Haarlem

Haarlem has been the historical centre of the tulip bulb-growing district for centuries and bears its other nickname Bloemenstad (flower city) for this reason.

Haarlem has a rich history dating back to pre-medieval times, as it lies on a thin strip of land above sea level known as the strandwal (beach ridge), which connects Leiden to Alkmaar.

In 1219 the knights of Haarlem were laurelled by Count Willem I, because they had conquered the Egyptian port of Damietta (or Damiate in Dutch, present-day Dimyat) in the fifth crusade.

The situation worsened on 29 March 1573: the Amsterdam army, faithful to the Spanish king, controlled Haarlemmermeer lake, effectively blocking Haarlem from the outside world.

This attracted a large influx of Flemish and French immigrants (Catholics and Huguenots alike) who were fleeing the Spanish occupation of their own cities.

Today an impression of some of those original textile tradesmen can be had from the Book of Trades document created by Jan Luyken and his son.

On the Grote Markt, the central market square, there's a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster who is allegedly the inventor of the printing press.

Most scholars agree that the scarce evidence seems to point to Johann Gutenberg as the first European inventor of the printing press, but Haarlem children were taught about "Lau", as he is known, well into the 20th century.

Pieter Teyler van der Hulst and Henry Hope built summer homes there, as well as many Amsterdam merchants and councilmen.

Strong international competition and revolutionary new production methods based on steam engines already in use in England dealt a striking blow to Haarlem's industry.

The foundation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in that year gave hope to many who believed that under a new government, the economy would improve and that export-oriented economic activities, such as the textile industry, would recover.

New factories opened, and a number of large industrial companies were founded in Haarlem by Thomas Wilson, Guillaume Jean Poelman, J.B.T.

The Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM or Dutch Trade Company) was founded by King Willem I to create employment opportunities.

As one of the cities in the western part of the Netherlands with the worst economic situation, three cotton mills were created in Haarlem under the NHM-program in the 1830s.

These were run by experts from the Southern Netherlands, whom the NHM considered better at mechanical weaving through the local expertise of Lieven Bauwens.

However, after 1839 when Belgium split away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the protectionist measures for the Dutch East Indian market were removed, and the business began to flounder.

[10] Prévinaire's son went on to create the Haarlemsche Katoenmaatschappij, which made a kind of imitation batik cloth called "La Javanaise" that became popular in Belgian Congo.

The government of the Netherlands was relatively slow to catch up, even though the king feared competition from newly established Belgium if it would construct a railway between Antwerp and other cities.

The Dutch parliament balked at the high level of investment needed, but a group of private investors started the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij on 1 June 1836.

Though the old trekvaart was closed for water traffic after railway development, it is still possible to travel by boat from Amsterdam to Haarlem, via the ringvaart or the North Sea Canal.

The creation of new land in the Haarlemmermeer polder from 1852 onwards meant that the city could no longer refresh the water in its canals from the Spaarne river.

In 1859, the Oude Gracht canal stank so badly in the summer that it not only forced visitors away, but posed a public health threat due to cholera outbreaks.

In 1591, the city fathers had ordered excavation to build the Verwulft, a wide bridge over the Oude Gracht connecting the north and south portions of the Grote Houtstraat.

In 1911, Anthony Fokker showed his plane de Spin to the audience in Haarlem by flying around the Sint-Bavokerk on Queen's Day.

The German occupiers built a thick, black wall through the Haarlemmerhout (in the south of the city), as well as at the Jan Gijzenvaart in the evacuated area.

In February 1944, the family of Corrie ten Boom was arrested by the Nazis; they had been hiding Jews and Dutch resistance workers from the German occupier throughout the war.

Having been granted papal rights from Avignon was perhaps the reason that the ties to Rome were never very strong in Haarlem, since the building most commonly called the Cathedral in the centre of town only held a cathedra for 19 years, from 1559 to 1578.

That gave the various groups in Haarlem the time to quietly remove many of the treasures from the church and stash them safely in underground chapels.

The spelling changed to Harlem in keeping with contemporary English usage, and the district grew (as part of the borough of Manhattan) into the vibrant centre of African American culture in New York City and the United States generally by the 20th century.

