De Fryske Marren ( nl, De Friese Meren) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

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 ...

in the northern

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 was established 1 January 2014 and consists of the former municipalities of Gaasterlân-Sleat,

Lemsterland Lemsterland (; fy, Lemsterlân) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands. In 2014 it merged with the municipalities of Skarsterlân and Gaasterlân-Sleat to form the new municipality De Fryske Marren De Fryske Marren ( nl, De Fries ...

Skarsterlân Skarsterlân (; nl, Scharsterland ) is a former municipality in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. The municipality was created 1 January 1984 by merging the municipalities of Doniawerstal and Haskerland, the part of Utingeradeel cons ...

and parts of Boarnsterhim, all four of which were dissolved on the same day. The municipality is located in the province of

, in the north of the

, and has a population of and a combined area of .

History

Municipal mergers are commonplace in the

: over the course of the 20th century the number of municipalities was reduced by more than half, from 1,121 in 1900 to 537 in 2000. Several of the municipalities that were amalgamated into De Fryske Marren were themselves the result of mergers as well: Gaasterlân-Sleat,

and Boarnsterhim were created during a series of mergers that took effect 1 January 1984. Government policy at the time of the creation of De Fryske Marren was that new mergers should have local support and be initiated by the effected municipalities themselves. The municipalities of Gaasterlân-Sleat, Lemsterland and Skarsterlân were all rural municipalities with a relatively highly developed tourism industry. In 2007 the first two evaluated their functioning as municipalities and both concluded they could benefit from a municipal merger. The following year all three municipal councils decided they were in favour of investigating the benefits of a merger. The report from this study was publicly available for eight weeks and resulted in two negative replies. One of these was from the municipality of Heerenveen, which suggested a merger between them and Lemsterland and Skarsterlân or, alternatively, only parts of Skarsterlân. The province of

, home to these municipalities, rejected these options, although the final draft of the merger proposal specified that two towns from Skarsterlân, Nieuwebrug and

Haskerdijken Haskerdijken ( fry, Haskerdiken) is a village in Heerenveen in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 395 in January 2017. A second merging discussion involved the dissolution of Boarnsterhim. The municipal council of Boarnsterhim concluded the municipality was too small to warrant the continued existence of a separate municipality. In the final advice regarding its dissolution it was suggested that the current municipality be split into four parts; one of these, the town of Terherne, would be included in De Fryske Marren. The other three parts were divided among three preexisting municipalities: The northern part, including the actual town of Boarnsterhim, was assigned to

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of th ...

, the southern part to Heerenveen and the western part to Súdwest-Fryslân. After approval by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the creation of De Fryske Marren (at that time called De Friese Meren) became law in June 2013 and took effect 1 January 2014.

Etymology

''De Friese Meren'' was the original name specified for the municipality in the law that established it. This was the same name that had been proposed for the municipality since the initial plans of its conception were tabled by the predecessor municipalities of Gaasterlân-Sleat, Lemsterland and Skarsterlân. The name is Dutch for "The Frisian Lakes", in reference to the lakes in the area. By law, any municipality in the

can change its name with at least a one-year notice. As the municipality already hinted at this possibility on its website, it officially changed its name to the West Frisian translation ''De Fryske Marren'' on 1 July 2015.

Population centres

The municipality consists of 51 settlements of which

Joure Joure (; West Frisian: ''De Jouwer'') is a town in the north of the Netherlands. It is the administrative center of De Fryske Marren, Friesland. With 13,090 inhabitants, it is also the most populous town in the municipality. Residents of Joure a ...

is the seat of government. The 51 cities, towns and villages are: Akmarijp, Bakhuizen, Balk, Bantega, Boornzwaag, Broek, Delfstrahuizen, Dijken, Doniaga, Echten, Echtenerbrug, Eesterga, Elahuizen, Follega, Goingarijp, Harich, Haskerhorne, Idskenhuizen,

, Kolderwolde,

Langweer Langweer ( fry, Langwar) is a village in Friesland in the municipality De Fryske Marren. The town was established in 1256, and has a population of 1,105 (as of 2017). Langweer has a rich trading history, and it is located at a small lake (). His ...

, Legemeer,

Lemmer Lemmer () is a town in the municipality of De Fryske Marren, in the Dutch province of Friesland. Lemmer lies adjacent to the IJsselmeer and the Frisian Lakes and is one of Friesland's best-known surface water sports locations. Lemmer is a bustlin ...

, Mirns, Nijehaske, Nijemirdum, Oldeouwer, Oosterzee, Oudega, Oudehaske, Oudemirdum, Ouwster-Nijega, Ouwsterhaule, Rijs, Rohel, Rotstergaast, Rotsterhaule, Rottum, Ruigahuizen, Scharsterbrug,

Sint Nicolaasga Sint Nicolaasga ( fry, Sint Nyk) is a village in the Dutch province of Friesland. It is located in the municipality of De Fryske Marren, and had a population of around 3330 in 2017.Sintjohannesga, Sloten, Snikzwaag, Sondel, Terherne, Terkaple, Teroele, Tjerkgaast, Vegelinsoord and

Wijckel Wijckel ( fry, Wikel) is a village in De Fryske Marren municipality in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 645 in 2017. History The village was first mentioned in the 13th century Wicle. The etymology is uncle ...

