Purmerend


Purmerend is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The city is surrounded by polders, such as the Purmer, Beemster and the Wormer. Purmerend's population grew relatively slowly until the 1960s, when it increased from around 10,000 to over 80,000 by 2020. This expansion has turned Purmerend into a commuter town; many inhabitants work, go to school or spend leisure time in Amsterdam. Purmerend is part of the Randstad, one of the largest conurbations in Europe.
The municipality of Beemster merged into the municipality of Purmerend on 1 January 2022. The extended municipality has a population of about 96,000.

History

Early history

Purmerend was created out of the small fishing village Purmer, which was situated on the land between the Purmermeer, the Beemstermeer and the Wormermeer on the south bank of the river, which used to connect the former Purmermeer and Beemstermeer.
Purmerend was founded by a rich banker and landowner from Amsterdam, Willem Eggert. Count William VI of Holland gave him permission to build a fortified castle, Slot Purmerstein, in 1410. The castle was completed in 1413. This led to the foundation of the town of Purmerend. The castle was demolished in 1741, after it had fallen into decline.
In 1434 Purmerend was given city rights and in 1484 “marktrechten”, by Count Jan van Egmond. This meant merchants from outside of Purmerend could sell in the market. Before 1484 only food for its own population could be sold.

17th century

By 1500 Purmerend had grown considerably, as can be seen on maps from this period. The town had a rectangular shape and was crossed by two roads: one leading north–south, the other east–west. The draining of the Beemster Lake in 1612 and the Purmer Lake in 1622 resulted in a great loss in fishing grounds to Purmerend. However, the new and fertile soil favoured agriculture and livestock breeding, making Purmerend prosperous again. Purmerend now became the centre of an agricultural region, the produce of which was sold on the markets of Purmerend.

19th century

From 1819 till 1824 the Noordhollandsch Kanaal was constructed. It was dug along existing waterways like the Oude Vaart, which connected Purmerend to the IJ opposite Amsterdam, and along canals that connected Purmerend to Alkmaar. On 20 July 1821 the large Schutsluis Purmerend was completed just west of the city center.
The Noordhollandsch Kanaal brought increased prosperity to Purmerend. In 1840 the company Brantjes en Comp, trading in wood, was founded. The Firma Dirk Bakker also started to import wood. Meanwhile, Firma Pont from Edam diverted her imports over Purmerend via the Where river. Ships from Norway, Sweden, Russia and America then started to make direct trips to Purmerend to bring wood. Sometimes 12 of these were present at the same time.
The increased commerce and shipping led to the creation of an industry that catered for ships. In turn Purmerend merchants started to equip whalers. In 1866 the establishment of a tow service with 7 tugboats by Gebroeders Goedkoop was one of the last highlights of this period. By about 1880 this boom period for Purmerend was ending, because the new North Sea Canal diverted traffic elsewhere.

20th century

During World War II Purmerend was occupied by German forces on 14 May 1940. After five years of occupation, the city was liberated by Canadian and other allied forces on Wednesday 9 May 1945.

21st century

Purmerend was named Kermisstad van Nederland in 2003. The city is also well known for its cattle market, the so-called koemarkt, where cattle are sold and traded, mostly cows and sheep. After the outbreak of many cattle diseases between 1995 and 2001 the cattle market was closed, but reinstated on a smaller scale in January 2002.
After 400 years in a location in central Purmerender, in 2008 the cattle market was moved to the "Baanstee Oost" industrial area, on the north side of Purmerend. This was done for various reasons, including reduced traffic congestion and more parking space in the city centre, as well as more room for auction grounds and ease of moving trucks at the new site.

Geography and climate

Geography

Purmerend lies on a swampy and watery area known as Waterland. When the first settlers began cultivating the land, it consisted mostly of turf, they dug ditches that run parallel to each other to drain excess water. As a side effect of this process, the land began to sink. This resulted in a never-ending battle against the water, and made agriculture near impossible at the time. It also meant that any structure needed to be built on an artificial Terp or natural hill. This applied to Purmerend which was built on the bank of the river De Where, that linked the former Beemster and Purmer lakes.

Topography

Districts

Purmerend is made up of the following districts.
The municipality of Purmerend also contains the towns/hamlets of Purmerbuurt and partially the Purmer.

Climate

Public transport

Public transportation is mainly focused on Amsterdam, with several bus services and a train service via Zaandam.
There are 3 train stations in Purmerend, in the north, centre and south.
These are:
  • Purmerend Overwhere
  • Purmerend
  • Purmerend Weidevenne
The bus station in Purmerend is called "Tramplein". Historically, a tram ran from Amsterdam Centraal to Purmerend, ending at the Tramplein. The end stop retained the name even after the tram service was discontinued.
In 1951 The Ramblers had a hit commemorating the tram service "’t Boemeltje van Purmerend".
In 2019, the province of North Holland revealed plans to extend the Amsterdam Metro's Noord-Zuidlijn from Noord station to Purmerend.

Local government

The municipal council of Purmerend consists of 37 seats, which divided as follows in the elections of November 2021:
Party2021
Stadspartij Purmerend9
PvdA5
VVD4
CDA3
Ouderenpartij AOV Purmerend3
D663
GroenLinks3
PVV2
FvD2
Leefbaar Purmerend1
Gemeentebelangen Purmerend1
PB211
Total37

These were the first elections for the new enlarged municipality that included Beemster. It commenced work on 1 January 2012.
Since 22 September 2022 the mayor of Purmerend has been Ellen van Selm.

Born in Purmerend

Notable people born in Purmerend:

Twin towns — sister cities

Until 2017, Purmerend was twinned with: