Hillegom
Encyclopedia
Hillegom is a town in the western Netherlands
, in the province of South Holland
. The municipality covers an area of 13.48 km² (8.38 mile²) of which 0.61 km² (0.38 mile²) is water.
The name Hillegom is derived from the abbey
named Hijlighem (Old Frankish
for "Holy Home"). This abbey no longer exists.
It is bordered by the municipalities of Bloemendaal
, Bennebroek
(to the north), Haarlemmermeer
(to the east), Lisse
(to the south), and Noordwijkerhout
(to the west).
Hillegom is part of an area called the Duin- en Bollenstreek
("Dune and Bulb Region"). As such, a large portion of the local economy was traditionally geared to the cultivation of bulb flowers.
s where the old Leiden to Haarlem
route crossed the Hillegommerbeek (Hillegom's Creek), not far from the shores of the Haarlemmermeer
(Haarlem's Lake). Places with the suffix "-heim" (or variant spellings) usually developed before the year 1000 and therefore it is assumed that this may apply to Hillegom as well. In 1150 the abbot
of Egmond
had the rights to naming priests in Hillegom, indicating that a church or chapel existed there. In 1248 the count Willem II gave the Chapel of Hijllinghem and all its buildings to the Abbot of Egmond.
In the middle of the 14th century, Hillegom gained some prominence when the count
s of Holland convened there 3 times for council. In 1369, there were 46 houses with a population of 283, growing to 67 houses and 412 people in 1477.
During the Eighty Years' War, Hillegom found itself several times between the opposing Spanish and Dutch Rebel armies, resulting in its near destruction in 1577. But after the middle of the 17th century, the area became prosperous through the cultivation of fruits and vegetables, growing on the sandy soil of fields dug out the dunes.
In 1722, the rich Amsterdam merchant Jan Six II bought the fiefdom
Hillegom and built improvements, including a stone bridge over the Hillegommerbeek and a pump in the village square as well as paving a portion of the main road. In 1749, he purchased Het Hof (The Courtyard), an estate
in the centre of Hillegom. At this time, there were many other estates of rich merchants and stadtholder
s in Hillegom, such as Bethlehem, Oostende, Horstendael, Weeresteyn, Treslong, Duin en Weg, Meer en Dorp, Het Hof, Lapinenburg and Elsbroek (many of these names survive as neighborhood names). The population grew to 930 in 1732 and to 1050 in 1795.
But during the 19th century, the beauty of the area and its estates slowly began to disappear. Developers bought the estates, cut down the forests, and excavated the sand dunes to create fields for bulb
flower cultivation. This process accelerated in 1904 when a lime-sand brick factory was built just south of Hillegom, which needed large amounts of sand. By early 1920s, all estates had disappeared, except for Het Hof which became Hillegom's town hall. This same period saw the rapid growth of the bulb flower industry and Hillegom's population, up to 8800 in 1916.
Hillegom's convenient location led to another rapid growth period during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, when many new neighborhoods were built to accommodate families working in either Haarlem, Amsterdam, or Leiden. Its economy became less dependent on the bulb flower trade and more diversified with the establishment of a few business parks.
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Population on January 1:
The Hillegommerbeek (Hillegom's Creek) was used to transport goods from the town to Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem's Lake) and, after its reclamation
, to the Ringvaart
. Several docks and wharfs still line the creek and canal.
The Leidsevaart
(Leiden Canal) was completed in 1657 and runs between Leiden and Haarlem just west of Hillegom. This canal has fallen in disuse because of its many non-operable bridges.
Hillegom is served by Provincial Roads 207, 208, and 442.
Hillegom is served by Hillegom railway station
, although it may be better to travel to Heemstede-Aerdenhout railway station
as there are more destinations from here.
, the Bloemencorso, travels through its main streets.
Hillegom is also home to the Den Hartogh Ford Museum, which has the world's largest collection of Ford
automobiles. It has over 200 classic cars, all from before World War II.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, in the province of South Holland
South Holland
South Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the western part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is The Hague and its largest city is Rotterdam.South Holland is one of the most densely populated and industrialised areas in the world...
. The municipality covers an area of 13.48 km² (8.38 mile²) of which 0.61 km² (0.38 mile²) is water.
The name Hillegom is derived from the abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
named Hijlighem (Old Frankish
Old Frankish
Old Frankish is an extinct West Germanic language, once spoken by the Franks. It is the parent language of the Franconian languages, of which Dutch and Afrikaans are the most known descendants...
for "Holy Home"). This abbey no longer exists.
It is bordered by the municipalities of Bloemendaal
Bloemendaal
Bloemendaal is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. According to the Dutch Central Statistical Bureau, Bloemendaal is the wealthiest place in the Netherlands.-Population centres :...
, Bennebroek
Bennebroek
Bennebroek is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, now part of Bloemendaal municipality. Before its merger, it was the smallest municipality in the Netherlands, covering an area of only 1.75 km².-History:...
(to the north), Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water, and the name Haarlemmermeer means Haarlem's Lake, still referring to the body of water from which the region was reclaimed in the 19th century.Its main...
(to the east), Lisse
Lisse
Lisse is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 16.11 km² of which 0.41 km² is water. Its population is 21864...
(to the south), and Noordwijkerhout
Noordwijkerhout
Noordwijkerhout is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 23.40 km² and had a population of 15,121 in May 2006...
(to the west).
Hillegom is part of an area called the Duin- en Bollenstreek
Duin- en Bollenstreek
The Duin- en Bollenstreek is a region in South Holland, The Netherlands, that features coastal dunes and the cultivation of flower bulbs. Situated at the heart of historical Holland between Leiden and Haarlem, the combination of beaches, flower fields, lakes and history makes this area attractive...
("Dune and Bulb Region"). As such, a large portion of the local economy was traditionally geared to the cultivation of bulb flowers.
History
Hillegom was formed on the eastern edge of the coastal duneDune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s where the old Leiden to Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
route crossed the Hillegommerbeek (Hillegom's Creek), not far from the shores of the Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water, and the name Haarlemmermeer means Haarlem's Lake, still referring to the body of water from which the region was reclaimed in the 19th century.Its main...
(Haarlem's Lake). Places with the suffix "-heim" (or variant spellings) usually developed before the year 1000 and therefore it is assumed that this may apply to Hillegom as well. In 1150 the abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
of Egmond
Egmond
Egmond is a former municipality in the north-western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. In 2001, it was merged with the municipalities of Schoorl and Bergen to form the municipality of Bergen. The three main villages in the former municipality are Egmond aan den Hoef, Egmond aan Zee...
had the rights to naming priests in Hillegom, indicating that a church or chapel existed there. In 1248 the count Willem II gave the Chapel of Hijllinghem and all its buildings to the Abbot of Egmond.
In the middle of the 14th century, Hillegom gained some prominence when the count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
s of Holland convened there 3 times for council. In 1369, there were 46 houses with a population of 283, growing to 67 houses and 412 people in 1477.
In 1722, the rich Amsterdam merchant Jan Six II bought the fiefdom
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
Hillegom and built improvements, including a stone bridge over the Hillegommerbeek and a pump in the village square as well as paving a portion of the main road. In 1749, he purchased Het Hof (The Courtyard), an estate
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
in the centre of Hillegom. At this time, there were many other estates of rich merchants and stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
s in Hillegom, such as Bethlehem, Oostende, Horstendael, Weeresteyn, Treslong, Duin en Weg, Meer en Dorp, Het Hof, Lapinenburg and Elsbroek (many of these names survive as neighborhood names). The population grew to 930 in 1732 and to 1050 in 1795.
But during the 19th century, the beauty of the area and its estates slowly began to disappear. Developers bought the estates, cut down the forests, and excavated the sand dunes to create fields for bulb
Bulb
A bulb is a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases. The leaves often function as food storage organs during dormancy.A bulb's leaf bases, known as scales, generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions. At the center of the bulb is...
flower cultivation. This process accelerated in 1904 when a lime-sand brick factory was built just south of Hillegom, which needed large amounts of sand. By early 1920s, all estates had disappeared, except for Het Hof which became Hillegom's town hall. This same period saw the rapid growth of the bulb flower industry and Hillegom's population, up to 8800 in 1916.
Hillegom's convenient location led to another rapid growth period during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, when many new neighborhoods were built to accommodate families working in either Haarlem, Amsterdam, or Leiden. Its economy became less dependent on the bulb flower trade and more diversified with the establishment of a few business parks.
Demographics
- 1899: 5,361
- 1930: 10,812
- 1960: 14,789
- 1970: 16,963
- 1980: 17,937
- 1990: 19,885
- 2000: 20,664
- 2004: 20,588
- 2006: 20,317
- Source: Statistics Netherlands
Transportation
Historically, much of the town's transportation was done by water, either canals or streams.The Hillegommerbeek (Hillegom's Creek) was used to transport goods from the town to Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem's Lake) and, after its reclamation
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
, to the Ringvaart
Ringvaart
The Ringvaart is a canal in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The Ringvaart is a true circular canal surrounding the Haarlemmermeer polder and forms the boundary of the Haarlemmermeer municipality...
. Several docks and wharfs still line the creek and canal.
The Leidsevaart
Leidsevaart
The Leidsevaart is a canal between the cities of Haarlem and Leiden in the Netherlands. It was dug in 1657, making it one of the oldest canals in the Netherlands. It was the major means of transport between Leiden and Haarlem for almost two centuries until the rail connection was established in...
(Leiden Canal) was completed in 1657 and runs between Leiden and Haarlem just west of Hillegom. This canal has fallen in disuse because of its many non-operable bridges.
Hillegom is served by Provincial Roads 207, 208, and 442.
Railway
Hillegom railway station
The railway station of Hillegom in the Netherlands is located on the railway line between Haarlem and Leiden.The first railway station in the town was opened in 1891, closed in 1898 and torn down in 1900. A second railway station was opened on a different location in 1898, when the first was...
, although it may be better to travel to Heemstede-Aerdenhout railway station
Heemstede-Aerdenhout railway station
Heemstede-Aerdenhout is a railway station in Heemstede and Aerdenhout, the Netherlands. The station opened on 1 October 1891 and is located on the site of the old Toll house for the Leidsevaart canal, which still flows next to the station from Haarlem to Leiden. This canal still follows the Oude...
as there are more destinations from here.
Tourism and attractions
The most interesting time to visit is during the spring when the fields around Hillegom are in a colourful bloom. At this time a flower paradeParade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
, the Bloemencorso, travels through its main streets.
Hillegom is also home to the Den Hartogh Ford Museum, which has the world's largest collection of Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
automobiles. It has over 200 classic cars, all from before World War II.
Notable persons from Hillegom
- John BlankensteinJohn BlankensteinJohn Blankenstein was a Dutch soccer referee. He was notable for being one of the first homosexual athletes to come out in the Netherlands....
(1949 - 2006), soccer referee - Dick van Egmond (born 1961), soccer referee
- Bart de GraaffBart de GraaffBart F. de Graaff was an influential Dutch television presenter and creator, as well as the founder and chairman of the public broadcasting network BNN....
(1967 - 2002), television personality and producer, founder and chairman of BNN - Schelto van Heemstra (1879-1960), Queen's commissioner
- Jesse Huta GalungJesse Huta GalungJesse Huta Galung is a professional Dutch tennis player.-Singles Titles:-External links:*...
(born 1985), professional tennis player - Rogier KoordesRogier KoordesRogier Koordes is a Dutch former footballer.-Playing career:Koordes was purchased by English First Division club Port Vale from Telstar in February 1997 for a £75,000 fee. He stayed at the club for two years, making 41 appearances in all competitions, before his departure in February 1999...
(born 1972), former footballer - Frénk van der Linden (born 1957), journalist
- Constantijn Muysken (1843 - 1922), architect
- Rien van Nunen (1912 - 1975), actor
- Thea de Roos-van RoodenThea de Roos-van RoodenTh.C.M. de Roos-van Rooden is a Dutch historian and politician for the Labour Party .- Biography :...
(born 1949), historian and former politician
Neighborhoods
- Centrum
- Elsbroek
- De Marel
- Meer en Dorp I and II
- Patrimonium
- Treslong
- De Zanderij
- Hofzicht
- Weerestein
- Hillegom Zuid
- Vossepolder (under construction)
External links
- Official Website
- Plan of Hillegom
- News and pictures of Hillegom (in Dutch)
- Hillegom portal
- History of Hillegom (in Dutch)