Hoofddorp (; ) is the main
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
of the municipality of
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The ...
, in the province of
North Holland
North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...
, 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 2021, the population was 77,885. The town was founded in 1853, immediately after the Haarlemmermeer had been drained.
History
After the draining of the Haarlemmermeer, two villages, Kruisdorp (Crossvillage) and Venneperdorp (Vennepervillage), were founded in the centre of the
polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...
. In 1868, they were renamed to Hoofddorp, as there already was another Kruisdorp in Zeeland, and
Nieuw-Vennep respectively. Hoofddorp became more prosperous than Nieuw-Vennep, and it rapidly became the most important place of the district.
Landmarks
Hoofddorp is a relatively young town and therefore has few historical buildings. In 2008, Hoofddorp had 26
municipal
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 gov ...
,
provincial and
national monument
A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...
s.
In the late nineteenth century Hoofddorp was included in the
Defense Line of Amsterdam.
[The Defence Line of Amsterdam](_blank)
retrieved 24 January 2007. A
fort
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
was built next to the main canal, two
batteries were located in what are now the outskirts of Hoofddorp, and several
casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...
s were built to the east of Hoofddorp. A large dike known as the ''Geniedijk'' (Engineers' dike) connected the fort at Hoofddorp to the batteries and the casemates, and ultimately to the fort at
Vijfhuizen in the west and the fort at
Aalsmeer in the east.
Hoofddorp has nine national monuments. The mill
De Eersteling on the Hoofdweg is a round
corn mill from
1856
Events
January–March
* January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California.
* January 23 – The American sidewheel steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatl ...
and was built in the centre of Hoofddorp by Dirk David van Dijk.
[Home page of mill "De Eersteling"](_blank)
, retrieved 27 March 2008. It was called "De Eersteling" (literally translated''The First''). Due to increased building around the mill it eventually fell into disuse.. It was originally located on the Kruisweg in the old centre of Hoofddorp, but was moved in its entirety by trailer in
1977
Events January
* January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
and is now located near Fort Hoofddorp. It has operated regularly from that time and is now open to the public.
The Witte Boerderij on the Hoofdweg is a
kop-rompboerderij from 1860 and is a good example of a Haarlemmermeer farm from the early days of the polder. The Witte Boerderij is now home to the ''Stichting Meer-Historie''.
Other monuments include the
Old Town Hall from 1867, the District Court from 1911 and the
Polderhuis of the Haarlemmermeer from 1913. The latter was built to a design by architect
Foeke Kuipers in a historicizing architectural style that harks back to 17th-century Dutch classicism. Another monument is
Marktzicht, formerly the center of Hoofddorp's market activities.
The
Geniedijk runs through Hoofddorp, part of the
Defense Line of Amsterdam. This defense line is on the
World Heritage List
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
of
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
.
Fort Hoofddorp is located in that dike.
Historical Museum
The ''Historical Museum Haarlemmermeer'' can be found on the Bosweg (ex-Kruisweg). The museum has all sorts of things to find about the history of the
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The ...
. Among other things, it has objects related to the draining. The museum is located in part of the old Mentzhoeve farm. This farm from 1860 resembles a Limburg farm in the sense that all the buildings were built around a courtyard. The Mentzhoeve is the only farm of this type in the Haarlemmermeer.
Transport
The town is served by
Hoofddorp railway station. In the 2020 timetable there are 4 trains an hour to Leiden (weekdays), 4 trains an hour to
Amsterdam Zuid railway station, 2 trains an hour to Zaandam, and 4 trains an hour to
Amsterdam Centraal. Journey times to Amsterdam Centraal are 25 – 30 minutes.
On 3 August 1912, Hoofddorp was connected by rail to
Leiden
Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
,
Aalsmeer and
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...
.
[ Informational page about the Haarlemmermeer Spoorlijnen](_blank)
retrieved 19 January 2007. These railway lines, operated by the (HESM), were closed on 31 December 1935.
In 1981, Hoofddorp was connected by rail for the second time, this time to
Leiden
Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
and
Schiphol Airport as a part of the
Schiphollijn. The
Southern High-Speed Line, that opened in 2007, will use existing conventional track from
Amsterdam Central Station to Hoofddorp, where it will branch off onto a dedicated track. The trains will not stop at Hoofddorp.
