Sassenheim () is a town and former municipality in the western

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

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

. The former municipality covered an area of 6.62 km² (of which 0.23 km² water) and had a population of 14,906 in 2005. Since 1 January 2006, it is part of the Teylingen municipality. In 2020, the population reached 15,755. The name ''Sassenheim'' consists of two parts; the first (''Sassen'') means

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

, and the second portion (''heim'') is

Old Frankish Frankish ( reconstructed endonym: *), also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 10th centuries. Franks under king Chlodio settled in Roman Gaul in the 5th century. O ...

for "home".

History

The name Sassenheim is mentioned in documents for the first time in 870 as ''Hostsagnem'' ('East Sassenheim') and ''Westsagnem'' ('West Sassenheim'). Later, in the 10th century, the name Saxnem, Zassenem or Sassem was used. It was formed between the towns of

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 Lisse on the eastern edge of the old coastal

beach ridge A beach ridge is a Ocean surface wave, wave-swept or wave-deposited ridge running parallel (geometry), parallel to a shoreline. It is commonly composed of sand as well as sediment worked from underlying beach material. The movement of sediment ...

s where the main road from Leiden 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 ...

was located. Along this road many

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 ...

s and estates were built, including the

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

s along Sassenheim's Main Street (''Hoofdstraat'') dating from the early 1900s. The village church is built on a dune top and portrays a variety of construction styles. Sassenheim is located in an area called the "Dune and Bulb Region" (

Duin- en Bollenstreek The Duin- en Bollenstreek (; Dutch for "Dune and Bulb Region") is a region in the Western Netherlands, that features coastal dunes and the cultivation of Bulb, flower bulbs. Situated at the heart of historical Holland nearby the city of Leiden, So ...

). Historically, Sassenheim had a large

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

flower industry but this has now all but disappeared, only a few fields remain. One of the most interesting attractions in Sassenheim are the

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

of Castle Teylingen. This stronghold was built to guard the north–south route in Holland and later became a residence of

countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Jacoba of Bavaria. Its outer walls date from the beginning of the 13th century. Around 1570 during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

, the castle was heavily damaged but rebuilt afterwards. It was bought by the State in 1889 and restored in 1900. Since

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it has placed much emphasis on attracting light industry. The territory of Sassenheim is partly used for this purpose and partly for residential construction. The few bulbs lands owned by the municipality, have virtually disappeared. The many bulbs barns are almost all demolished. Trade and production have moved to areas outside Sassenheim. In the second half of the 20th century Sassenheim becomes a greater town with new districts around the historical town center, first in the Southeast and the West (during the 60s-70s) and later in the rest of the village. On December 11, 2011 Sassenheim

Train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

has opened near the motorway A44.

Gallery

File:Sassenheim kerk.jpg, Church:Sassenheimse dorpskerk File:Pancratiuskerk_Sassenheim.JPG, Catholic church:Pancratiuskerk File:Sassemheim watertoren2.jpg, Sassenheimse watertoren File:Bollenstreek Bloemencorso Sassenheim 2005.jpg, Bollenstreek Bloemencorso 2005 edition

Notable people from Sassenheim

Bart Zoet Hubertus Balthazar "Bart" Zoet (20 October 1942 – 13 May 1992) was a Dutch cyclist who was active between 1961 and 1969. He competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an internati ...

(20 October 1942), cyclist * Patty Trossèl (born 1963), singer and composer * Tim Mudde (23 February 1965), far-right activist and singer of Brigade M * Martin Hersman (26 February 1974),

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marath ...

Niels Langeveld Niels Langeveld (born 21 February 1988) is a Dutch racing driver currently competing in Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux for RedAnt Racing. Career Langeveld made his car racing debut in 2005, racing part-time in the ELF BRL V6 series. After spending ...

(born 1988), racing driver * Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten - pilot in the

Tenerife disaster The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on 27 March 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North–Ciudad de La Laguna Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The incident oc ...

References

External links

Official WebsiteHistory of Sassenheim and Teylingen
(in Dutch)
Information about the history
Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2006 Populated places in South Holland Former municipalities of South Holland Teylingen {{SouthHolland-geo-stub