Den Helder

Sister cities

• Lüdenscheid

History

The oldest populated place in the municipality was Huisduinen, which was first attested to as "Husidina" in the middle of the 9th century CE. After major flooding at the end of the 12th century, Huisduinen, as well as the more southern town of Callantsoog, were left behind as islands. In the Wadden Sea area east of Huisduinen, high sand dunes formed that remained dry at high tide. These dunes (nollen) were named De Schooten (now known as De Nollen), 't Torp, de Gast, Ringelsant, 't Quelderen, Henesant, and Koegras. In the late Medieval period, the area belonged to the lords of Egmond. Helder itself was a nearby, village, founded around 1500 as die Helder buyrt on the same island. During the All Saints' Flood of 1570, large amounts of the dunes were swept away and the hamlet of Huisduinen and the village Helder disappeared. The places were subsequently rebuilt further inland. The new village of Helder was located at the level of what is now the Oud-Den Helder district. The population lived from fishing and pilotage.[29] The village's first church was built of wood in 1624 at a place called "de malle Croft". Due to the disappearance of coastal land, this church ended up on the beach, and in 1679 this Protestant bell-shaped church was moved to "de Conijnsbergh". Later, a Baptist meeting house, a Catholic clandestine church, an Old Catholic church and a synagogue were also built. In 1799, the city was the target of the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland. The Nieuwe Diep was originally designed as a safe port for merchant shipping. Although the population of Den Helder benefited from the new port, urban expansion did not take place because construction was officially prohibited along the Nieuwe Diep. Construction of a naval port began for the first time during the French…

Geography

Den Helder is on the tip of a lowland peninsula jutting out into the North Sea . Because of this, Den Helder's climate is heavily moderated by the maritime environment. Also, Den Helder is one of the sunniest towns in the Netherlands. The municipality of Den Helder consists of the towns and villages of Den Helder, Huisduinen and Julianadorp, and the hamlets Friese Buurt and De Kooy. The major areas of Den Helder are the Stad Binnen de Linie (a city within the city's defence line), Nieuw-Den Helder, and De Schooten. Nieuw-Den Helder was built in the 1950s, following World War II, when there was a great need for additional housing. De Schooten was constructed in the 1960s. Map of Den Helder (town), March 2014.