Sommelsdijk

Sommelsdijk is a village on the island Goeree-Overflakkee, South Holland, the Netherlands. Together with Nieuwe-Tonge, Middelharnis, and Stad aan 't Haringvliet, it is part of the municipality of Middelharnis. Other places nearby are Melissant, Ouddorp, and Dirksland. Sommelsdijk has (1 January 2006) 7383 inhabitants which makes it the largest settlement on the island.

In the past, Sommelsdijk was the only place on Goeree-Overflakee Island that was part of the province Zeeland. In 1805 it was transferred to Holland, and remained such by the amendment of the Dutch Constitution of 1814.

Early March 1941 during the Second World War, nearly two hundred young men from Sommelsdijk were incarcerated for one month because of insulting the German army and the Dutch police.

Sommelsdijk was a separate municipality until 1966, when it became part of Middelharnis. [Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, "Repertorium van Nederlandse gemeenten", KNAW, 2006. [http://www.knaw.nl/cfdata/publicaties/detail.cfm?boeken__ordernr=20061061] ]

Attractions

The centre of Sommelsdijk is protected by the Dutch Monument Law. Its Reformed Church used to be the largest church on the island but not much remains of the original building because of several fires and other damages.

Next to the church is the "Streekmuseum Sommelsdijk" (Local Museum Sommelsdijk). The front street has several monumental buildings form the 17th and 18th century. On the western dike is a raised windmill.

Born in Sommelsdijk

* Theo van den Doel (31 May 1952), Dutch politian (VVD)
* Arie Luyendijk (21 September 1953), winner of the Indy 500 (1990, 1997)

External links

* [http://www.middelharnis.nl/ Municipality Middelharnis official website]
* [http://www.kuijsten.de/atlas/zh/kedichem.html Map of the former municipality in 1868]

References