Haarlem

Sister cities

• Angers
• Osnabrück
• Emirdağ
• Mutare

History

Haarlem has a rich history dating back to pre-medieval times, as it lies on a thin strip of land above sea level known as the strandwal (beach ridge), which connects Leiden to Alkmaar. The people on this narrow strip of land struggled against the waters of the North Sea from the west, and the waters of the IJ and the Haarlem Lake from the east. Haarlem became wealthy with toll revenues that it collected from ships and travellers moving on this busy north–south route. As shipping became increasingly important economically, the city of Amsterdam became the main Dutch city of North Holland during the Dutch Golden Age. The town of Halfweg became a suburb, and Haarlem became a quiet bedroom community, and for this reason Haarlem still has many of its central medieval buildings intact. Many of them are now on the Dutch Heritage register known as Rijksmonuments. The list of Rijksmonuments in Haarlem gives an overview of these per neighbourhood, with the majority in the old city centre. The oldest mention of Haarlem dates from the 10th century. The name probably comes from "Haarlo-heim". This name is composed of three elements: haar, lo and heim. In Old Dutch toponyms lo always refers to 'forest' and heim (heem, em or um) to 'home' or 'house'. Haar, however, has several meanings, one of them corresponding with the location of Haarlem on a sand dune: 'elevated place'. The name Haarlem or Haarloheim would therefore mean 'home on a forested dune'. There was a stream called "De Beek", dug from the peat grounds west of the river Spaarne as a drainage canal. Over the centuries the Beek was turned into an underground canal, as the city grew larger and the space was needed for construction. Over time it began to silt up and in the 19th century it was filled in. The village had a…

Geography

Haarlem is located on the river Spaarne, giving it its nickname Spaarnestad (Spaarne city). It is situated about west of Amsterdam and near the coastal dunes. Haarlem has been the historical centre of the tulip bulb-growing district for centuries and bears its other nickname Bloemenstad (flower city) for this reason.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Coot

  Fulica atra Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  40,408
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  34,900
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  34,447
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  34,047
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  32,862
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  32,207
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  32,110
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  31,973

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2008-10-11
  19 km WNW of Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands
• M 3.7 — 2001-09-12
  54 km WNW of Petten, Netherlands
• M 3.4 — 2001-09-10
  10 km W of Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands
• M 3.8 — 2001-09-09
  7 km W of Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands