Heeg ( fry, Heech) is a village in Súdwest Fryslân municipality in the province

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 ...

of 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 ...

and had a population of around 2,175 in January 2017.Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2017
- CBS Statline

History

Because of its location on the Heegermeer Lake, eel fishery and trade have been important to Heeg for a long time. Until 1938, eels from Heeg were exported to London. The Hegemers could thereby make use of the Dutch Mooring (Dutch landing) at the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

, not far from the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sepa ...

. The trade was so important to the village that the children from Heeg at primary school all used to learn English . In 2009 a reconstruction of the ship that used to sail eel to Londen was made, called Korneliske Ykes II. The oldest known name of the village is ''Hagekerke'', that appears from a fake document dating from 1132. In other documents the name is spelled like ''Haghekercke'' or ''Hagakerke''. Nobody is entirely sure about why the village was called that way. Some say the church (kerk) was surrounded by a hedge (haga). Others say it comes from an old Frisian word ''hag'', which means the height the church was located. Later on in 1389 ''kerk'' disappeared from the name and in 1505 it became ''Heech'', 74 years later it was just Heeg. Nowadays, Heeg is a known water sports center with a variety of marinas and shipyards, with Piersma shipyard for flat bottoms the best known. This shipyard was established more than 300 years ago. In the center of the village are a few buildings from the 18th century including the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family a ...

from 1745. Before 2011, the village was part of the Wymbritseradiel municipality.

Gallery

Image:Heeg, zicht op de Sint Jozefkerk vanaf de brug bij De Syl-De Skatting IMG 2706 2018-04-20 09.01.jpg, Church tower (Sint Jozefkerk) in the street Image:Heeg, de Ichthuskerk IMG 2693 2018-04-20 08.54.jpg, Church: de Ichtuskerk Image:Heeg, monumentaal pand foto2 2011-04-25 10.55.JPG, Monumental house File:Heeg, palingaak bij Jachtwerf Piersma IMG 2451 2018-04-18 17.20.jpg, Reproduction of live cargo eel barge Corneliske Ykes II at Jachtwerf Piersma. From the 17th century, barges of this type carried live cargoes of eels from Heeg to market in London, England.

Community

Sports and culture

The village has the sailing club WSHeeg, as well as other clubs related to water sports. It also has the VV Heeg football club, the Heecherop volleyball club, the Net Yn 't Net tennis club, the SSS Heeg gymnastics club and its own ice club.

Schools

Heeg has two primary schools located in the same building: CBS It Wrâldfinster and the catholic St. Jozefschool.

Born in Heeg

* Lolle Klaas Okma (1876-1936), mayor * Gerard Bruins (1924-2016), football player *

Ben Steneker Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, � ...

(1935-), Dutch countrysinger a.k.a. The godfather of Dutch country * Hanneke Jagersma (1951-), mayor *

Jurn Simmons Jurn Sijtzema (born 29 August 1991), better known by his ring name Jurn Simmons, is a Dutch professional wrestler. He works for Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw). Professional wrestling career Pro Wrestling Holland (2013–present) Simmons train ...

(1991-), professional wrestler

References

* - ''Heeg en de Palinghandel op Londen" (1995), "Greolshaven, in pleats yn oarlochstiid" (1993) en Wapendropping op 'e Gouden Boayum''(1992) * - ''De Friese Palingaken'' (1996) * - ''Heeg en de Hegemers'' (1987) * - ''De Helling onder Heeg'' (1999),
Website of municipality Súdwest Fryslân

External links

{{Authority control Súdwest-Fryslân Populated places in Friesland