Laurens Janszoon Coster is credited with being the inventor of a printing press using movable type, since he's said to have invented it simultaneously with Johannes Gutenberg, but only some people believe this.

Map of Haarlem.
The City Hall on the Grote Markt , built in the 14th century, replacing the Count's castle after it partially burnt down. The remains were given to the city.
A sketch of the siege of Haarlem seen from the North, with Het Dolhuys on the right, and the river Spaarne on the left
A map of Haarlem around 1550. The city is completely surrounded by a wall and defensive moat. In the North (top), at a fork in the road, the complex known as Het Dolhuys can be seen. In the south-west corner on the lower left, are the city bleaching grounds. The near-square shape of the city was based on the ancient plan of Jerusalem.
A map of Haarlem after the fire in 1578 by Thomas Thomasz. The damage across the city can still be seen two years later.
The legend of the Haarlem shield, painting (c. 1630) by Pieter de Grebber in the City Hall [ 9 ]
A map of Haarlem in 1646, before Salomon de Bray 's ambitious northwards expansion plan was executed. North is to the left. The Houtmarkt has been built in the north east, and the Haarlemmerport is visible, as well as the Old Men's Almshouse, which now houses the Frans Hals Museum .
The Amsterdamse Poort , former gateway to the city from Amsterdam, is one of the few visible traces left of the old city wall.
Grote Markt of Haarlem, c. 1670–90, by Cornelis Beelt
The Grote Markt in 1696, painting by Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde
Many government-owned buildings are national heritage sites, such as the local police headquarters located on the Koudenhorn 2. Originally built as the Dutch Reformed "Diaconie" (poor house and orphanage) in 1768, it was built to house up to 900 people, indicating the extent of the economic crisis in Haarlem that had resulted from losing shipping power to Amsterdam.
Windmill De Adriaan
A map of Haarlem in 1827. The city walls have been torn down and used as building materials for city expansion.
The Haarlemmerhout in Haarlem is the oldest park designed for public access in the Netherlands. It is said that Napoleon's army carved their initials in these trees.
The Villa Welgelegen , built in the 18th century, is the current government house of the province of North Holland .
A typesetter at the Joh. Enschedé printing shop (formerly located behind the St. Bavochurch ) in 1884, by the American artist Charles Frederic Ulrich
Cotton mills in Haarlem in the 19th century
A replica of the Arend , one of two locomotives built by R. B. Longridge and Company for the Haarlem-Amsterdam railway line in the 1830s.
Drawing dated 1855 by Arnoldus Johannes Eymer of the Verwulft during a festival: tents can be seen above the wide arched "overclosure" while a small trekschuit is moored in the Oude Gracht, indicating a tight squeeze was possible to pass underneath if a (hinged) mast was able to be taken down. The canal was filled in 4 years later in 1859.
This Gaper is located on the front of Van der Pigge, a chemist's that declined to move for Vroom & Dreesmann 's new department store in 1932.
"Man in front of a firing squad", memorial by Mari Andriessen to commemorate 15 innocent victims chosen at random who were shot there by German occupational forces on 7 March 1945, Dreef, Haarlem
Pipe organ at Haarlem's Sint-Bavokerk . Mozart once played this organ.
Saint Bavo saves Haarlem from the Kennemers. Dated 1673 but showing legend from 1274. In the background the Sint-Bavokerk (Grote Kerk) can be seen.
Cathedral of Saint Bavo
Teylers Museum in Haarlem
Stadsschouwburg, theater on the Wilsonplein
Patronaat pop music hall
Haarlem Baseball Week 2006 at the Pim Mulier Stadium
painting of a town in the distance and fields under a big sky
View of Haarlem with Bleaching Fields by Jacob van Ruisdael ( c. 1665)
River Spaarne through Haarlem
The Street of Donkere Spaarne near Spaarne River
Kleine Houtstraat street in summer
Lange Brug ( Long Bridge ), in popular speech also known as "de verfroller" (" the paint roller ").
Haarlem railway station , built in 1906, one of the older train stations in the Netherlands. It replaced the original station at the Oude Weg dating from 1839, which was one of the first two stations in the Netherlands as part of the oldest Dutch railway line between Amsterdam and Haarlem.
Street in Haarlem
Satellite image of Haarlem