Bunschoten () is a municipality and a town 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 the province of

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

. It lies about 7 km north of

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

. Its territory comprises the original municipality of Bunschoten (created in 1204 by the bishop of Utrecht) and the former municipality of Duyst, De Haar and Zevenhuizen, which was a part of

Hoogland Hoogland () is a village and former free-standing municipality in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands. It is located north of the Amersfoort city centre. The village population is 10,587 people (2006). Since 1974, Hoogland has been a p ...

from 1854 until 1971.

History

Bunschoten was first named in 1294. It was located on the border between

and

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders (; ; ) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in present-day Germany. Though the present pr ...

, and it suffered a number of times from invasions from Guelders. In 1383, the

bishop of Utrecht List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht. Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580 Founders of the Utrecht diocese * * * * * Bishops * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

gave Bunschoten

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

, which allowed the citizens to build an earthen wall around the town. The fortifications and a part of the town were destroyed at Christmas 1427 in a war between two rival bishops, and were never rebuilt.

Population centres

The municipality of Bunschoten consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts:

Notable people

Bert Groen Lubertus Cornelis "Bert" Groen (born 28 March 1945 in Haarlem) is a Dutch corporate director and former civil servant and politician of the Reformed Political League (GPV) and his successor the ChristianUnion (ChristenUnie). From 2002 to 2003 he ...

(born 1945) a Dutch politician, former mayor of Bunschoten * Melis van de Groep (born 1958 in Bunschoten) a Dutch politician, Mayor of Bunschoten since 2006 * Job Koelewijn (born 1962 in Spakenburg) a Dutch conceptual artist, sculptor, installation artist, performance artist and photographer * Gijsbert Van Bismarck (born 1973 in Spakenburg) a retired footballer with over 150 club caps * Kevin van Diermen (born 1989 in Spakenburg) a Dutch professional footballer with over 200 club caps *

Aileen de Graaf Aileen de Graaf (born 25 April 1990) is a Dutch darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career De Graaf started to play darts in 2007 and from 2010, played ranking tournaments of ...

(born 1990 in Spakenburg) a Dutch darts player playing in the

British Darts Organisation The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, and dissolved in 2020 under the stewardship of Des Jacklin. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and ...

Gallery

File:Old boat warf of Spakenburg (Netherlands 2013) (10495619443).jpg, Old boat wharf of Spakenburg, 2013 File:Rebuild (2009) flourmill De Hoop from 1899 at Bunschoten-Spakenburg - panoramio.jpg, Rebuild (2009) flourmill De Hoop from 1899 at Bunschoten-Spakenburg File:Eem river at Eemdijk in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. Looking north. - panoramio.jpg, Eem river at Eemdijk, looking north. File:Fishingboat at the Dock in Bunschoten during Sunset - panoramio.jpg, Fishingboat at the Dock in Bunschoten at sunset File:Alice versus de Koning Peter de Leeuwe Bunschoten-Spakenburg.jpg, Alice versus de Koning Peter de Leeuwe Bunschoten-Spakenburg

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of Utrecht (province) Populated places in Utrecht (province)