Topography

''Dutch topographic map of the municipality of De Fryske Marren, June 2015''

Notable people

The Arts

Jancko Douwama Jancko Douwama was a Frisian nobleman who fought to free Friesland from foreign rule during the Vetkopers and Schieringers conflict, the Saxon feud and the Guelders Wars. Biography He was born around 1482 into a Vetkoper 'hoofdelingen' or 'unt ...

(1492 in Oldeboorn - 1533) a Frisian nobleman, fought to free Friesland from foreign rule *

Martinus Hamconius Maarten Hamckema ( in Follega – 1620), sometimes anglicized as Marten Hamkes and mainly known by his pen name Martinus Hamconius, was a Frisian writer, poet and historian best known for his apocryphal history History (derived ) is the s ...

(c.1550 in Follega – 1620) a Frisian writer, poet and historian * The three

Brothers Halbertsma The Brothers Halbertsma were three brothers born in the Frisian village of Grou towards the end of the 18th century, who played a role of crucial importance for the development of a written literature in the Western Frisian language.Breuker, ...

(c.1780 in Grou – c.1860) developed the written literature in the Western Frisian language * Herman van Ham (1931 in Nijehaske – 2012) a Dutch head chef * Pieter Verhoeff (1938 in Lemmer – 2019) a Dutch film director IMDb Database
retrieved 06 July 2019 * Marjan Jonkman (born 1994 in Sint Nicolaasga) a Dutch fashion model

Public thinking & Public Service

* Johannes Acronius Frisius (1520 in Akkrum – 1564) a Dutch doctor, mathematician who wrote Latin poetry and humanist tracts * Henricus Aeneae (1743 in Oudemirdum – 1810) a Dutch scientist * Hendrik van Rijgersma (born 1835 in Lemmer - 1877) naturalist, physician, amateur botanist, malacologist and ichthyologist *

Martijn Theodoor Houtsma Martijn Theodoor Houtsma (15 January 1851, in Irnsum, Friesland – 9 February 1943, in Utrecht), often referred to as M. Th. Houtsma, was a Dutch orientalist and professor at the University of Utrecht. He was a fellow of the Royal Netherlands Aca ...

(1851 in Irnsum – 1943) an orientalist, expert on the Seljuq dynasty *

Fedde Schurer Fedde Schurer (; ) (Drachten, 25 July 1898 – Heerenveen, 19 March 1968) was a Dutch schoolteacher, journalist, language activist and politician,Klaes Dykstra and Bouke Oldenhof, ''Lyts Hânboek fan de Fryske Literatuer'', Leeuwarden (Afûk), 19 ...

(1898 in Drachten – 1968) a Dutch schoolteacher, journalist, West Frisian language activist and politician * Heije Schaper (1906 in Joure – 1996) a highly decorated Dutch naval and air force officer * Jan Pen (1921 in Lemmer – 2010) a Dutch economist, professor and columnist * Frans Haarsma (1921 in Balk - 2009) a Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Utrecht * Ahmed Dede (born 1960 in Balk) an Islamic sheikh and follower of the Sufi order of Islam * Auke Zijlstra (born 1964 in Joure) a Dutch politician and member of the European Parliament

Sport

Roelof Klein Roelof Klein (7 June 1877 – 12 February 1960) was a Dutch rower who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. Klein was part of the Dutch eight team that won a bronze medal with Hermanus Brockmann as the coxswain. Brockmann also steered ...

(1877 in Lemmer – 1960) Dutch rower, bronze medallist at the 1900 Summer Olympics * Jetze Doorman (1881 in Balk – 1931) a fencer and pentathlete competing at the 1912 Summer Olympics *

Atje Keulen-Deelstra Atje Keulen-Deelstra (31 December 1938 – 22 February 2013) was a Dutch speed skater, who was a four-time World Allround Champion between the age of 32 and 36.1972 Winter Olympics * Sjoukje Dijkstra (born 1942 in Akkrum) former competitive figure skater, the 1964 Olympic champion in ladies' singles, the 1960 Olympic silver medalist *

Tiemen Groen Tiemen Groen (6 July 1946 – 26 October 2021) was a Dutch cyclist who won four consecutive world titles in the 4 km individual pursuit in 1964–1967; His sporting career began with DTS Zaandam. He finished fourth in this event at the 196 ...

(born 1946 in Follega) retired Dutch cyclist, competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics * Rintje Ritsma (born 1970 in Lemmer) former Dutch long track speed skater, participated in five Winter Olympics, winning two silver and four bronze medals * Ids Postma (born 1973 in Dearsum) former speed skater, gold medalist at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in th ...

Jorrit Bergsma Jacob Jorrit Bergsma (; born 1 February 1986) is a Dutch speed skater and marathon skater. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m. His coach is Jillert Anema. Biography Bergsma has been skating for the BAM team sinc ...

(born 1986 in Oldeboorn) speed skater and marathon skater, gold medallist at the 2014 Winter Olympics * Epke Zonderland (born 1986 in Lemmer) gymnast and 2012 Olympics gold medalist on the high bar * Marit Bouwmeester (born 1988 in Warten) sailor, gold medallist in the 2016 Summer Olympics and silver medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics *

Sjinkie Knegt Sjinkie Knegt (; born 5 July 1989) is a Dutch short track speed skater. Career He competed for the Netherlands at the 2010 Winter Olympics in the men's 500 m, 1000 m, and 1500m. At the January 2014 European Short Track Speed Skating Champions ...

(born 1989 in Bantega) Dutch short track speed skater, bronze medallist in the 2014 Winter Olympics and silver medallist in the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , wint ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Municipalities of Friesland Municipalities of the Netherlands established in 2014