Huizen () is a municipality and a village in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of North Holland, 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 ...

. The name "Huizen" is Dutch for "

houses 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 condi ...

" and this usage has been linked to the belief that the first stone houses, instead of the more common

sod houses The sod house or soddy was an often used alternative to the log cabin during frontier settlement of the Great Plains of Canada and the United States in the 1800s and early 1900s. Primarily used at first for animal shelters, corrals, and fences, ...

at the time, in the region appeared here. Huizen is part of the metropolitan area of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

History

Huizen was originally an agricultural village, nearby the

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an o ...

until 1932. During wintertime the farmers went fishing, which started the development from an agricultural village to a coastal village with a thriving

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including ...

, which was stimulated by building the harbour around 1850. After the damming of the

due the making of the

Afsluitdijk The ''Afsluitdijk'' (; fry, Ofslútdyk; nds-nl, Ofsluutdiek; en, "Closure Dyke") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of ...

in 1932, the old sea was degraded to a lake, without any economical activities shifted towards industry and commerce. In the 1960s the town was designated to build substantially large residential areas, to overcome the housing shortage in the region. From then on, the village took on an influx of people and grew rapidly. Where the Phohi-flat now stands in Huizen was, before World War II, the site of a large

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

intended for contacting the Dutch East Indies, some 12.000 km away. A post mill that stood in Huizen was dismantled in 1916. It was re-erected in 1919 at the

Netherlands Open Air Museum The Netherlands Open Air Museum ( nl, Nederlands Openluchtmuseum) is an open-air museum located in Arnhem with antique houses, farms, and factories from different parts of the Netherlands. It is a national museum focusing on the culture associated ...

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

Topography

Huizen is part of the area the

Gooi The Gooi () is an area around Hilversum, in the centre of the Netherlands. It is a slightly hilly area characterised by its green landscape, its historical charm, the wealth of its inhabitants, and its villas. The Gooi is known in the Netherlan ...

. The Gooi is known in the Netherlands as the home of the rich and famous. Huizen-plaats-OpenTopo

''Topographic map of Huizen, March 2014.''

Local government

Huizen, de Oude Kerk RM22719 foto1 2014-03-09 14

The municipal council of Huizen consists of 27 seats, which are divided as follows:

Transport

With its population of close to 42,000, Huizen is one of the larger towns without railway connection in the Netherlands. On a national level, it's preceded by Drachten and

Oosterhout Oosterhout (; from ''ooster'', "eastern", and ''hout'', "woods") is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. The municipality had a population of in . Population centers The municipality of Oosterhout includes the following pla ...

Notable people

* Henk Bos (1901–1979) a Dutch painter * Karel Voous (1920–2002) a Dutch ornithologist and author * Willem Oltmans (1925–2004) a Dutch pro-active investigative journalist and author *

Dorret Boomsma Dorret I. Boomsma (born 18 November 1957, Huizen, The Netherlands) is a Dutch biological psychologist specializing in genetics and twin studies. Education * Secondary education: Willem de Zwijgerlyceum, Bussum * Bachelor's: Vrije Universite ...

(born 1957 in Huizen) a Dutch biological psychologist specializing in genetics and

twin studies Twin studies are studies conducted on identical or fraternal twins. They aim to reveal the importance of environmental and genetic influences for traits, phenotypes, and disorders. Twin research is considered a key tool in behavioral genetics ...

* Arnoud Boot (born 1960) a Dutch economist and academic

Sport

* Michiel Dudok van Heel (1924–2003) a sailor, competed at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

* Nick de Jong (born 1942) a retired sailor, competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics * Noémi Boekel (born 1984 in Huizen) a Dutch softball player, competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics * Marlou van der Kulk (born 1993) a Dutch Paralympic swimmer, bronze medallist at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

Gallery

File:Huizer Museum Het Schoutenhuis Achterbaan 82 5.JPG, Huizer Museum Het Schoutenhuis Achterbaan File:Huizen haven 17juni2006.jpg, Huizen haven File:Huizen Naarderstraat tolhuis 96.JPG, Huizen Naarderstraat tolhuis File:Huizen-kalkovens.jpg, Huizen-kalkovens

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland