Marsum or Marssum () is a village in

Waadhoeke Waadhoeke is a municipality of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. It was established 1 January 2018 and consists of the former municipalities of Franekeradeel, het Bildt, Menameradiel and parts of Littenseradiel, all four of which were ...

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 had a population of around 1,052 in January 2017. Before 2018, the village was part of the

Menameradiel Menameradiel (; ) is a former municipality in Friesland, Netherlands. On 1 January 2018 it merged with the municipalities of Franekeradeel, het Bildt and parts of Littenseradiel to form the new municipality Waadhoeke. Population centres Popul ...

municipality. Every year a Marsumer of the year is chosen and awarded an award called the Gilded Shit Broom. There are two

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

s in Marsum, ''De Marssumermolen'' and ''Terpzigt''.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1344 as Mersum, and means "settlement on swampy land (

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

)". Marsum is a ''

terp A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling mound found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides and ...

'' (artificial living hill) village from the start of our era with a radial structure. Around 1050, it became part of the Hoge dijk, a dike to protect against the

Middelzee The Middelzee (Dutch language, Dutch for "middle sea"; ), also called Bordine, was the estuary mouth of the River Boorne (West Frisian: ''Boarn'') now in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Friesland. It ran from as far south as Sneek northward to ...

. The Dutch Reformed church dates from the 12th century. In the 13th century, it was enlarged and a tower was added. The church was heightened in the 15th century. The Poptaslot is a ''

stins A stins (Dutch, pl. ''stinsen''; from West Frisian ''stienhûs'' utch ''steenhuis''"stone house", shortened to ''stins'', pl. ''stinzen'') is a former stronghold or villa in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Many stinsen carry the name ...

'' which was probably built around 1500. In 1631, it was owned by Tjalling van Eysinga, the ''

grietman A grietman (from Old Frisian ''greta'' to accuse, to indict) was a judge and administrator of a local district; this role was partly a forerunner of the current rural mayor in the province of Friesland, and partly the forerunner of a judge. East of ...

'' (mayor/judge) of Menaldumadeel who modified the building in a

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

fantasy style. In 1906, the building was restored and returned to its medieval shape. Poptaslot is one of the few remaining estates with a near original 17th century interior, and is now a museum. In 1840, the main road from

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

to Harlingen was built through Marsum. The same year, it was home to 588 people. After World War II, it started to developed into a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

. In the 1980s, parts of Marsum and Jelsum were scheduled to be demolished, because they were too close to

Leeuwarden Air Base Leeuwarden Air Base () is a military airbase used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) - (''KLu''), . The airbase was formerly one of the two F-16 Fighting Falcon bases of the RNLAF. The airbase lies northwest of the capital of Friesla ...

. 124 houses in both villages were listed for immediate demolition, and another 178 houses were listed for possible demolition. Large scale protests started, the buildings have remained and received improved sound isolation. Also the Minister of Defence was forced to cut back on the number of flights.

Gallery

File:Poptaslot 4.jpg, Popta Slot

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

File:Marssum imp 117.JPG, Street view File:Marssum, mûne Terpzigt.jpg, Terpzigt Mill File:Marssum - Marssumermolen.jpg, Marssum Mill

References

External links

* {{Authority control Waadhoeke Populated places in Friesland