Sexbierum (; ) is a village in the municipality of

Waadhoeke Waadhoeke is a municipality of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. It was established 1 January 2018 and consists of the former municipalities of Franekeradeel, het Bildt, Menameradiel and parts of Littenseradiel, all four of which were ...

, in the central north of the Netherlands. Sexbierum is located in the province of

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

and located about north-east of Harlingen, about north-west of

Franeker Franeker (; ) is one of the eleven historical City rights in the Low Countries, cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Waadhoeke. It is located north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about west of Leeuwarden. As of 2023, it had 13,0 ...

. The distance to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

is about . The village consists of approximately 600 houses, with 1,744 inhabitants in January 2014.

History

In history the village is first mentioned in the 13th century as Sixtisberen. The name means "houses of Sixtus" and is a reference to

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Sixtus II Pope Sixtus II (), also written as Pope Xystus II, was bishop of Rome from 31 August 257 until his death on 6 August 258. He was killed along with seven deacons, including Lawrence of Rome, during the persecution of Christians by the Emperor V ...

. The name can be read in Dutch as sex, beer, rum, and therefore, the place name signs get occasionally stolen. Sexbierum is a ''

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 and ...

'' (artificial living hill) village from the 8th century. It was originally separated from Pietersbierum by a

trench A trench is a type of digging, excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale (landform), swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or trapping ...

of the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( ; ; or ; ; ; ) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of low-lying Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tida ...

. The Dutch Reformed church dates from the 13th century. The Liauckema State was a ''

stins A stins (Dutch, pl. ''stinsen''; from West Frisian ''stienhûs'' utch ''steenhuis''"stone house", shortened to ''stins'', pl. ''stinzen'') is a former stronghold or villa in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Many stinsen carry the name ...

'' from the 13th century which was demolished in 1824, however the gate house was remained. The

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

De Korenaar was built in 1868 as a replacement of an earlier wind mill which burnt down. It is currently used as a conference and party centre. Sexbierum was home to 934 people in 1840. There was a station on the

North Friesland Railway The Noord-Friesche Locaalspoorweg-Maatschappij (North Friesland Railway) was a railway serving the sparsely populated province of Friesland in northern Netherlands. Operated by the North Friesland Local Railway Company (Dutch: ''Noord-Friesche Loc ...

which opened in 1903 and closed to passengers in May 1935. In the late 1960s, Sexbierum and the adjoining village of Pietersbierum merged into a single urban area, however they remain separate villages. Up to 2018, the village was part of the

Franekeradeel Franekeradeel (; ) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands. It was created in 1984 by combining an earlier Franekeradeel municipality with the city of Franeker and parts of the former municipality of Barradeel. On 1 January 2018 it m ...

municipality and up to 1984 it was part of the Barradeel municipality.

Culture

West Frisian is the main language in Sexbierum, but the Dutch language has an increasing influence. Circa 1972 the

primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

in Sexbierum switched to Dutch as the main teaching language, instead of West Frisian. Before 1972 the only lessons taught in Dutch were the Dutch language lessons.

Notable people

Seventeenth century admiral Tjerk Hiddes de Vries was born in the village.

Gallery

File:2011-07 Sexbierum 04.jpg, Reformed church File:6794 Sexbierum.JPG, Windmill: De Korenaar File:2011-07 Sexbierum 06.jpg, Automobile repair shop File:Walburgastate 2007.jpg, Walburga State File:2011-07 Sexbierum 03.jpg, Street view File:Sexbierum opvaart.jpg, Canal view

References

External links

* {{Authority control Waadhoeke Populated places in Friesland