Petten is a village in the Dutch province of

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

. It is a part of the municipality of Schagen, and lies about 15 km northwest of

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...

, on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. The population is ca. 1900. Petten's

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

is based on

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

(

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

cultivation), and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. A particular type

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

can be found on the

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

of Petten, of sanded

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

with

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

. Since 1997 a plan has been developed for a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

with 600 places; called ''Marina Petten''. Somewhat to the south of Petten, the

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s have been eroded, as a result of which a dike had to be built, the and Pettemer zeewering.

History

Petten could have been founded in 739. The name refers to the three

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

s ''(Dutch:

putten Putten () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and Dorp (town), town in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It had a population of in . It is located in the coastal area of the old Zui ...

)'' which are located there. There was already a mention of a

sand dike Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a soil texture ...

in 1388 between Petten and 't Oghe (

Callantsoog Callantsoog ( West Frisian: ''Kallantsouge'') is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Schagen, and lies about 18 km south of Den Helder. Callantsoog was a separate municipality until 1990, wh ...

). In the St. Elizabeth's flood (1421), Petten was entirely washed away, and the dunes were damaged. A

sleeper dike A sleeper dike (in Dutch ''slaperdijk'') is a dike which does not normally face water, but serves as a backup if a "front-line" dike in front of it breaks. The sleeper dikes are usually located at places where there is a high risk of dike break ...

was built behind the dunes in 1432 and from 1506 active coastal defense took place, with

pile head Pile or Piles may refer to: Architecture * Pile, a type of deep foundation ** Screw piles, used for building deep foundations ** Pile bridge, structure that uses foundations consisting of long poles ** Pile lighthouse, a type of skeletal ligh ...

s of beams from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and stone from

Vilvoorde Vilvoorde (; ; ; historically known as ''Filford'' in English) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city in the Halle-Vilvoorde district (''arrondissement'') of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Bra ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Even so, more than 100

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

s were washed away in 1625, plus the church of Petten. The construction of the Hondsbossche zeewering began in 1793. Petten belonged to the nobility of Petten en Nolmerban, and then became a municipality. In 1929, the municipality of Petten was incorporated into the municipality of

Zijpe Zijpe () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. In 2013, Zijpe and Harenkarspel merged into Schagen. Population centres The former municipality of Zijpe consisted of the following small towns and villages: ...

. Last one merged with Harenkarspel and Schagen into the new municipality of Schagen in 2013. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the entire town of Petten was broken up in 1943 by order of the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

because of the construction of the

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall () was an extensive system of coastal defence and fortification, coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defense (military), d ...

. The church of Petten was demolished in 1944. After the war, a whole new town was built from 1946, designed by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s Van de Ban and De Vassy. In 1955, the foundation "Reactor Centrum Nederland" (RCN) was set up, that went on to build a research-reactor ( Petten nuclear reactor) that currently supplies 60% of European demand for medical radioisotopes. Since 1976, the foundation is called the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN). In December 1962 (according to some accounts 1963), the

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers, and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental performance art, art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finishe ...

artist Wim T. Schippers emptied a bottle of ''Green Spot''

lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink. There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...

in the sea at Petten ''("Manifestatie Aan Het Strand Te Petten")''. On 11 December 2004, an approximately three-year-old

basking shark The basking shark (''Cetorhinus maximus'') is the second-largest living shark and fish, after the whale shark. It is one of three Planktivore, plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Typically, basking sh ...

, ''Cetorhinus maximus'', was beached on the coast near Petten. The animal was 3.65 m long and weighed 250 kg. The corpse was put on

ice Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

and was exhibited in the

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

of Fort Kijkduin at

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

. Attempts are being made to place the basking shark in its entirety in a formalin solution.

Gallery

Image:Beach Petten Holland.jpg, Beach at Petten, from the Pettemer zeewering. File:Petten straatbeeld.jpg, Street view File:Protestmanifestatie bij Energie Onderzoekcentrum Nederland in Petten tegen dumpe, Bestanddeelnr 932-1753.jpg, Protests against dumping radioactive waste in the sea File:ECN-terrein Petten.jpg, Petten nuclear reactor

References

External links

{{Authority control Schagen Former municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland Populated coastal places in the Netherlands