The Amstel is a river in the Netherlands which flows from Nieuwveen to Amsterdam, where it meets the IJ bay. The city of Amsterdam took its name from the river.
The Netherlands, sometimes informally called Holland, is a country located in Northwestern Europe with some overseas territories in the Caribbean. In Europe, it consists of 12 provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with those countries and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba—it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian. In the northern parts of the country, Low German is also spoken.
South Holland is a province of the Netherlands with a population of just over 3.6 million as of 2015 and a population density of about 1,300/km2 (3,400/sq mi), making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. Situated on the North Sea in the west of the Netherlands, South Holland covers an area of 3,403 km2 (1,314 sq mi), of which 585 km2 (226 sq mi) is water. It borders North Holland to the north, Utrecht and Gelderland to the east, and North Brabant and Zeeland to the south. The provincial capital is The Hague, while its largest city is Rotterdam.
1681 map of "Rhenolandia, Amstelandia". Amstelland is roughly the area on the lower centre part of the map.
Amstelland's history is inextricably linked with the Amstel river and the growth of Amsterdam. Its history is essentially the history of Amstelveen, Aalsmeer, Ouderkerk aan de Amstel and the other towns. The river was important in medieval times as a waterway leading to the south and to Utrecht. The oldest settlement in the area was Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, which dated from the 11th century (and thus is older than Amsterdam). Amsterdam at this time was a small fishing village at the mouth of the Amstel. A part of Utrecht, this area was part of the seigniory (heerlijkheid) of the Van Aemstel family.
Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with a population of 866,737 within the city proper, 1,380,872 in the urban area, and 2,410,960 in the metropolitan area. Amsterdam is in the province of North Holland. Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North" due to its large number of canals which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Amstelveen is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 89,918 (2017). It is a suburban part of the metropolitan area of Amsterdam.
Aalsmeer is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its name is derived from the Dutch for eel (aal) and lake (meer). Aalsmeer is bordered by the Westeinderplassen lake, the largest open water of the Randstad, and the Ringvaart Canal. The town is located 13 km (8 mi) southwest of Amsterdam.
At one point the right bank of the Amstel was being referred to as the "Old Amstel" (Ouder-Amstel), the left bank as the "New Amstel" (Nieuwer-Amstel). Peat was an important source of fuel at the time. The fens around the river were dredged for their peat. By the 13th century there was a small community of peat workers in the fens west of the Amstel—the "Amstel fen" (Amstelveen) in Nieuwer-Amstel. Meanwhile, when a dam was constructed at the mouth of the Amstel, the now strategically located fishing hamlet in the north of Nieuwer-Amstel grew quickly. The settlement on the Amstel dam became "Amstellerdam" (or something similar), which became "Amsterdam". Amsterdam acquired city rights around 1300 and quickly dominated the entire region.
After the Napoleonic occupation of the Netherlands, the French created new administrative divisions in the Netherlands and named them (as they did in France) after major rivers. From 1807 to 1810, there was a département called "Amstelland". The landdrost (préfet) was Jan van Styrum. On 1 January 1811 Amstelland was integrated into a new département called Zuyderzee (Zuyderzée), with van Styrum remaining in office until 11 February 1811. "Amstelland" was no longer used as the name.
In 1896 and 1921 Amsterdam annexed parts of Nieuwer Amstel and built suburbs (Rivierenbuurt) along the Amstel. Today Amsterdam and Amstelveen have grown extensively, including large parts of land on both sides of the river. However, much of Amstelland has remained undeveloped and has retained its green, rural character.
Rivierenbuurt is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The neighbourhood is situated in the eastern part of the borough of Amsterdam-Zuid, bordered by the river Amstel to the east, the Boerenwetering canal in the west, the Amstelkanaal in the north and the A10 motorway in the south. In 2013, the Rivierenbuurt had approximately 28,400 residents.
Geography
Aerial view of northern part of Amstelland, including the wedge-shaped green area jutting into Amsterdam
The term Amstelland nowadays generally refers to the area along the river Amstel just south of the city of Amsterdam. The borders of Amstelland are not, however, precisely defined and the meaning of Amstelland can depend on the context.
Amstelland as green space
Amstelland includes the green wedge-shaped area that juts into Amsterdam from the south. Extending south of the Utrechtsebrug, this green area has a rural character and remains free of development. It is managed by an organisation called Groengebied Amstelland ("Amstelland Green Area").
When used in this sense, Amstelland means just the triangle of green space just south of Amsterdam and does not include the surrounding built-up areas and villages. It is seen as an area worth protecting because of the green and rural elements it brings almost into the heart of Amsterdam. Not every city can boast that there is pasture land just a 15-minute cycle away. A project called Toekomst Amstelland ("Future Amstelland") has been set up to help protect this area and guide its future. They define the borders of Amstelland as follows: "The area between the A9, Amstelveen, Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, Uithoorn, De Ronde Venen, Abcoude and Amsterdam-Zuidoost."[2]
Ouderkerk aan de Amstel is a village in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is largely a part of the municipality of Ouder-Amstel; it lies about 9 km south of Amsterdam. A small part of the town lies in the municipality of Amstelveen. It is connected to Amsterdam by the river Amstel. There is another village called Ouderkerk in South Holland, Ouderkerk aan den IJssel.
Uithoorn is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.
De Ronde Venen is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. On 1 January 2011, the municipality of Abcoude was amalgamated into De Ronde Venen.
Amstelland as a wider area
1898 map of Amstelland
Today, Amsterdam is not generally considered to be part of Amstelland, even though the river Amstel does run through the city and historically Amsterdam was part of Amstelland. Generally, the towns and villages that can, without dispute, be said to be part of Amstelland are:
Ouder-Amstel is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.
