Culemborg () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

and a city in the centre of 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

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

. The city had a population of 29,386 on 1 January 2022 and is situated just south of the

Lek river The Lek () is a river in the western Netherlands of some in length. It is the continuation of the Nederrijn after the Kromme Rijn branches off at the town of Wijk bij Duurstede. The main westbound waterway is hereafter called the Lek River. The ...

. Direct train lines run from the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

towards the cities 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 ...

and

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

, via the near railway bridge.

Etymology

The oldest example of the name is ''Culenburgh'' from 1281. Throughout the centuries several spellings have been used: ''Kulenborch'' (1305), ''Culenborgh'' (1353), ''Colemborch'' (1363), ''Culemborch'' (1472). The former part of the name (which today would be ''kuil'') refers to a hole or pit, while the later refers to the castle that was built there around 1270.

History

Culemborg, formerly also spelled Kuilenburg or Kuylenburgh, received

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 ...

in 1318. Despite its Dutch character, Culemborg was not legally part of the Netherlands until the 18th century, and was instead part of a

fiefdom A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. The fiefdom (later county) had gained the right of toll collection and the

right of asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, such as a second country or another enti ...

: it was a so-called '''Vrijstad''' ( free city). In practice, this meant that people who had fled to Culemborg from other cities (for example due to bankruptcy) could evade their creditors in Culemborg. The creditors would not be allowed entry into the city. This did not mean that criminals could escape justice in Culemborg: the manor had its own justice system which could sentence criminals. In Amsterdam, the phrase '''Naar Culemborg gaan (Going to Culemborg) became synonymous with going bankrupt. In

Joan Blaeu Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673), also called Johannes Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer and the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Blaeu is most notable for his map published in 1648, which was the fir ...

's map of 1649, Culemborg remains entirely enclosed by walls behind its city

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

-like encircling canals. The moated castle stands ''outside'' the city walls. Houses present a united front along streets and the two canals that cut the city in three sections, but they all face gardens behind, and

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to s ...

s are plentiful within the city walls. In the beginning of the 18th century, Culemborg effectively lost its independence as it was incorporated into the

Nijmegen Quarter The Nijmegen Quarter (Dutch: ''Kwartier van Nijmegen'') was the first of the four quarters in which the county, later Duchy of Guelders was divided, as they were separated by rivers. In addition Guelders consisted of Zutphen Quarter, the Upper Q ...

, although it regained some sovereign rights. Later, it was given to stadholder Willem IV. To this day, the Dutch king Willem-Alexander remains count of Culemborg. In 1795, the city was occupied by French forces, who left the castle in such a despicable state it was demolished after the French had left. A few years later it was completely incorporated in the Bataafse Republiek, and losing its sovereign rights. In 1868, a railway bridge was built over the river Lek which was the longest bridge in Europe for a few years. Just upstream of it is a

reaction ferry A reaction ferry is a cable ferry that uses the reaction of the current of a river against a fixed tether to propel the vessel across the water. Such ferries operate faster and more effectively in rivers with strong currents. Types and modes of ...

. In 1991, a fireworks explosion occurred in a factory, resulting in 2 deaths and over 20 injuries. In 1995, Culemborg was one of the cities which was temporarily evacuated because of the risk of flooding. Between 1994 and 2009 the city of Culemborg developed the innovative ecological neighbourhood EVA Lanxmeer. Close collaboration with inhabitants and experimental

sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

has made the neighbourhood an international best practice.

Transportation

Culemborg is served by Culemborg railway station, which offers trains to

Utrecht (city) 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 ...

4x per hour and 2x per hour to

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

and

Tiel Tiel () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal (river), Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the Eas ...

each. The railway station also provides a bus hub, offering buses to the various neighbouring cities and villages (namely

Buren Buren () is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Betuwe region of the Netherlands. Buren has 27,168 inhabitants as of 1 January 2022. Geography Buren is located in Gelderland, a province of the Netherlands. It is pa ...

