Naarden

Naarden
—  Municipality  —
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 52°17′38″N 5°09′43″E / 52.294°N 5.162°E / 52.294; 5.162Coordinates: 52°17′38″N 5°09′43″E / 52.294°N 5.162°E / 52.294; 5.162
Country	Netherlands
Province	North Holland
Area(2006)
– Total	32.89 km2 (12.7 sq mi)
– Land	21.38 km2 (8.3 sq mi)
– Water	11.51 km2 (4.4 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2007)
– Total	17,174
– Density	803/km2 (2,079.8/sq mi)
	Source: CBS, Statline.
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Website	www.naarden.nl

Naarden ([ˈnaːrdə(n)] ( listen)) is a municipality and a town in the Gooi region in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. Naarden is an example of a star fort, complete with fortified walls and a moat. The walls and the moat have been restored and are in a very good state.

Naarden was granted its city rights in 1300 (the only town in Het Gooi to have been done so) and later developed into a fortressed garrison town with a textile industry. Naarden is the home of the Netherlands Fortress Museum (Nederlands Vestingmuseum). Every year Naarden hosts the national photograph festival and, on Good Friday, a performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion in the local church, which is called the Great Church or St. Vitus Church. Despite its earlier importance, Naarden population size was surpassed by Hilversum in the 18th century and today is smaller than its neighbour Bussum.

Naarden is well known as the city where Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius) was buried and where visitors can see his grave in the mausoleum devoted to him.

Its distinctive shape made it a rally point for Allied bombers returning to England after raids on Germany.

Transport

The nearest station is Naarden-Bussum railway station, which has services to Almere, Amersfoort, Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Local government

The municipal council of Naarden consists of 17 seats, which are divided as follows:

• VVD - 6 seats
• CDA - 3 seats
• GroenLinks - 4 seats
• PvdA - 3 seats
• D66 - 1 seat

Notable people born in Naarden

• Willem Arondeus (1894–1943) – artist and author
• Bertil Schmüll (1946) – engraver
• Andries Knevel (1952) – talk show host
• Annemarie Groen (1955) – backstroke swimmer
• Tom van 't Hek (1958) – field hockey player and coach
• Nordin Amrabat (1987) – football player
• Tom Coronel (1972) – racing driver
• Belcampo (21 juli 1902 - 1990) – Writer (Herman Pieter Schönfeld Wichers)
• Salomon van Ruysdael (between 1600-1603 to 3 November 1670) – painter
• Maarten van Delden (1958) – professor at UCLA and field hockey player
• Maarten de Bruijn (1965) – product designer

The Swiss composer Frank Martin lived in Naarden for the last twenty years of his life. The sepulchre of Jan Ámos Komenský is also located in Naarden.

Images

• 

  Town hall

• 

  Fortress gate

See also

• Naarderbos
• Naarderwoonbos

References

• Naarden
• Weblog Mayor of Naarden
• Naardermeer
• Website of Naarderbos community with links to other sites concerning Naarden
• Epson FotoFestival Naarden official site
• Fotofestival Naarden Festival-OFF
• Historic Harbour Naarden in Dutch
• Statistics are taken from the SDU Staatscourant
• Website of the Comenius Museum for Jan Ámos Komenský

External links

• Webportal for the citizens of "het Naarderbos"
• More historical, recreational and tourist information on Wikitravel Naarden travel guide