Medemblik () is a municipality and a city in 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

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 ...

and the region of West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of

Wieringermeer Wieringermeer () is a polder and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Since 2012 Wieringermeer has been a part of the new municipality of Hollands Kroon. Population centres The former municipality of Wier ...

History

Medemblik was a prosperous trading town, when in 1282,

Floris V Floris V (24 June 1254 – 27 June 1296) reigned as Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1256 until 1296. His life was documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke, his chronicler. He is credited with a mostly peaceful reign, modern ...

, Count of Holland, successfully invaded West Friesland. He built several fortresses to control the region, one of which was Kasteel Radboud in Medemblik, and awarded Medemblik

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 1289. After Floris V was murdered in 1296, the local Frisians besieged the castle, but in 1297 an army from Holland thwarted their efforts to starve out the inhabitants, which included Medemblik citizens.Ben Dijkhui
The Castle at Medemblik
/ref> Several more attacks took place in the following centuries. The most notorious of these happened in June 1517, when Medemblik was attacked from mainland Frisia by about 4000 pirates known as the Arumer Zwarte Hoop, led by Pier Gerlofs Donia and Wijard Jelckama. Many citizens fled to the castle, which the pirates unsuccessfully besieged. Eventually, they took out their fury on the town, which burned to the ground. After this the band continued their marauding path on land throughout present day

. After Medemblik town walls were constructed in 1572, the castle lost its role as a refuge for the citizens, which led to its partially dismantling in 1578. Over the centuries the castle fell into decay, but in 1889 it became property of the crown and was restored to be used as a courthouse, which function it served until 1934. Anticipating the German invasion, the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

in September 1939 chose the castle as the initial hiding place of

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

's Night Watch. On 1 January 2007 Medemblik merged with the municipalities of Noorder-Koggenland and Wognum. The new municipality was called Medemblik, even though it was the smallest of the three in population. Again, on 1 January 2011, Medemblik merged with

Andijk Andijk (; ) is a former municipality and a village bordering Lake IJssel in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. Since 1 January 2011 Andijk has been part of Medemblik municipality. The name Andijk c ...

and

Wervershoof Wervershoof (; West Frisian (dialect), West Frisian: ''Werfershouf'') is a small town and former municipality in the north-western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West Friesland (region), West-Frisia. Since 1 January ...

into the municipality Medemblik. The new city hall is the former office building of the

DSB Bank DSB Bank (''DSB: Dirk Scheringa Beheer'') was a Dutch bank and insurer that failed in 2009. Its loans were managed under ''Quion'' from June 2013 until June 2016 when ''Finqus'' began operating as the former DSB Bank. In 2018 ''Finqus BV'' took o ...

in Wognum.

Tourism

Medemblik is best known in Europe for its

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

events. Medemblik also has a picturesque small innercity with many 17th and 18th century houses, two big churches, an old

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

, a town hall and, of course, castle Radboud, which is at the edger of the innercity. The city also hosts the Medemblik steam museum, housed in a decommissioned pumping station.

Transport

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

connects Medemblik with

Hoorn Hoorn () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is the largest town an ...

Local government

The municipal council of Medemblik consists of 29 seats, which at the 2022 municipal elections divided as follows: * Hart voor Medemblik - 6 seats * VVD - 5 seats * CDA - 5 seats * Gemeentebelangen - 5 seats * Morgen! in Medemblik - 4 seats * D66 - 2 seats *

GroenLinks (, ; GL) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Neth ...

- 1 seat *

ChristenUnie The Christian Union ( ; CU) is a Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more socially conservative ...

- 1 seat

Notable people

* Jan Albertsz Rotius (1624 in Medemblik – 1666) a Dutch painter * A. C. Baantjer (1923 in Urk – 2010) a Dutch author of detective fiction and police officer * Jan Vriend (born 1938 in Benningbroek) a Dutch classical music composer, conductor, organist and pianist * Bep Vriend (born 1946 in Andijk) a Dutch bridge player and teacher * Willem Vogelsang (born 1956 in Medemblik) academic and reserve soldier * John Appel (born 1958 in Wognum) a Dutch documentary filmmaker IMDb Database
retrieved 9 August 2019

Sport

* Edith van Dijk (born 1973 in Haastrecht) a Dutch swimmer and 6-time world champion. *

Yvonne Spigt Yvonne Spigt (born 20 January 1988) was a Dutch marathon skating, marathon skater and inline skating, inline skater. She also works as a doctor's assistant. Her sisters Moniek, Petra and Jannitta have also skated in women's marathons. Spigt won th ...

(born 1988 in Wervershoof) a Dutch marathon skater and inline skater *

Irene Schouten Irene Schouten (; born 21 June 1992) is a retired Dutch speed skater who competed in allround marathon and inline-skating events. She is a five-time Olympic medalist and a triple Olympic Champion, having won the 3,000m, 5,000m, and mass start ev ...

(born 1992 in Andijk) a Dutch speed skater, bronze medallist in the

2018 Winter Olympic Games The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

Gallery

Image:Medemblik, de Sint Martinuskerk RM502377 foto3 2015-10-11 13.29.jpg, Medemblik, church: de Sint-Martinuskerk Image:Medemblik,_bij_spoortram-station_2006-08-06_13.18.JPG, Medemblik, near spoortram station Image:Medemblik, de Bonifaciuskerk met een monumentale toren RM28362 foto6 2015-10-11 13.20.jpg, Medemblik, church: Grote of Sint Bonifaciuskerk File:Johannes Blaeu KasteelTeMedemblik.JPG, Medemblik Castle on a drawing by Johannes Blaeu File:Exterieur OVERZICHT - Medemblik - 20284820 - RCE.jpg, The Lely pumping station, Gemaal Lely

References

External links

* *
Official websiteOfficial tourist website
{{Authority control Municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland