Wieringermeer () 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 ...

and former

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' ...

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 ...

. Since 2012 Wieringermeer has been a part of the new municipality of

Hollands Kroon Hollands Kroon is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality located in the Northwest Netherlands. It was created on 1 January 2012, as a merger of four municipalities: Anna Paulowna, Niedorp, Wieringen, and Wieringermeer.Ministry o ...

Population centres

The former municipality of Wieringermeer consisted of the following small towns and villages: Kreileroord, Middenmeer, Slootdorp, Wieringerwerf.

History

Around the year 1000 AD, this area was land. However, several storms after 1100 turned it into a

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

. Wieringmeer means "

Wieringen Wieringen () is located in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. Now a part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, it was a separate municipality before 2012. Its name first appeared in 8th and 9th century records. By 1200 it was an i ...

Lake", the name of an inland lake that filled the area in the early

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

period. The Wieringmeerpolder is a

, newly created land, and part of the

Zuiderzee Works The Zuiderzee Works () is a system of dams and Levee, dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, which was the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The project involved the dammin ...

developed in the 20th century. Originally the polder was planned after the completion of the

Afsluitdijk The Afsluitdijk (; ; "closure dyke") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of Zurich, Friesland, Zurich in Friesland province, o ...

, but a severe lack of agricultural land meant construction was accelerated, starting in 1927. The dikes had to be strong enough to withstand the force of the

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee''), historically called Lake Almere and Lake Flevo, was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands. It extended about 100 km (60 miles) inla ...

, a sea. Draining of the polder was finished on 21 August 1930. After the completion of the Afsluitdijk in 1932, the lake

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; , ), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed-off freshwater lake in the central Netherlands bordering the Provinces of the Netherlands, provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with a ...

was formed from the waters. Exterieur OVERZICHT - Medemblik - 20284820 - RCE

After desalinization, the new land became usable in 1934. Four villages (Slootdorp (1931), Middenmeer (1933), Wieringerwerf (1936) and Kreileroord (1957)), were developed in the polder. Since 1 July 1941, the Wieringermeer had been an independent municipality. On 17 April 1945, during the

Second World War 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 ...

, the German occupiers ordered the dike of the Wieringermeer to be blown up: the area was inundated. No one was killed as the polder slowly submerged again (the inhabitants had been warned), but the high water and a subsequent storm destroyed most of the infrastructure built in the previous decade. The floodwater was

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

, so the land did not have to be

desalinate Desalination is a process that removes mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance. One example is soil desalination. This is important for agriculture. It is possible ...

d again. Reconstruction followed quickly; by the end of 1945, the polder was declared drained again. Rebuilding of roads and bridges, houses and farms, was greatly facilitated by the experience of building them the first time.

Local government

The former municipal council of Wieringermeer consisted of 15 seats, which at the final election in 2010 divided as follows: * CDA - 3 seats * VVD - 3 seats * Progressief Wieringermeer - 2 seats * Onafhankelijk Wieringermeer '04 - 2 seats * Gemeente Belangen Wieringermeer - 2 seats * PvdA - 2 seats * Christian Union - 1 seat Elections were held in November 2011 for a council for the new merged municipality of Hollands Kroon that included Wieringermeer, which commenced work in January 2012.

References

{{Reflist * Statistics are taken from th
SDU Staatscourant
Zuiderzee Works Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2012 Former municipalities of North Holland Polders of North Holland Hollands Kroon