Aalsum (West Frisian: Ealsum) is a village in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

. It is located in the municipality

Noardeast-Fryslân Noardeast-Fryslân is a municipality of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. It was established 1 January 2019 and consists of the former municipalities of Dongeradeel, Ferwerderadiel and Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland, all three of which dissol ...

, about 1 km north of

Dokkum Dokkum is a Dutch fortified city in the municipality of Noardeast-Fryslân in the province of Friesland. It has 12,669 inhabitants (February 8, 2020). The fortifications of Dokkum are well preserved and are known as the ''bolwerken'' (bulwarks). ...

. It had a population of around 125 in January 2017 Aalsum is built on a partially excavated

terp A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling mound found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides an ...

, around a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

originally dedicated to

St. Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, w ...

, which dates back to approximately 1200 AD.

History

The village was first mentioned in 944 as Atlesheim, and means "settlement of the people of Athal (person)". In 1840, Aalsum was home to 306 people. Aalsum is a ''

'' (artificial living mound) village. The ''terp'' dated from the 5th to 7th century, and was high. The St. Catherine church dates from the 12th century. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

was enlarged around 1500. In 1843, the tower and western wing were demolished. The wing was restored, but however the tower was replaced by a simple belfry. In 1840, Aalsum was home to 306 people. During the 1880s, most of the ''terp'' was excavated. During the excavation, pottery, gold and bronze jewelry and 27 Carolingian

denarii The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very sm ...

(silver coins) were discovered. Aalsum used to have a railway station (''Dokkum-Aalsum'') on the

North Friesland Railway The Noord-Friesche Locaalspoorweg-Maatschappij (North Friesland Railway) was a railway serving the sparsely populated north of the Dutch province of Friesland. It was operated by the North Friesland Local Railway Company (Dutch: ''Noord-Friesche Lo ...

, which opened in 1901. It became the terminus for passenger services in May 1935 and closed to passengers in July 1936. In 1965, the monument Droppinghiem was revealed, because the farm of Veeninga was used for weapon drops for the Dutch resistance. In the autumn of 1944, 86 containers of weapons, ammunition and explosives were dropped at the farm. Until 2019, the village was part of the

Dongeradeel Dongeradeel (; fy, Dongeradiel ) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands. In 2019 it merged with the municipalities of Ferwerderadiel and Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland to form the new municipality Noardeast-Fryslân. History Donge ...

municipality.

Notable inhabitants

* (1932–2001), writer and journalist

Gallery

File:Aalsum - kop-hals-rompboerderij.jpg, Farm in Aalsum File:Welkom in Aalsum.JPG, Welcome to Aalsum File:Aalsum - afgraving terp.jpg, Excavation of the ''terp'' ( 1884) File:MockingaEnHoldingaAalsum1 begin19e.jpg, Drawing of Aalsum (early 19th century)

References

External links

{{Authority control Noardeast-Fryslân Populated places in Friesland