Opperdoes

Opperdoes
—  Town  —
Typerend straatbeeld van Opperdoes
Coat of arms
The village centre (dark green) and the statistical district (light green) of Opperdoes in the municipality of Medemblik.
Coordinates: 52°46′N 5°3′E / 52.767°N 5.05°E / 52.767; 5.05Coordinates: 52°46′N 5°3′E / 52.767°N 5.05°E / 52.767; 5.05
Country	Netherlands
Province	North Holland
Municipality	Medemblik
Population (2004)
- Total	1,860
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code

Opperdoes is an old village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Medemblik, and lies about 12 km north of Hoorn. It has a certain fame for its local variety of potatoes, "Opperdoezer Ronde".

The village used to be called Doess, which means 'low woods'^{[citation needed]}.

History

The exact age of the village of Opperdoes is hard to determine. The village used to be located very close to the sea, and the area has been flooded several times. Initial settlements seem to have been abandoned after the year 300 because of large floods. New villages were later built on terps.

Opperdoes used to be located 4 or 5 kilometres from the sea-dike that existed around 781. However, the dike was in a very bad condition and in 1318 Willem van Henegouwen, the ruler, agreed the build a new dike. In 1334 a new dike was built between Medemblik and Barsingerhorn.

The new dike was built 4 kilometres southwards of the old one and Almersdorp, a village, was left outside the new dike.

In 1517 the old church of Opperdoes and many buildings were destroyed by Grote Pier and his Frisian army, the Gelderse Friezen.

A new church was built, and it was ready in 1530. The top of the tower of the church was replaced in 1838, after it was destroyed in a storm in November 1836.

Opperdoes was a separate municipality between 1817 and 1979, when the new municipality of Noorder-Koggenland was created.^[1]

Important buildings and locations

A touristic attraction is the old steam train station on the railway between Hoorn and Medemblik.

Religion

Religion has played an important part in the village in the last two centuries. Opperdoes is considered an orthodox village in a fairly liberal minded area. In earlier times the villagers of Opperdoes where called the Turks: they were a particularly free-minded people, in line with the other villages in the area, that enjoyed life to the fullest.

Around 1822 Jan Mazereeuw, the so-called Profete of Opperdoes preached in the village. He was a farmer and had been mayor of the village for a while during the French occupation. He called the Reformed Church a godless temple and preached a very sober lifestyle. Although he never had a large crowd of followers, it is generally assumed that a part of the village's orthodoxy can be explained by his preachings.

Famous people

Opperdoes is the birthplace of Pieter Wijdenes, a Dutch mathematician and teacher.

Statistics

In 2001, the village centre of Opperdoes had 1442 inhabitants. The built-up area of the village was 0.31 km², and contained 555 residences.^[2] The wider statistical area of Opperdoes has a population of around 1750.^[3]

References

• Het dorp Opperdoes, J. Z. Maartenszoon, Repro Holland, 1973
• Abraham Jacob van der Aa, "Aardrijkskundig woordenboek der Nederlanden", 1839–1851

1. ^ Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, Repertorium van Nederlandse gemeenten, KNAW, 2006.
2. ^ Statistics Netherlands (CBS), Bevolkingskernen in Nederland 2001 [1]. Statistics are for the continuous built-up area.
3. ^ Statistics Netherlands (CBS), Gemeente Op Maat 2004: Noorder-Koggenland [2].

External links

• J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, "Opperdoes". Map of the former municipality, around 1868.