[HSL-Zuid](_blank)
, retrieved 19 January 2007

On 30 November 1992 the
Hoofddorp train disaster took place near Hoofddorp, causing 5 deaths and 33 wounded.
Hoofddorp is connected by many bus lines to many cities and towns in the immediate surroundings. Most bus lines are operated by
Connexxion. In 2002, Hoofddorp was connected to
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...
,
Schiphol Airport and
Amsterdam Zuidoost by the high quality bus line
Zuidtangent.
[ Zuidtangent informational page](_blank)
, retrieved on 19 January 2007 In 2009 came the Second line from
Amsterdam Zuid railway station to
Nieuw Vennep . The Zuidtangent will be expanded by adding a line to
Uithoorn and
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
IJburg
IJburg () is a residential neighbourhood under construction in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is situated in the IJmeer and is being built on artificial islands which have been raised from the lake. The Haveneiland, Rieteilanden, Steigereiland and C ...
.
The bus station at
Spaarne Hospital in Hoofddorp is the world's biggest structure built entirely from synthetic materials: factory-cut
polystyrene
Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It i ...
foam with a
polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...
skin. At this moment it has been painted in a sort of orange colour. However, the municipality has decided to remove the structure because of high maintenance costs.
In January 2019, CEO of
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipal ...
Dick Benschop announced that agreements had been reached to extend the
Amsterdam Metro's North-South line to the airport and Hoofddorp.
Government and infrastructure
The
Netherlands Aviation Safety Board, during its existence, had its head office in Hoofddorp. The
Dutch Transport Safety Board, the successor agency, was established on 1 July 1999 and the Netherlands Aviation Safety Board was merged into the agency at that time.
Private transport
Hoofddorp is well connected to several of the main roads in the Netherlands. At , the
A5 motorway branches off to
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...
from the
A4 motorway that leads to
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
and
The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
. The
A9 motorway can easily be reached via
Badhoevedorp or the
junction of the A4 and A9 at .
Hoofddorp itself lies on the crossing of the two main secondary roads in
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The ...
: the N201 from
Hilversum
Hilversum () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is ...
to
Zandvoort and the N520, that runs alongside the main canal of the Haarlemmermeer and dissects the
polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...
from north to south. The suburb of ''Toolenburg'' is connected to an as yet to be developed industrial area by the bridge ''Lute'', which was designed by
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spaniards, Spanish-Swiss people, Swiss architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stad ...
as part of a series of 3 bridges over the main canal along the N520. The secondary road N205 connects
Nieuw Vennep to
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...
and is part of the ring around Hoofddorp; the N201 also forms part of the ring.
Sports
FIFPro, the association of professional football players, is located in Hoofddorp.
Economy
Atlas Professionals is headquartered in Hoofddorp.
Stellantis
Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automaker formed in 2021 through the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of the Italian–American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group, PSA (Peugeot S.A.) Group. The company's hea ...
is headquartered in Hoofddorp.
Notable residents
*
Fanny Blankers-Koen, four-time gold medallist at the
1948 Olympic Games 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 ...
.
*
C. Joh. Kieviet, writer of children's literature.
*
Tineke Netelenbos, former
minister of Transport and Water Management in the
second cabinet of Wim Kok.
*
Marly van der Velden, actress from the soap ''
GTST''.
*
Khalid Boulahrouz, former professional footballer.
*
Fajah Lourens, actress from the former soap ''
GTST''.
*
Rinus van Kalmthout, racing driver active in North America and also known as Rinus VeeKay.
*
Rianne Van Rompaey, top model, was born in Hoofddorp.
*
Lucas Cornelis van Scheppingen, DJ, Record Producer, born in Manila, Philippines, Raised in Hoofddorp owner of
Mixmash Records.
*
Myron van Brederode, a Dutch professional footballer currently playing for
AZ Alkmaar
Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...
*
Déron Payne, a Dutch professional footballer currently playing for
FC Volendam
References
* Garritsen, A.M. ''Pyttersen's nederlandse almanak''. , 1998.
Notes
External links
*
{{Authority control
Populated places established in 1853
Populated places in North Holland
Haarlemmermeer
1853 establishments in the Netherlands