Hillegom
The name Hillegom is derived from the abbey named Hijlighem (Old Frankish for "Holy Home"). This abbey no longer exists. The current Lord of Hillegom is Jan Six X.
Hillegom was formed on the eastern edge of the coastal dunes 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 counts 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 stadtholders 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.
In 1855 Hillegom absorbed the former municipality of De Vennip. 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 the 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.
Map - Hillegom
Map
Country - Netherlands
The four largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. Amsterdam is the country's most populous city and the nominal capital. The Hague holds the seat of the States General, Cabinet and Supreme Court. The Port of Rotterdam is the busiest seaport in Europe. Schiphol is the busiest airport in the Netherlands, and the third busiest in Europe. The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, Eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD, and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. It hosts several intergovernmental organisations and international courts, many of which are centred in The Hague.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
EUR | Euro | € | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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NL | Dutch language |
FY | West Frisian language |