Laaxum () is a hamlet in the municipality of

Súdwest-Fryslân Southwest Friesland ( ) is a municipality in the northern Netherlands, located in the province of Friesland. It had a population of 89,999 in January 2021. Sneek is the municipal seat. With a total area of 841.56 km2, Southwest-Friesland is ...

in the province of

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

, 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 ...

. It is located south of Warns on the edge of the

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; , ), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed-off freshwater lake in the central Netherlands bordering the Provinces of the Netherlands, provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with a ...

in the west of the Gaasterland region. The place is addressed both as a village and as a hamlet. A hamlet because it is formally part of Warns and a village because it is a fishing village. The place is or has been described as the smallest fishing village in Europe. It has only a limited number of houses and a farm. For a long time, it was only a hamlet of the village of Scharl. That only started to change in the 1900s due to the growth of the fishing industry and it was seen as a village when it got its own

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

in 1912 and the fishing industry was at its peak.

History

Laaxum was mentioned as ''Laxnum'' in 1245 in a copy of a document from 1132. In 1245 the place was also mentioned as ''Laxum'', in 1325 as ''Laxnum'', ''Laxen'', ''Laxenen'' and ''Laezenen'' in 1487 and the 16th century as ''Laexum''.Gildemacher, Karel F. (2007). Friese plaatsnamen: alle steden, dorpen en gehuchten. Leeuwarden, Friese Pers/Noordboek (in Dutch) The mention in the 16th century specifically indicates that it was a hamlet of Scharl. What exactly the place name means is unclear, possibly ''lak'' (lax) indicates soft flowing water, referring to the small peat flow where it originated in the swamp area, before the

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee''), historically called Lake Almere and Lake Flevo, was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands. It extended about 100 km (60 miles) inla ...

got its bigger size later on. With that also saying that the place was not yet a fishing village at the time. Later when the Zuiderzee did become bigger the village was more on the edge of it, with cliffs and the fishery became more important. It is unknown when the small natural harbor came in use before the modern port of 1912. Boats from the small number of fishers of Laaxum probably first docked in places like

Mirns Mirns () is a village in De Fryske Marren in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the ...

. The natural fishing harbor did at least came in use from the 17th century, after the bigger harbor of Mirns was poldered and became the Wielpolder.Timeline from the magazine Van Klif en Gaast by Stichting Histoarysk Wurkferbân Gaasterlân
(Dutch) , access-date=2022-03-08 In 1345 a (small) army of Count William IV of Holland (William II) came ashore at Laaxum to fight the Frisians, which led to the

Battle of Warns The Battle of Warns (; ) was a battle of the Friso-Hollandic Wars between Count William II, Count of Hainaut, William IV of Holland and the Frisians which took place on 26 September 1345. The annual commemoration of the battle is important for m ...

. Around 1500, Laaxum was known for fishing for

European flounder The European flounder (''Platichthys flesus'') is a flatfish of European coastal waters from the White Sea in the north to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea in the south. It has been introduced into the United States and Canada accidentally th ...

on the Vrouwenzand, a shallow area in what was then the Zuiderzee along the southern edge of Friesland. In 1680 it was mentioned that the inhabitants of the hamlet were engaged in

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

fishing. In 1718 there were eight houses in the hamlet and in 1851 six. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Laaxum was a village with sixteen houses and two farms, in which more than a hundred people lived. At the beginning of the twenty-first there were eleven houses and one farm. After the construction of the

Afsluitdijk The Afsluitdijk (; ; "closure dyke") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of Zurich, Friesland, Zurich in Friesland province, o ...

, the fishing industry in Laaxum collapsed. Eel was still being fished for some time, but it turned out to be unprofitable. The building named Hang is still standing at the port of Laaxum. Herrings used to be salted and smoked in this small building. These were often exported to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

as Lemster bucklings. Laaxum meanwhile became popular as a modest attraction for day trippers. That is why there is also a recreation area at the port.

References

{{Authority control Súdwest-Fryslân Populated places in Friesland