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Heerhugowaard

Coordinates: 52°40′N 4°50′E / 52.667°N 4.833°E / 52.667; 4.833
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(Redirected from Middenwaard)

Heerhugowaard
City
Images from top, left to right: Stad van de Zon, Veenhuizer windmill, Cool theatre, shopping centre Middenwaard.
Images from top, left to right: Stad van de Zon, Veenhuizer windmill, Cool theatre, shopping centre Middenwaard.
Flag of Heerhugowaard
Coat of arms of Heerhugowaard
Motto: 
City Of Opportunities
Highlighted position of Heerhugowaard in a municipal map of North Holland
Location of the former municipality of Heerhugowaard in North Holland
Coordinates: 52°40′N 4°50′E / 52.667°N 4.833°E / 52.667; 4.833
CountryNetherlands
ProvinceNorth Holland
MunicipalityDijk en Waard
Founded byHuygen Dijck
Area
 • Total39.99 km2 (15.44 sq mi)
 • Land38.21 km2 (14.75 sq mi)
 • Water1.78 km2 (0.69 sq mi)
Elevation−3 m (−10 ft)
Population
 (January 2021)[3]
 • Total58,387
 • Density1,528/km2 (3,960/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Heerhugowaarder
(Informal) Reiger
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postcode
1700–1705
Area code072

Heerhugowaard (Dutch: [ˌɦeːrɦyɣoːˈʋaːrt] ; West Frisian Dutch: Heerhugoweard, Heregeweard or De Weard) is a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West Friesland.

Heerhugowaard was previously a separate municipality, which merged with the former municipality of Langedijk into the new municipality of Dijk en Waard on 1 January 2022.

History

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Around the year 800, the area of the modern Heerhugowaard was covered in peat fen. Because of peat-digging and storm floods many lakes developed in the region, including the Heerhugowaard. The name is derived from lord ('heer' in Dutch) Hugo van Assendelft who was killed by the West Frisians in this area in 1296. After two storms in 1248, the abbey of Egmond, which had much property in this region, built the Schagerdam at Schagen. This became part of the Westfriese Omringdijk, which protected the pentagon Schagen - Alkmaar - Medemblik - Enkhuizen - Hoorn.

Uncontrollable increase of the lake had been prevented. In the 17th century private investors decided to drain the lake to create farmland. In 1630 the polder was drained and the 39.0 km2 (15.1 sq mi) of land was divided among the investors. In contrast to e.g. the Beemster, the new land was poor quality, and in 1674 there was a proposal to refill the polder, as fishing would be more profitable.

A recent event in the history of Heerhugowaard was the unexpected victory of Princess Margriet at the first-ever Keegelfestival of 1961. This bowling festival was an annual event until 1984, when the organising bowling club declared bankruptcy due to financial mismanagement.

Geography

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Heerhugowaard is part of the province of North-Holland and is located in the west of the Netherlands. The land reclamation of Heerhugowaard is situated 3 metres (10') under sea level.[4] The surrounding land is flat as it is formed of large polders. To the southwest of the city lies Alkmaar.

Topography

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Map of Heerhugowaard (town), 2014.

Climate

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Heerhugowaard has a cool oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb), strongly influenced by its proximity to the North Sea to the west, with prevailing north-western winds and gales. Winter temperatures are cool to mild. Heerhugowaard, as well as most of North-Holland province, lies in USDA Hardiness zone 9, the northernmost such occurrence in continental Europe. Frosts mainly occur during spells of easterly or northeasterly winds from the inner European continent, from Scandinavia, Russia, or even Siberia. Even then, because Heerhugowaard is surrounded on three sides by large bodies of water, as well as enjoying a significant heat island effect, nights rarely fall below −5 °C (23 °F). Summers are moderately warm but rarely hot. The average daily high in August is 23 °C (73.4 °F).

Heerhugowaard's average annual rainfall is 871 millimetres (34.3 in), with measurable precipitation on an average of 189 days per year. Most is in the form of protracted drizzle or light rain, making cloudy and damp days common during the cooler months of October to March. Only the occasional European windstorm brings significant rain in a short period of time, requiring it to be pumped out to higher ground or to the seas around the city.

Climate data for Heerhugowaard
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 6
(43)
7
(45)
10
(50)
14
(57)
18
(64)
21
(70)
22
(72)
23
(73)
19
(66)
14
(57)
10
(50)
6
(43)
14.2
(57.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 1
(34)
1
(34)
2
(36)
4
(39)
8
(46)
10
(50)
13
(55)
13
(55)
11
(52)
7
(45)
4
(39)
1
(34)
6.3
(43.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 74
(2.9)
67
(2.6)
54
(2.1)
45
(1.8)
59
(2.3)
46
(1.8)
78
(3.1)
98
(3.9)
79
(3.1)
93
(3.7)
89
(3.5)
89
(3.5)
871
(34.3)
Average precipitation days 19 16 14 13 14 12 15 14 16 17 21 18 189
Average relative humidity (%) 88 85 82 78 77 79 80 82 84 86 88 88 83.1
Mean monthly sunshine hours 93 112 155 180 217 240 217 186 180 124 90 93 1,887
Source: Weeronline.nl[5]

Cityscape

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Population centres

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The former municipality of Heerhugowaard consisted of the following towns, villages and/or districts: Broekhorn, Butterhuizen, De Noord, Draai, Frik, Kabel, 't Kruis, Veenhuizen, Verlaat, Oostertocht, Bomenwijk, Schilderswijk, Rivierenwijk, Edelstenenwijk, Stad van de Zon.

