Stichtse Vecht is a

municipality of the Netherlands As of 24 March 2022, there are 344 municipalities ( nl, gemeenten) and three Caribbean Netherlands, special municipalities () in the Netherlands. The latter is the status of three of the six island territories that make up the Dutch Caribbean. ...

and lies in the northwestern part of the

province of Utrecht Utrecht (), officially the Province of Utrecht ( nl, Provincie Utrecht, link=no), is a province of the Netherlands. It is located in the centre of the country, bordering the Eemmeer in the north-east, the province of Gelderland in the east a ...

. The municipality has about 63,000 inhabitants and covers an area of about 107 km² (41 sq mi). Stichtse Vecht has been newly formed by a merger of the municipalities of

Breukelen Breukelen () is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is situated to the north west of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and close to the lakes of the Loosdrechtse Plassen, an area of natural and tour ...

(in the west),

Maarssen Maarssen () is a town in the middle of the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal. The west of Maarssen is called Maarssen-BroekStatistics are taken from thSDU Staatscourant whereas the eas ...

(in the east) and Loenen (in the north) on 1 January 2011.

Geography

Stichtse Vecht is situated north of the city of Utrecht, in an area called the '' Vechtstreek''. It is near

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

and is mostly rural with many

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or s ...

s. Within its boundaries lay the Maarsseveense Plassen, which are recreational lakes. Northeast it borders the Loosdrechtse Plassen, also recreational lakes, which lay in neighbouring municipality of

Wijdemeren Wijdemeren () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, on the western border of the Gooi region. Wijdemeren contains many lakes. In the north(east) ''Spiegelplas'' and ''Ankeveense Plassen'', in the (south)west ''Lo ...

. The

Amsterdam–Rhine Canal The Amsterdam–Rhine Canal ( Dutch: ''Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal'') is a canal in the Netherlands that was built to connect the port and capital city of Amsterdam to the main shipping artery of the Rhine. Its course follows a generally southeasterly di ...

and the river Vecht crosses the municipality from south to north.

Topography

''Dutch Topographic map of Stichtse Vecht, June 2015''

History

The municipality contains many

stately home An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

s (''

buitenplaats A buitenplaats (literally "outside place") was a summer residence for rich townspeople in the Netherlands. During the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, many traders and city administrators in Dutch towns became very wealthy. Many of them bough ...

en'') and several castles, like Nijenrode Castle, Slot Zuylen and

Huis te Mijnden The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the ...

Transportation

The

A2 motorway This is a list of roads designated A2. Roads entries are sorted alphabetically by country. * A2 motorway (Albania), a road connecting Vlore with Fier * A002 road (Argentina), a road connecting Avenida General Paz and Ministro Pistarini Internat ...

crosses the municipality from south to north. There are two railway stations: * Breukelen railway station * Maarssen railway station

Population centers

Former municipality of Breukelen: *

* Gieltjesdorp *

Kockengen Kockengen is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Stichtse Vecht, and lies about 11 km northeast of Woerden. The name of the village is a reference to Cockaigne, a medieval fictional land of plen ...

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It is the capital and larges ...

Laagnieuwkoop Laag-Nieuwkoop is a hamlet in the Dutch municipality of Stichtse Vecht. Between 1815 and 1942, Laag-Nieuwkoop was a separate municipality, consisting of the village, the nearby hamlets of , and (the south end of Portengen). The hamlet was fir ...

* Nieuwer-Ter-Aa * Noordeinde * Oud-Aa * Oukoop *

Portengen Portengen is a hamlet in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the municipality of Stichtse Vecht, northeast of Kockengen. Portengen was a separate municipality from 1818 to 1857, when it was merged with Breukelen-Nijenrode. The haml ...

Portengense Brug Portengen is a hamlet in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. It is located in the municipality of Stichtse Vecht, northeast of Kockengen. Portengen was a separate municipality from 1818 to 1857, when it was merged wit ...

* Scheendijk * Spengen * Zuideinde Former municipality of Loenen: * Loenen (aan de Vecht) * Loenersloot * Mijnden * Nieuwerhoek * Nieuwersluis *

Nigtevecht Nigtevecht () is a village in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands with a population of 1,395. Formerly part of the municipality of Loenen; it has been part of the newly-formed municipality of Stichtse Vecht since 2011. It is situated about ...

* Vreeland Former municipality of Maarssen: *

* Maarssenbroek *

Maarsseveen Maarsseveen is a former hamlet in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was located on the east bank of the Vecht River, opposite the village of Maarssen, and has now been completely absorbed by that town. It makes part of the municipality of Stich ...

