Sandfirden ( fry, Sânfurd) is a small village in

Súdwest-Fryslân Southwest Friesland ( fy, Súdwest-Fryslân ) is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northern Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland. It had a population of 84,092 in August 201 ...

municipality in the province of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It had a population of around 25 in January 2017.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1245 as Sandforde, and means sand and fordable place. Sandfirden is a little ''

terp A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling mound found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides ...

'' (artificial living mound) village which developed during the Middle Ages around lakes. It used to be accessible only by water. Sandfirden consists of only one street without a name. In 1399, funds were provided by

Albert I, Duke of Bavaria Albert I, Duke of Lower Bavaria (german: Albrecht; 25 July 1336 – 13 December 1404), was a feudal ruler of the counties of Holland, Hainaut, and Zeeland in the Low Countries. Additionally, he held a portion of the Bavarian province of Stra ...

to build a church. The church was replaced in 1732. The tower was struck by lightning and damaged in 1970. Nowadays, the church is in use for weddings, concerts and parties. Sandfirden was home to 52 people in 1840. During World War II, the village was home to many ''onderduikers'' (people in hiding). One farm was burnt down after a weapons stash had been discovered by the Germans. Before 2011, the village was part of the

Wymbritseradiel Wymbritseradeel (; official fry, Wymbritseradiel ()) was a rural municipality ( nl, gemeenten) in the Dutch province of Friesland from 1984 until 2011. An earlier type of municipality ( nl, grietenij) of the same name existed from 1500 until 1984 ...

municipality.

Gallery

File:Sânfurd, tsjerke.jpg, Church of Sandfirden

References

External links

Súdwest-Fryslân Populated places in Friesland {{Friesland-geo-stub