Expansion

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Over time the population has grown. In 1960, Heerhugowaard had 6,800 inhabitants; increasing to 25,000 in 1975, 47,239 in 2004 and 48,267 in 2005. In May 2007, Heerhugowaard welcomed its 50,000th inhabitant, exceeding 58,000 by 2021. For several years in the 1970s, Heerhugowaard was the fastest growing municipality in the Netherlands. It is expected that by around 2050, Heerhugowaard will have approximately 100,000 inhabitants, although young people are moving away, so this number might never be reached.

The major part of the population lives in so-called Vinex-districts. The rural core of the North lies in the Middenwaard. The core of the south is at Stationsweg by the old church. In the polders there are small hamlets. The greater part of the town is new developments. Heerhugowaard has a number of subdivisions which were set up the same as in Almere, for example the writer district, the tree district, the planet district, and the nature area of Butterhuizen. In two of the newest districts, called Stad van de Zon I and II (= City of the Sun I and II) the energy supplies for a considerable part comes from solar energy.

Parks

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The surroundings of Heerhugowaard are quite varied, including much farmland. with flower bulb fields to the east. In the mid-1980s, 61 hectares (150 acres) of woodland were planted, the "Waarderhout".

Shopping centre

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One shopping centre in Heerhugowaard is Middenwaard, owned by real estate investment company Wereldhave. Middenwaard was built in five phases. Construction began in 1974, with the last phase completed in 2008, with renovations since then.

Middenwaard offers a large variety in stores and services, including:

Transport

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Heerhugowaard has good connections. Buses go to Alkmaar, Bergen NH, Broek Op Langedijk and Ursem. Also Heerhugowaard has Interliner links. Heerhugowaard railway station is on the routes to Hoorn and Den Helder, Alkmaar - Amsterdam - Nijmegen, and Alkmaar - Haarlem - The Hague. Heerhugowaard is on the N242, the N508 and N507 roads.

Government

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The former municipal council of Heerhugowaard consisted of 31 seats, which were divided as follows:

City council seats
Party 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Heerhugowaardse Onafhankelijke Partij 5 4 3 5 5 7
Senioren HHW - - - - 3 5
VVD 7 5 5 5 4 5
CDA 6 5 4 3 4 4
D66 2 2 - 2 3 3
GroenLinks - 3 2 3 1 2
Nederland Duurzaam - - - - 1 2
PvdA 6 4 7 4 3 2
ChristenUnie - 1 1 1 1 1
SP - - - - 3 -
Burgerbelang 1 5 7 4* 2* -
Lijst Marjan Jongejan - - - - 1* -
Verenigde Senioren Partij - - - 2 - -
Trots op Nederland - - - 1 - -
Lijst Piet Carnas - - - 1* - -
Total 27 29 29 31 31 31

* = separation of Burgerbelang

Elections were held in November 2021 for the newly merged municipality of Dijk en Waard, that included Heerhugowaard, which commenced work in January 2022.[6]

Sister cities

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Heerhugowaard has one sister city:

Notable people

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Tess Wester, 2018

Max Zonneveld (1939-1987) a Dutch man apart of a cult that was ran in the zonneveld family.

discovered to the public on 28th of September 2024.

Sport

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Further reading

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  • Groenedijk, T. (2000). Nederlandse plaatsnamen. Slingenberg Boekproducties, Hoogeveen, Netherlands, 2000.
  • Van de Ven, G. (redactie) (1996) Leefbaar laagland (4th, revised printing). Uitgeverij Matrijs. p. 33-35, 57 en 131–136.
  • Statistics are taken from the SDU Staatscourant[7]
  • Overview of city council seats (2009) taken from the municipality of Heerhugowaard[8]
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References

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  1. ^ "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2020" [Key figures for neighbourhoods 2020]. StatLine (in Dutch). CBS. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Postcodetool for 1703EZ". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  3. ^ "Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand" [Population growth; regions per month]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Heerhugowaard situated around the 3 metres under sea level". Ahn.nl. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  5. ^ "WeerOnline, Klimaat Heerhugowaard" (in Dutch). WeerOnline. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
  6. ^ "Dijk en Waard municipal election 2021". verkiezingsuitslagen.nl (in Dutch). 24 November 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  7. ^ www.sdu.nl Archived 26 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "www.heerhugowaard.nl". Archived from the original on 2 May 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
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