Elsrijk and Keizer Karelpark. The name Amstelveen comes from the Amstel, a local river and veen, meaning fen, peat, or moor. Amstelveen houses the international headquarters of Dutch national airline KLM and KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms. The Cobra Museum is also located in Amstelveen.

History

During the French occupation between 1810 and 1814, Amstelveen was the capital of a canton in the French department Zuyderzée, and until 1964 the municipality of Amstelveen was called Nieuwer-Amstel. It is technically a large dorp, because it was never walled. The Amstelveen flag and coat of arms, both present 5 strips in a red, black, red, black, red pattern, with three crosses on the top black strip, and a single cross in the middle of the lower black strip. The symbols bear great similarity to that of Amsterdam's, though the exact nature of the relationship remains unclear. The Thijssepark, was the first heempark in the Netherlands, and is one of sixteen heemparks or heemgroen in Amstelveen. Designed by landscape architect C. P. Broerse, following the ideas of the great Dutch naturalist and conservationist Jac. P. Thijsse, it was developed between 1940 and 1972 and covers an area of 5 hectares, and is situated just south of the Amsterdamse Bos. Amstelveen was chosen as an unlikely host of a match in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, for which the Netherlands had not qualified. South Africa played Kenya in the match. Former Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende started his political career as member of the council for Amstelveen. As a result of the vicinity of Schiphol, and its links to Amsterdam, Amstelveen has grown and become a cosmopolitan mix of many cultures.
In the early 20th century Amstelveen was a small rural village. The turf industry had collapsed, so the village had lost its revenues from it. The village was somewhat isolated, because it had no major railway or waterway. The main source of income was livestock farming, with some arable, but horticulture and floriculture were already emerging.
In 1852 the Haarlemmermeer polder was reclaimed and the "Fort at the Schiphol" was created as a defense for Amsterdam. Forts were in those days more often named after rivers. "Fort at the Schiphol" was a ditch separating Aalsmeer and Amstelveen, and named after a piece of land from Amstelveen. Fort Schiphol became a military airport in 1916. Four years later Schiphol became a civilian airport. Schiphol Fort was demolished in 1934 to build a provincial road from Amstelveen to Schiphol, with a swing bridge over the circular canal of the Haarlemmermeer. The development of Schiphol Airport attracted many people, many of whom settled in Amstelveen. The headquarters of KLM was established there. Amstelveen once was the fastest growing city in the Netherlands and has now grown to 91,691 inhabitants.
After World War II Amstelveen caught a portion of Amsterdam's housing shortage, and was also a member of the municipality of Schiphol. Amsterdam's plan was to introduce Amstelveen as a metropolitan area, with its urban and green areas. Amstelveen remained an independent and self-conscious municipality and adopted a policy that reflected many attractive new residential areas. Amstelveen's landscaping and added art attracted much international attention.
In 1993, Amstelveen was in the news for its Krokettenmotie, debated in the municipal council after a motion proposal by Jan Peter Balkenende. In 2004 Amstelveen was voted the most attractive city in the Netherlands in which to live. Currently Amstelveen is in the top three on the national list of best cities to live in. The Amstelveen city centre also received the number one award for the Netherlands' best shopping centre in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
In 2018 the St. Urbanus Church in Bovenkerk caught fire. The tower remained standing but the rest of the church suffered severe damage.
The city's close proximity to Schiphol Airport makes it a prime location for people working in the aviation industry.

Economy

Royal Dutch Airlines as well as the commercial organisation for the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg have their head offices in Amstelveen, although it is slated to leave in the future. Air France-KLM is represented by the KLM head office.
In addition, Amstelveen houses the international headquarters of Big Four accounting firm KPMG. Large international corporations such as Nestlé, Canon and Hewlett-Packard also have corporate offices in Amstelveen.

Transport

Amstelveen is served by two tram lines running south from Amsterdam Zuid station. Tram line 5 runs south via Amsterdam Zuid to Stadshart in Amstelveen. Tram line 25 runs between Amsterdam Zuid station and Uithoorn Centrum. Both tram lines serve stops between Amsterdam Zuid and Oranjebaan. Tram line 25 replaced a portion of Metro line 51 that used to run between Amsterdam Zuid station and Westwijk.
Amstelveen has a point-to-point bus connection to other villages and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as well as a local network. There is also an extensive bus system.

Tourism and attractions

  • Shopping Amstelveen city centre. This has received the number one award for best shopping center in the Netherlands in 2013, 2014 and 2015
  • Cobra Museum is located in the centre of Amstelveen.
  • Museum Jan, is centrehousing a glass art collection
  • A statue of Rembrandt overlooks the river Amstel, south east from the Amstelpark, where a windmill open to visitors is also situated
  • On the Amstel river is a cheese farm called Rembrandt Hoeve. It is about 1 mile from the Rembrandt Statue, accessible by bike, boat, car or bus.
  • An Electric Museum-tram line still connects Amstelveen to Amsterdam in the summer, passing by the Amsterdamse Bos and Olympic rowing lake

    Secondary education

  • The Hermann Wesselink College offers vmbo-tl, havo, vwo and bilingual education
  • The Keizer Karel College offers havo and vwo.
  • The Amstelveen College offers vmbo-tl, havo, and vwo
  • The Panta Rhei offers vmbo, optionally with leerwegondersteunend onderwijs

    Other education

  • The International School Amsterdam is located in Amstelveen.

    Local government

The municipal council of Amstelveen consists of 37 seats, which were in 2022 divided as follows:

Notable people

Public thinking & public service