* Molenpolder * Oud-Maarsseveen * Oud-Zuilen * Tienhoven

Politics

Municipal council

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

consists of the following parties:

Executive board

VVD, CDA, D66, ChristenUnie-SGP, Streekbelangen and Het Vechtse Verbond have formed a coalition. Together they have 22 seats. Members of the

executive board A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

are:

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

: *

Marc Witteman Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...

(CDA)

Aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members th ...

: * Pieter de Groene (D66) * Gera Helling-Zeisseink (CDA) * Vital van der Horst (Streekbelangen) * Piet Ploeg (VVD) * Jaap Verkroost (CDA) * Klaas Wiersema (VVD)

Notable people

Isabelle de Charrière - Quentin de La Tour

The Arts

* Willem Vrelant (?? in Vreeland - ca.1481) a Dutch book illuminator * Constantijn à Renesse (1626 in Maarssen – 1680) a

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and art an ...

painter * Gerrit Zegelaar (1719 in Loenen aan de Vecht – 1794) a Dutch painter *

Isabelle de Charrière Isabelle de Charrière (20 October 174027 December 1805), known as Belle van Zuylen in the Netherlands, née Isabella Agneta Elisabeth van Tuyll van Serooskerken, and adameIsabelle de Charrière ( married name) elsewhere, was a Dutch and ...

(1740 in Castle Zuylen – 1805) a Dutch writer of letters, novels, pamphlets, music and plays * Nicolaas Bastert (1854 in Maarssen – 1939) a Dutch landscape painter * Marjolein Bastin (born 1943 in Loenen aan de Vecht) a Dutch nature artist, writer, children's author and illustrator *

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

(1944 in Breukelen – 2019) a Dutch actor, writer and environmentalist *

Penney de Jager Wilhelmina Maria (Penney) de Jager (born Utrecht, 2 January 1948) is a Dutch dancer and choreographer. De Jager received her training with Rotterdam's Scapino Ballet, and was then hired by the Dutch National Ballet. She achieved national fame w ...

(born 1948) dancer and choreographer, lives in Stichtse Vecht *

Leoni Jansen Leoni Jansen (born 18 September 1955) is a Dutch singer who performs American folk music and Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern E ...

(1955 in Leiden) a Dutch singer, stage-director and TV anchor-woman IMDb Database
retrieved 24 September 2019

Public thinking & Public Service

* Gerrit van Arkel (1858 in Loenen aan de Vecht – 1918) a Dutch

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

(Art Nouveau) architect * Aarnoud van Heemstra (1871 in Vreeland – 1957) a Dutch nobleman, jurist and politician. *

Pieter Nicolaas van Eyck Pieter Nicolaas/Nicolaus van Eyck (Breukelen, 1 October 1887 – Wassenaar, 28 April 1954) He was born Pieter Nicolaas van Eijk and changed his name to van Eyck around 1907. He worked as a foreign correspondent for the Dutch newspaper NRC in Rome ...

(1887 in Breukelen - 1954) a foreign correspondent, poet, critic, essayist and philosopher * Pierre Joseph Eyma (1903 in Maarssen – 1945) a Dutch botanist * Annelien Kappeyne van de Coppello (1936 in Loenen aan de Vecht – 1990) a Dutch politician * Sander Griffioen (born 1941 in Loenen aan de Vecht) a Dutch philosopher and academic *

Bernt Schneiders Bernard Bram "Bernt" Schneiders (born 2 April 1959 in Breukelen) is a Dutch politician who is a member of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) and. From July 2006 until September 2016 he was mayor of Haarlem. Career Schneiders studied law and worke ...

(born 1959 in Breukelen) a Dutch politician, Mayor of Landsmeer, Heemskerk & Haarlem * Liesbeth Spies (born 1966 in Alphen aan den Rijn) a Dutch politician, Mayor of Alphen aan den Rijn * Marianne Thieme (born 1972 in Ede) a Dutch politician, author, animal rights activist and jurist

Sport

* Cor Aalten (1913 in Breukelen-Nijenrode – 1991) a Dutch athlete, competed at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held dur ...

* Henk van der Grift (born 1935 in Breukelen) a retired Dutch speed skater, competed at the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Valle ...

Bart Verschoor Bartolomeus "Bart" Verschoor (born 17 May 1965, in Loenersloot) is a sailor from the Netherlands, who represented his country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Pusan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Se ...

(born 1965 in Loenersloot) a sailor, competed at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Annemieke Kiesel Annemieke Kiesel (née Griffioen; born 30 November 1979) is a former Dutch footballer and coach. She played for clubs in the Netherlands, United States, England and Germany, winning titles with Dutch and German clubs. She also played for the Dut ...

(born 1979 in Kockengen) a former Dutch footballer and coach, also played for the Dutch national team, retiring with 156 caps

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of Utrecht (province) Municipalities of the Netherlands established in 2011