This article lists some of the events that took place in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 2013.

Incumbents

*Monarch:

Beatrix Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from ''Viatrix'', a feminine form of the Late Latin name ''Viator'' which meant "voyager, traveller" and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word ''beatus'' or "ble ...

(abdicated, April 30), William-Alexander (ascended April 30) *Prime Minister:

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

Events

January

* 1: During New Year's Eve in Raard, a woman drives into a group of people, leaving 17 people injured. One of the victims later succumbs to his injuries. * 10: During the New Year's reception of the umbrella organization of independent financial advisers, 477 attendees pledge the bankers oath for the first time in the presence of minister Dijsselbloem. * 13:

Sven Kramer Sven Kramer (; born 23 April 1986) is a retired Dutch long track speed skater who has won an all-time record nine World Allround Championships as well as a record ten European Allround Championships. He is the Olympic champion of the 5000 mete ...

becomes European ice-skating champion in the man's division and

Ireen Wüst Irene Karlijn "Ireen" Wüst (; born 1 April 1986) is a Dutch former long track speed skater. Wüst became the most successful speed skating Olympian ever by achieving at least one gold medal in each of five consecutive Winter Olympic appearan ...

becomes champion in the woman's division. * 15:

Bob de Vries Bob de Vries (born 16 December 1984) is a Dutch former marathon speed skating, speed skater and Long track speed skating, long track speed skater. He is the brother of Elma de Vries. Personal records De Vries has a score of 151.799 po ...

wins the first marathon on natural ice of 2013 in Noordlaren.

Mariska Huisman Mariska Huisman (born 23 November 1983) is a Dutch marathon skater and speed skater. She was the first winner of a mass start worldcup in Astana. At this moment she is the number 2 on the world ranking list. She won the 2011–12 mass start Wo ...

is the fastest in the woman's division. * 28: Beatrix, incumbent Queen of the Netherlands, announces that on 30 April, she will abdicate in favour of her son William-Alexander.

February

* 5: The Sint-Clemenskerk in Nes (on the island

Ameland Ameland (; ) is a municipality and one of the West Frisian Islands off the north coast of the Netherlands. It consists mostly of sand dunes and is the third major island of the West Frisians. It neighbours islands Terschelling to the west a ...

) is destroyed in a fire.

March

* 13: Prayer day for crops and labor. * 16: Poker player Ruben Visser wins in season 9 of the European Poker Tour in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

; the prize money is £595,000.

April

* 21: RTL News exposes a large scale fraud committed by

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

criminals. * 30: Willem-Alexander becomes the new King of the Netherlands, the first male monarch in over 123 years, after his mother's

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the Order of succession, succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of ...

May

* 6: After two brothers (7 and 9) are reported missing, their father is found dead a day later. The bodies of the two brothers are found on May 19 near a drainage tube in Cothen

June

* 8: Journalist Judith Spiegel and her husband Boudewijn Berendsen are abducted in Yemen. They are released on 10 December. * 11: Led by the SER, an energy deal on the main lines comes to fruition between the political establishment, business community and environmental organizations.

July

* 23: In amusement park

Walibi Holland Walibi Holland (previously called Walibi Flevo, Six Flags Holland and Walibi World) is a theme park in Biddinghuizen, Netherlands. History The park was opened in 1971 as 'Flevohof'. It was an educational theme park themed after agriculture and ...

, a 10-year-old Israeli girl gets badly injured in a water attraction and loses her foot. * 25: In both The Netherlands and

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 ...

, a heatwave breaks out, the first of its kind since July 2006.

August

* 4: A 23-year-old Polish man drowns near

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 ...

. * 12: Prince Friso is announced dead due to complications from his skiing accident in 2012. * 23: A 32-year-old Polish man drowns in the Piusharbor,

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

September

* 8: A family tragedy takes place in Schoonloo: A father kills his three sons (10-year-old twins and a two-year-old) and himself.

