Sassenheim
Encyclopedia
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 former municipality covered an area of 6.62 km² (of which 0.23 km² water) and had a population of 14,906 in 2005. Since 1 January 2006, it is part of the Teylingen
Teylingen
Teylingen is a municipality in the province of South Holland, the Netherlands. It was created on January 1, 2006, through the amalgamation of Sassenheim, Voorhout, and Warmond...
municipality.
The name Sassenheim consists of two parts; the first (Sassen) means Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
, and the second portion (heim) is 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 "home".
Sassenheim was formed between the towns of Leiden and 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...
on the eastern edge of the old coastal dune
Dune
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 main road from 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...
was located. Along this road many castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
s and 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...
s were built, including the mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
s along Sassenheim's Main Street (Hoofdstraat) dating from the early 1900s. The village church is built on a dune top and portrays a variety of construction styles. Sassenheim is located in an area called the "Dune and Bulb Region" (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...
). Historically, Sassenheim had a large 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 industry but this has now all but disappeared, only a few fields remain.
One of the most interesting attractions in Sassenheim are the ruins
Ruins
Ruins are the remains of human-made architecture: structures that were once complete, as time went by, have fallen into a state of partial or complete disrepair, due to lack of maintenance or deliberate acts of destruction...
of Castle Teylingen. This stronghold was built to guard the north-south route in Holland and later became a residence. Its outer walls date from the beginning of the 13th century. Around 1570 during the Eighty Years' War, the castle was heavily damaged but rebuilt afterwards. It was bought by the State in 1889 and restored in 1900.
Notable People from Sassenheim
- Bart ZoetBart ZoetHubertus Balthazar Zoet was a Dutch cyclist, who won the gold medal in the Men's 100 km Team Trial at the 1964 Summer Olympics, alongside Gerben Karstens, Evert Dolman, and Jan Pieterse.-References:*...
(20 October 1942), cyclist - Tim MuddeTim MuddeTim Mudde , also known as Brigadier M or Sassem Tim, is active within the right wing radical movement in The Netherlands...
(23 February 1965), far-right activist and singer of Brigade MBrigade MBrigade M was a Dutch right wing nationalist Rock Against Communism-band from Sassenheim in the Bollenstreek. The driving force behind Brigade M had always been Tim Mudde.... - Martin Hersman (26 February 1974), skater
- Phil Tilli (16 January 1972), guitarist of MokeMoke (Amsterdam band)Moke is a Dutch band from Amsterdam, which was founded in 2005. They published their debut album Shorland in 2007. Their music is often referred to as Britpop. The band is most popular in the Netherlands, where they became commonly known after a performance in the daily television show 'De Wereld...
and Tröckener Kecks