Amstelhoek 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
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
. It is in the municipality of
De Ronde Venen
De Ronde Venen (; ) is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. On 1 January 2011, the municipality of Abcoude was amalgamated into De Ronde Venen.
Population centres
The municipality of De Ronde Venen co ...
, about northwest of
Mijdrecht
Mijdrecht is a town in the Netherlands with about 16,000 residents. It is located in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of De Ronde Venen, about west of the main A2 motorway (Netherlands), A2 motorway, between Utrecht (city), Utr ...
. Amstelhoek lies on the river
Amstel
The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam. Annually, the riv ...
, directly across from
Uithoorn
Uithoorn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.
Population centres
The municipality of Uithoorn consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: De Kwakel and Uithoorn.
''Dutch ...
.
It was first mentioned in 1936 as Amstelhoek, and means "corner of the Amstel river". It was named after the fortress. The village developed around a bridge built in 1636, and used to be named Mennonietenbuurt,
meaning
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
corner, because a Mennonite church was built in the hamlet. The Mennonites left around 1800, and sold the land and church to the Protestants in 1804. The village was home to 187 people in 1840.
Between 1885 and 1895, two big forts were built near the village as part of the
Stelling van Amsterdam
The UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Defence Line of Amsterdam (in Dutch named ''Stelling van Amsterdam'', ) is a ring of fortifications around Amsterdam. It has 42 forts that are from the centre and lowlands, which can easily be floode ...
. One of the forts was named Fort bij Amstelhoek.
Gallery
File:Amstelhoek Geref kerk-1925-B.W. Plooij-5918.jpg, Church of Amstelhoek
File:1427 Amstelhoek, Netherlands - panoramio (1).jpg, River view
File:FortbijUithoorn rechterkeelkazemat.jpg, Barracks of the fort
References
Populated places in Utrecht (province)
De Ronde Venen
{{Utrecht-geo-stub