Beusichem Beusichem is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Buren, and lies about northwest of Tiel. History It was first mentioned between 918 and 948 Buosinhem, and means "settlement of the people of Boso ...

and

Nieuwegein Nieuwegein () is a municipality and city in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is bordered on the north by the city of Utrecht, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the river Lek and borders on IJsselstein in the ...

). The near railway bridge has been built in the 1860s and at the time it had some important records.

Topography

''Dutch topographic map of the municipality of Culemborg, June 2015''

Economy

Dough processing company Rademaker BV, founded in 1977, moved to Culemborg in 1981 and still has their headquarters here. Centraal Boekhuis, trading under CB since 2012, is the main distributor of books in The Netherlands and has been based in Culemborg since 1973.

Windmills

There are two traditional windmills in Culemborg, ''De Hoop'' and ''Johanna''. The base of a third mill, ''De Koornvriend'', also survives.

Notable residents

Anthony van Diemen Anthony van Diemen (also ''Antonie'', ''Antonio'', ''Anton'', ''Antonius''; 1593 – 19 April 1645) was a Dutch colonial governor. Early life Van Diemen was born in Culemborg (now in the Netherlands, then in a county in the Holy Roman Empire) ...

(1593–1645),

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (, ) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese forces between 1942 and 1945, followed by the ...

Jan van Riebeeck Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator, ambassador and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Life Early life Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg on 21 April ...

(1619–1677) colonial administrator, founded

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

(

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) * Roelof de Man (1634 - 1663), bookkeeper and second-in-charge to

at founding of

(

) * Otto van Rees (1823–1892), minister and

Rudi Martinus van Dijk Rudi Martinus van Dijk (27 March 1932 – 29 November 2003) was a Dutch and Canadian composer of orchestral, chamber music, chamber and vocal music. In all Van Dijk's music, whichever of his stylistic trends it seems immediately to favour, the vo ...

(1932–2003) a Dutch and Canadian composer of orchestral, chamber and vocal music *

Wilhelmina Cooper Wilhelmina Gertrud Frieda Cooper (née Behmenburg; 11 May 1939 – 1 March 1980) was a Dutch-American model who began with Ford Models, and at the peak of her success, founded her own agency, Wilhelmina Models, in New York City in 1967. Retriev ...

(1939–1980), fashion model, founded

Wilhelmina Models Wilhelmina International Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLM), formerly Wilhelmina Models, is a modeling and talent agency headquartered in New York City, New York. The company also has offices in Los Angeles, Miami and London. Founded in 1967 by Wilhelmina C ...

, New York *

Farid Azarkan Farid Azarkan (born 16 October 1971) is a Dutch politician who has been serving as the Leader of Denk since 26 September 2020. Additionally, he has been a member of the House of Representatives since 23 March 2017. Azarkan previously held the pos ...

(born 1971), politician and leader of Denk *

Jelka van Houten Jelline Floriska van Houten (; born 1 September 1978) is a Dutch actress and singer. She has acted in Dutch films, musicals, and television series. She also played Sabine in the British TV series '' Fresh Meat''. She won the John Kraaijkamp Mu ...

(born 1978), actress IMDb Database
retrieved 27 December 2019

Sport

Elly van Hulst Elisa ("Elly") Maria van Hulst (born 9 June 1959) is a former middle distance runner from the Netherlands. She competed in the 800 m and 1500 m events at the 1984 Summer Olympics and in the 1500 m and 3000 m at the 1988 Summer Olympics; her bes ...

(born 1959), middle distance runner, competed at the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

* Patrick Pothuizen (born 1972), football player over 450 club caps * Michiel Elijzen (born 1982) a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer

Gallery

File:Culemborg, de Binnenpoort RM11554 foto11 2015-08-06 13.21.jpg, Town gate: ''de Binnenpoort'' File:Culemborg, by Jan Weissenbruch.jpg, Culemborg, 1880 File:Culemborg, molen de Hoop RM451862 foto3 2015-08-06 13.14.jpg, Windmill: ''molen de Hoop'' File:Culemborg, Netherlands - panoramio (18).jpg, Culemborg - panorama

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Municipalities of Gelderland Populated places in Gelderland Cities in the Netherlands