Bloemendaal


Bloemendaal is a municipality and town in the Western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Bloemendaal is, together with Wassenaar, the wealthiest place in the Netherlands. It is located just west of Haarlem, on the North Sea.
In October 2015, after persistent problems with the local governance in Bloemendaal, the King's Commissioner of North Holland, Johan Remkes, threatened to disband the municipality if the problems were not resolved within a year. Bernt Schneiders, the mayor of Haarlem, was appointed acting mayor of Bloemendaal.

Population centres

The municipality of Bloemendaal consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts:

Local government

The municipal council of Bloemendaal consists of 19 seats, which after 2022 were divided as follows:
  • VVD – 5 seats
  • D66 – 4 seats
  • GroenLinks – 3 seats
  • Hart van Bloemendaal – 3 seats
  • CDA – 1 seat
  • PvdA – 1 seat
  • Liberaal Bloemendaal – 1 seat
  • Independent Bloemendaal – 1 seat
Since January 2009 Bennebroek, until then a separate municipality, became a part of Bloemendaal.

Railway connections

The municipality has two railway stations: Bloemendaal and Overveen. Both are served by Nederlandse Spoorwegen regional services.

Sports

Bloemendaal is home to one of the country's leading field hockey clubs, HC Bloemendaal. The men's first team competes for the Dutch Hoofdklasse title most years.

Thijsse's Hof

In 1925 Thijsse's Hof was created. It was the first wildlife garden in the Netherlands. It was given to Jac. P. Thijsse at the occasion of his 60th birthday. The garden still exists today.

National heritage sites

The town of Bloemendaal has 125 listings in the register of rijksmonuments.

Notable people

Sport