The Watergraafsmeer () is a

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...

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 ...

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 was reclaimed in 1629. In the 17th and 18th centuries, there were many '' buitenplaatsen'' in the Watergraafsmeer, though nowadays only one, Frankendael, remains. It is among the lowest-lying parts of Amsterdam (approximately 5 metres below the NAP). Since 1921, the Watergraafsmeer is part of the city of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and its rural character has all but disappeared. It is located in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of Amsterdam-Oost. The most important streets in the Watergraafsmeer are the ''Middenweg'' and the ''Kruislaan''.

History

During the 17th and 18th centuries, a number of wealthy ''Amsterdammers'' (inhabitants of Amsterdam) built ''buitenplaatsen'' in the Watergraafsmeer. Today, only the ''buitenplaats'' of ''Frankendael'' remains. On the ''Maliebaan'', people played jeu de mail. From 1 May 1817 until 1 January 1921, Watergraafsmeer was an independent

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' ...

with approximately ten thousand inhabitants. In the early 20th century, it was mainly agricultural, with horticulture and cattle breeding.

Famous people

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

, football player *

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 ...

, Dutch chess player, Dutch chess champion, world chess champion (1935-37), international chess arbiter * Nola Hatterman, actress and painter * Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, graphic artist * Gerard Reve, Dutch writer * Karel van het Reve, Dutch writer, translator, literary historian Former municipalities of North Holland Neighbourhoods of Amsterdam Polders of North Holland Former boroughs of Amsterdam Amsterdam-Oost {{NorthHolland-geo-stub