52º09N 5º23E, pop (2002e) 128 100. Commercial city and municipality in NE Utrecht province, W Netherlands; located 19 km/12 mi NE of Utrecht, at the confluence of several small rivers, which, further downstream, form the R Eem; surrounded by a vast area of forest and heathland; received charter, 1259; early industries were cloth-manufacture and brewing; birthplace of Pieter Both, Paulus Buys, Piet Mondrian, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt; railway; electrical engineering, motor vehicles, machines, chemicals, foodstuffs; Onze Lieve Vrouwe church (with 15th-c carillon tower), Gothic church of St George (12431534).
Coordinates: 52.15° N 5.38° E
| Amersfoort | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Province | Utrecht |
| Coordinates | 52.15° N 5.38° E |
| Area | 63.85 km² |
| - Land | 63.24 km² |
| - Water | 0.61 km² |
| Population (2005) | 134,904 |
| - Density | 2,133/km² |
| Mayor | A. van Vliet-Kuiper (D66) |
| Website | www.amersfoort.nl |
Amersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands.
Population centres
The municipality of Amersfoort consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Amersfoort, Hoogland, Hooglanderveen, Stoutenburg Noord.
The city of Amersfoort
History
Hunter gatherers set up their camps in the Amersfoort region in the Mesolithic period.
Settlements in the Amersfoort area from around 1000 BC have been found, but the name Amersfoort (named after a ford in the Amer river, now the Eem) did not appear until the 11th century.
In the Middle Ages, Amersfoort was an important centre of textile industries, and there were a large number of breweries in the city.
Second World War
In the Second World War there was a concentration camp near the city of Amersfoort.
Keistad (Stone-city)
The nickname for Amersfoort, Keistad (stone-city), originates in the Amersfoortse Kei, a boulder that was dragged into the city in 1661 by 400 people because of a bet. Amersfoort, the intercity station, with trains to Enschede, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Amsterdam and Leeuwarden/Groningen, and Amersfoort Schothorst.
Notable people born in Amersfoort
Paulus Buys (1531-1594) – grand pensionary Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (1547-1619) – statesman Piet Mondriaan (1872-1944) – painter Johannes Heesters (1903) – actor, singer and entertainer Ben Pon (1936) – sports car racing driver Loet Geutjes (1943) – water polo player Feike de Vries (1943) – water polo player Anke Rijnders (1956) – swimmer Peter Drost (1958) – swimmer Frank Drost (1963) – swimmer Jan Wagenaar (1965) – water polo player Deidre Holland (1966) – porn star Arie van de Bunt (1969) – water polo goalkeeperMiscellaneous
In swimming pool Sportfondsenbad there is a yearly nudist day in March (NFN members and donors only).Local government
The municipal council of Amersfoort consists of 39 seats, which are divided as follows :
VVD - 6 seats PvdA - 10 seats CDA - 5 seats GroenLinks - 4 seats Jouw Amersfoort - 3 seats ChristenUnie - 3 seats SP - 3 seats Burger Partij Amersfoort - 5 seats PAPA (Politieke Actiepartij Amersfoort - not represented) NCPN (Nieuwe Communistische Partij Nederland - not represented)
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