Nes aan de Amstel, is a small village which is part of the municipality of Amstelveen in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. The village's name indicates its located on the River Amstel, and is situated on the edge of the Rond Hoep polder. It was established in the 16th century gradually developing since 1947. The landscape is largely determined by the village's Catholic church, St. Urbanuskerk, built to a design by the famous architect Joseph Cuypers.
Amstelhoek, a village that is part of the municipality of De Ronde Venen, lies on the Amstel in the province of Utrecht, south of Uithoorn. It is sometimes considered to be part of Amstelland.
Amstelland has also been used in these contexts:
Amstelland is not a formal administrative region per se, but there are several bodies that refer to Amstelland as a district. For example, Amsterdam-Amstelland is a large region within the police department and fire department. When used in this sense, "Amstelland" includes various towns south of Amsterdam.
Sometimes, Amstelland is used in a wider sense to refer to a large area to the south of Amsterdam. It can also be used in the sense of "the greater Amsterdam area", including Amsterdam itself.
In a historical context, Amstelland was the "land around the Amstel" and Amsterdam was merely a town in Amstelland.
From 1807 to 1811, Amstelland was the name given to what is today North Holland.
Gallery
The Magere Brug in Amsterdam
The Amstel and Amstelland as seen from the Utrechtsbrug just south of Amsterdam
North Holland is a province of the Netherlands located in the northwestern part of the country. It is situated on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In 2015, it had a population of 2,762,163 and a total area of 2,670 km2 (1,030 sq mi).
Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Since 2010 it is part of the new municipality of Zuidplas.
Zuyderzée was a department of the First French Empire in the present-day Netherlands. It is named after the Zuiderzee sea inlet. It was formed in 1810, when the Kingdom of Holland was annexed by France. Its territory corresponded more or less with the present-day Dutch provinces of North Holland and Utrecht. Its capital was Amsterdam.
Lekkerkerk is a town and former municipality on the Lek River, now part of the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, South Holland province, the Netherlands. Since 1 January 1985 Lekkerkerk is no longer an independent municipality.
Landdrost was the title of various officials with local jurisdiction in the Netherlands and a number of former territories in the Dutch Empire. The term is a Dutch compound, with land meaning “region” and drost, from Middle Dutch drossāte which originally referred to a lord’s chief retainer, equivalent to:
Blokland is a hamlet in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Liemeer, and lies about 12 km northeast of Alphen aan den Rijn.
The coat of arms of Amsterdam is the official coat of arms symbol of the city of Amsterdam. It consists of a red shield and a black pale with three silver Saint Andrew's Crosses, the Imperial Crown of Austria, two golden lions, and the motto of Amsterdam. Several heraldic elements have their basis in the history of Amsterdam. The crosses and the crown can be found as decorations on different locations in the city.
Gijsbrecht IV of Amstel or Gijsbrecht IV van Amstel was a powerful lord in the medieval County of Holland and a member of the Van Aemstel family. His territory was Amstelland, and his son was Jan I.
The Van Amstel family was an influential dynasty in the medieval Netherlands from the twelfth until the fourteenth century. The family developed the Amstelland and held the stewardship in the ecclesiastical districts in the northwest of the Nedersticht of Utrecht, first in the name of the bishop of Utrecht and later the count of Holland.
Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA, previously named Amsterdam Bijlmer (1971–2006), is a railway station in the Bijlmermeer neighbourhood of stadsdeel (borough) Amsterdam-Zuidoost in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The station has five platforms and eight tracks; two for the Amsterdam Metro and six train tracks, along with a bus station. Train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen.
The Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam is an organisation of public libraries in Amsterdam, Diemen and Ouder-Amstel in the Netherlands. The first library opened in 1919 at the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. As of 2018, the OBA had 26 branch libraries, 177,000 members, and 1.3 million objects in its collection.
Alphen a/d Rijn railway station is a railway station in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands.
Krimpenerwaard is a municipality of the Netherlands. It is a rural area located in the east of the province of South Holland, just south of Gouda and east of the Rotterdam conurbation. It is bordered on the north by the river Hollandse IJssel, on the south by the river Lek and on the east by the stream Vlist.
Amsterdam Amstel is a railway station in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The station opened in 1939. It is located to the southeast of Amsterdam Centraal in the borough of Amsterdam-Oost, near the Amstel river. Amsterdam Amstel is used daily by 50,000 train and metro passengers. Rail services at the station are provided by NS, the principal railway operator in the Netherlands. Metro, tram and city bus services are provided by municipal operator GVB. Regional buses are operated by Connexxion.
The Amsterdam City Archives preserves documents pertaining to the history of Amsterdam and provides information about the city. With archives covering a shelf-length of about 50 kilometres, the Amsterdam City Archives is the largest municipal archive in the world.
Omval is a neighbourhood situated on a peninsula on the eastern shore of the Amstel river in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is situated south of the Weesperzijde neighbourhood and next to the Amsterdam Amstel railway station in the borough of Amsterdam-Oost. In the 1990s, it became the site of a major business district featuring the Rembrandt Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Amsterdam.
Schiphol Airport railway station is a major passenger railway station in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands. It is located directly beneath the terminal complex of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and is operated by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen. The station's six platforms are accessible via twelve escalators and three elevators located in the main concourse of the airport. The original station was opened in 1978, and the current station was opened in 1995. It connects the airport to Amsterdam and to various other cities in the Netherlands, as well as to Belgium and France.
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