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'' is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.

Contents

History

Monuments and Parks

Local government

Railway connections

Notable people born in Heemstede

References

External links

History

Heemstede was originally settled around the castle 'Huis te Heemstede' that was built around 1300. The most famous resident of this castle is Adrian Pauw, who bought it in 1620. Growth was slow, and in 1787 Heemstede counted 196 families. Even at that early date Heemstede had already gained the reputation it has today, of being primarily a 'bedroom community' for the cities of Haarlem and Amsterdam. Wealthy city families left the cities in the summer, escaping 'canal fever' which caused illness from the putrid canals.

Monuments and Parks

★ Groenendaal park: Designed by John Hope, it was formed by merging several country estates into one.

★ Vrijheidsbeeld, statue by Mari Andriessen to celebrate freedom and commemorate Heemstede victims of WWII. Located on the Vrijheidsdreef in Groenendaal park.

★ Slot Heemstede: The site of the Heemstede castle.

★ Hartekamp: Heemstede summer home of George Clifford on the Bennebroek border, who hired Linnaeus to write his 'Hortus Cliffortianus', a detailed description of the gardens of Hartecamp. George Clifford's house is closed to the public, but the suurounding gardens are used as a campus and are open to visitors.

★ Linnaeusbos: Originally a part of Hartekamp that was planted by George Clifford and documented by Linnaeus. In 2007 Heemstede will celebrate Linnaeus's 300th birthday.

★ De Naald: The 'needle' is a monument placed by D.J. van Lennep to honor Witte van Haemstede, the savior of Haarlem at a battle which on April 26th 1304 and to honor the wounded of another battle fought against the Spanish on July 8th, 1573. Both battles supposedly took place right at the corner of David Jacob van Lennep's house, where the monument stands.

Local government

The municipal council of Heemstede consists of 21 seats, which are divided as follows:

★ VVD - 6 seats

★ CDA - 4 seats

★ PvdA - 4 seats

★ GroenLinks - 3 seats

★ Heemsteeds Burger Belang HBB - 2 seats

★ D66 - 1 seat

★ Nieuw Heemstede - 1 seat

Railway connections

The municipality of Heemstede contains the train station of Heemstede-Aerdenhout, on the connection between Haarlem and Leiden.

Notable people born in Heemstede

★ Roepie Kruize (1925-1992) – field hockey player and coach

★ Pieter Kooijmans (1933) – jurist and diplomat

★ Joost Swarte (1947) – comic artist and graphical designer

★ Johan Neeskens (1951) – football (soccer) player and manager

★ Astrid Schulz (1964) – model and actress

★ Annemieke Fokke (1967) – field hockey player

References

★ Statistics are taken from the SDU Staatscourant

External links

★ A map of Heemstede