October

* 13: DierenPark Amersfoort closes its gates for the second time in its history after a severe rainfall. * 15: Michel van Egmond's book "Gijp" wins the NS Publieksprijs voor het Nederlandse Boek. The book is about former soccer player and pundit René van der Gijp. * 28: Hurricane wind strengths are measured on the island of

Vlieland (; ) is a municipality and island in the northern Netherlands. The municipality of Vlieland is the second most sparsely populated municipality in the Netherlands, after Schiermonnikoog. Vlieland is one of the West Frisian Islands, lying in t ...

and at Lauwersoog; the heaviest wind thrust is recorded at 152 km/h.

November

* 12: The rare

northern hawk-owl The northern hawk-owl or northern hawk owl (''Surnia ulula'') is a medium-sized true owl of the northern latitudes. It is non-migratory and usually stays within its breeding range, though it sometimes irrupts southward. It is one of the few owl ...

is spotted in

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

. The owl was last seen in 2005. In the previous 100 years, it had only been spotted 3 times. * 30: The Association Council of the

AVRO Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the d ...

and the Member Council of the

TROS TROS, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting ("Television Radio Broadcasting Foundation"), was a Dutch television and radio organisation part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. This broadcasting association was partic ...

approve the merger proposition of the two public broadcasters. Starting 1 January 2014, both will continue as

AVROTROS AVROTROS () is a Dutch radio and television broadcaster that is part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. It was founded in 2014 as the result of a merger between the Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep (AVRO) and the TROS, Televisie Radio Omro ...

December

* 2-7: Dutch bishops of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

make an ''ad limina'' visit to

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

Sports

*April 3–7:

Ellen van Dijk Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk (; born 11 February 1987) is a Dutch professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam . Besides road cycling she was also a track cycling, tr ...

wins the 2013 Energiewacht Tour *July 18–21 Netherlands at the 2013 European Road Championships ::

Floortje Mackaij Floortje Mackaij (born 18 October 1995) is a Dutch professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam Movistar Team (women's team), Movistar Team. After switching from speed skat ...

wins the silver medal in the Women's junior time trial, the only medal for the Netherlands at the championships. *July 19 - August 4

Netherlands at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships The Netherlands competed at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain between 19 July and 4 August 2013. Medalists Diving Netherlands qualified four quota places for the following diving events. ;Men ;Women Open water swim ...

::The Netherlands wins 1 gold and 3 bronze medals. *August 10–18

Netherlands at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics Netherlands competed at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. A team of 23 athletes was announced to represent the country in the event. Dafne Schippers won with her bronze in the 2013 World Cham ...

::The Netherlands wins 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. *September 3–8:

wins the 2013 Boels Rental Ladies Tour *September 22–29 Netherlands at the 2013 UCI Road World Championships ::The Dutch team wins the medal table at the

2013 UCI Road World Championships The 2013 UCI Road World Championships took place in Tuscany, Italy, between 22 and 29 September 2013. The Championships consisted of 12 events for elite, under-23 and junior cyclists. It was the 86th Road World Championships, the 13th in Italy ...

in September with 3 gold and 1 silver medal. ::

won gold in the Women's time trial,

Marianne Vos Marianne Vos (; born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam . After winning a junior European and World Championship in road racing, she continued her success in senior c ...

in the Women's road race and

Mathieu van der Poel Mathieu van der Poel (born 19 January 1995) is a Belgian-born Dutch professional Cycle sport, cyclist who rides for the UCI WorldTeam . He competes in the cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, mountain biking, Gravel cycling, gravel and road bicyc ...

in the Men's junior road race. *October 18–20 Netherlands at the 2013 UEC European Track Championships ::The Netherlands win 2 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medal. *October 20, Wilson Chebet wins the

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon, currently branded as TCS Amsterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road running, road race has a IAAF Road Race Label Events, Platinum Label from World Athle ...

for the 2nd time in a row.

Deaths

15 February Events Pre-1600 * 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus * 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia. * 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberi ...

- Giovanni Narcis Hakkenberg, war hero (b.

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

) * 10 June –

Saskia Holleman Saskia Holleman (20 May 1945 – 10 June 2013) was a Dutch actress, lawyer and model. She became widely known in the Netherlands when a picture in which she was naked in a meadow was used by the left-wing, pacifist political party Pacifist Sociali ...

, actress, lawyer and model (b. 1945).

References

{{Commons category

Years of the 21st century in the Netherlands 2010s in the Netherlands