Spijkenisse () is a large town in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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. ...

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 ...

. Following an administrative reform in 2015, it is part of the

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' ...

of Nissewaard, and has a population of 72,500. It covers an area of of which is water. It is part of the Greater Rotterdam area.

History

Archaeological evidence suggests that the area around Spijkenisse has been inhabited for several thousand years. The area's prehistoric inhabitants depended on fishing in the Maas and hunting in the surrounding swamps for sustenance. The oldest known reference to the name ''Spickenisse'' is in a source from 1231. Spijkenisse is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the words ' ( spit) and ''nesse'' (

nose A nose is a sensory organ and respiratory structure in vertebrates. It consists of a nasal cavity inside the head, and an external nose on the face. The external nose houses the nostrils, or nares, a pair of tubes providing airflow through the ...

) meaning "pointy nose." The name is a reference to the settlement's location on a spit of land protruding into the river. Spijkenisse formed as a farming and fishing village on a creek along the Oude Maas. It originally belonged to the Lord of

Putten Putten () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and Dorp (town), town in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It had a population of in . It is located in the coastal area of the old Zui ...

(whose coat of arms is now used by the town) but in 1459 the fiefdom of Putten, including Spijkenisse, was transferred to

Philip III, Duke of Burgundy Philip III the Good (; ; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) ruled as Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death in 1467. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged. During his reig ...

. In 1581, after the Dutch declaration of independence, the area came under the control of the

States of Holland and West Friesland The States of Holland and West Frisia () were the representation of the two Estates of the realm, Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the Dutch Republic, United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a count, ...

. In the 16th century, the village suffered several floods, and endured destructive fires in the following two centuries which hampered its economic growth. In the 20th century Spijkenisse heavily urbanised as part of the Greater Rotterdam area. Contemporary Spijkenisse includes the communities of Hekelingen, Den Hoek, and Beerenplaat.

Transport

Spijkenisse has a connection to the city of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Rotterdam Metro The Rotterdam Metro () is a rapid transit system operated in Rotterdam, Netherlands and surrounding municipalities by RET. The first line, called ''Noord – Zuidlijn'' (North – South line) opened in 1968 and ran from Centraal Station to Zu ...

lines C and D, through Spijkenisse Centrum, Heemraadlaan and De Akkers stations. The metro is operated by RET. On 2 November 2020, at about 00:30, a train ran through buffers at the end of the line and was saved from plunging 10 metres by the "Whale tails" sculpture. There are also several bus services operated by EBS and 1 line of

Connexxion Connexxion formerly Transdev#Netherlands, Transdev Netherlands, Veolia Transport Nederland, Veolia Transport Nederlands and Connex Netherlands is a large Public transport in the Netherlands, public transport company in the Netherlands, operatin ...

to Ouddorp. In 2011, the town built seven bridges designed by Robin Stam, replicating Robert Kalina's fictional designs on the

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

banknotes.Euro Banknote Bridges

Atlas Obscura ''Atlas Obscura'' is an United States, American-based travel and exploration company. It was founded in 2009 by author Joshua Foer and documentary filmmaker/author Dylan Thuras. It catalogs unusual and obscure travel destinations via professiona ...

(www.atlasobscura.com). Retrieved on 2018-06-25. 5316 op Spijkenisse Centrum, Spijkenisse.png, Spijkenisse Centrum Gestrande metro Spijkenisse Walvisstaart 3-11-2020.png, Accident on November 2, 2020 StadsbusConnexxion1045.jpg, Bus service 20 Euro Bruecke.jpg, Eurobridge 20 euro

Districts

Health

* Spijkenisse Medisch Centrum ''(former Ruwaard van Putten hospital)''

Schools

Primary schools

Secondary school

Notable residents

* Jan Campert (1902 in Spijkenisse – 1943) a journalist, theater critic and writer * Marleen de Pater-van der Meer (1950 in Hekelingen – 2015) a Dutch politician * Jan Bechtum (born 1958 in Spijkenisse) a Dutch guitarist and composer * Erik de Jong (born 1961 in Spijkenisse) known as Spinvis, a Dutch one-man music project * Rolf Habben Jansen (born in 1966 in Spijkenisse), current CEO of Hapag-Lloyd AG * Medy van der Laan (born 1968 in Spijkenisse) a retired Dutch politician * Björn Franken (born 1983 in Spijkenisse) known as

Vato Gonzalez Vato Gonzalez (born 6 June 1983 as Björn Franken) is a Dutch record producer, songwriter, artist, DJ, who is signed to Spinnin' Records and DOORN Records. Best known for his single Badman Riddim (Jump) (featuring Foreign Beggars), which reached ...

, DJ and producer * Nick van de Wall (born 1987 in Spijkenisse) known as

Afrojack Nick Leonardus van de Wall (; born 9 September 1987), known professionally as Afrojack (stylized in all caps), is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer. In 2007, he founded the record label Wall Recordings; his debut album ''Forget the World ( ...

, DJ and producer *

Duncan Laurence Duncan de Moor (; born 11 April 1994), known professionally as Duncan Laurence, is a Dutch singer and songwriter. He represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with his song " Arcade" and went on to win the competition, g ...

(born 1994 in Spijkenisse) singer, winner of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

* Fabiënne Nicole Groeneveld (born 1999 in Spijkenisse) businesswoman, model, winner of Miss Universe Indonesia 2023 ;Sport * Bram Groeneweg (1905 in Spijkenisse – 1988) a Dutch long-distance runner, competed in the marathon at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

* Emiel Mellaard (born 1966 in Spijkenisse) is a retired Dutch long jump record holder * Joeri de Groot (born 1977 in Spijkenisse) a Dutch rower, competed at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

* Patrick van Luijk (born 1984 in Spijkenisse) a Dutch sprinter * Martijn Barto (born 1984 in Spijkenisse) a Dutch professional footballer with over 200 club caps * Djenairo Daniels

International relations

Spijkenisse is twinned with the following cities:

Gallery

Image:sp kerk.jpg, The medieval village church is the oldest building in Spijkenisse. File:Spijkenisse molen Nooitgedacht.jpg, in Spijkenisse. File:Spijkenisse kunstwerk mannetjes op de krom.jpg, ''Mannetjes op de krom'' by File:De boekenberg grote bibliotheek in Spijkenisse.jpg, The library "Bookmountain" File:De Rokade.jpg, The ''Rokade'' File:Ijs in de haven van Spijkenisse.jpg, Ice in the harbour of Spijkenisse File:Schenkel Maasboulevard DSCF2317.JPG, The Maasboulevard File:Spijkenisse kunstwerk droomboot.jpg, Sculpture "droomboot" (dream boat) File:IIIa3 Haven Spijkenisse - uitstroom poldergemaal.jpg, Outfall sluice

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2015 Former municipalities of South Holland Populated places in South Holland Nissewaard