Baarn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, near

Hilversum Hilversum () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is ...

in the province of

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

The municipality of Baarn

The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche.

The town of Baarn

Baarn, the main town of the municipality, received city rights in 1391. The town lies about 8 km east of

. In 2001, the town of Baarn had a population of 22,871. The urban area of the town was , and consisted of 10,076 residences.Statistics Netherlands (CBS), ''Bevolkingskernen in Nederland 2001'' . Statistics are for the continuous built-up area. The royal family owns several houses around Baarn. The Soestdijk Palace in Baarn was the home of Queen Emma,

Queen Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke ...

and Juliana's husband prince

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''be ...

. Crown prince Willem Alexander and his brothers attended school ('' Nieuwe Baarnse School'' and '' Het Baarnsch Lyceum'') in Baarn when

Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born during the reign of her maternal gr ...

(then princess) and her family lived at Castle Drakesteijn in the village of Lage Vuursche, before they moved to

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in 1980. A piece of forest, the Baarnse Bos, is adjacent to the palace and historically belonged to it. Baarn's shopping facilities are mainly located in the Laanstraat. Other visitor destinations include 'het Cantonspark' (a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

) and Groeneveld Castle. In the north and east there are

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...

s, and the river Eem. Recreation resources include the woodlands south-west of Baarn, connecting Baarn to Soestdijk, and called 'Het Baarnsche Bos'. The Scout Centre Buitenzorg (

Scouting Nederland Scouting Nederland is the national Scouting, Scout organisation of the Netherlands with approximately 110,000 members (53,324 male and 54,663 female, 87,000 youth members, as of 2010. The official patron of Scouting Nederland is Queen Máxima of ...

) is located in Baarn. To the south lay the connecting road towards the city of

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

, called 'Breemeentje'. This, approx. 10 km long straight of polder road, connects the town of Baarn to various roads in Soest and the industrial area of Amersfoort. Due to good communications with Amsterdam, the town is home to a number of boutique international firms such as SEI Investments Company, Bain & Co and

Cerberus Capital Management Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American global alternative investment firm with assets across credit, private equity, and real estate strategies.Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Qua ...

. Unilever's Conimex and software company Seyoda Games are located in Baarn.

Transport

Baarn has a railway station - Baarn railway station, with trains going every half-hour to

( Utrecht Centraal, 35 minutes),

( Amersfoort Centraal, 10 minutes) and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

( Amsterdam Centraal, about 40 minutes). The A1 motorway runs just north of Baarn.

Vessels

Freighter of the KNSM, assigned to the allied invasion fleet for Sicily and sailing in convoy KWS 16, loaded from Alexandria with tanks, trucks, ammunition and petrol (in cans) and 4 LCMs, under captain LH Mager, 11 July 1943, anchored off the coast of Sicily, on the roadstead of Avola, attacked by 12 German bombers. The 'Baarn' is hit and catches fire. All those on board manage to save themselves and are on the landing beach within an hour. The 'Baarn' will later be sunk as a wreck by British warships.

Notable residents

Royalty

* Prince Ernest Casimir of the Netherlands (1822 in Baarn – 1822) the fourth son of the Prince of Orange, later King William II of the Netherlands *

Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born ...

(born 1938 in Baarn) Queen of the Netherlands 1980-2013 * Princess Irene of the Netherlands (born 1939 in Baarn) the second child of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands * Princess Christina of the Netherlands (born 1947 in Baarn – 2019) the youngest of four daughters of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands

Intellectual and public service

Michiel Horn Michiel Steven Daniel Horn (born 1939) is a Canadian historian who serves as a professor emeritus at Glendon College, York University. Life and career Horn was born on September 3, 1939, in Baarn, Netherlands. orn, Michiel, Becoming Canadian: ...

FRSC (born 1939 in Baarn) a Canadian professor and historian * Bauke Roolvink (1912 – 1979 in Baarn) a Dutch politician and a trade union leader * Edith Schippers (born 1964) a former politician, was Minister of Healthcare, lives in Baarn * John D. Stamford (1939-1994) paedophilia advocate and founder of Spartacus International Gay Guide, lived in Baarn

Arts

* Betty Callish (1886 – after 1941), actress, singer and violinist *

M. C. Escher Maurits Cornelis Escher (; ; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made woodcuts, lithography, lithographs, and mezzotints, many of which were Mathematics and art, inspired by mathematics. Despite wide popular int ...

(1898–1972), graphic artist, lived and worked in Baarn 1941/1970 * Piet Esser (1914–2004), sculptor * Lia Dorana (1918 2010 in Lage Vuursche), comedian and actress * Albert Muis (born 1941), artist * Tineke de Nooij (born 1941), radio and TV presenter * Joop van den Ende (born 1942) a Dutch theatrical producer and media tycoon, lives in Baarn * Yorick van Wageningen (born 1964), actor * Martin Majoor (born 1960), type designer and graphic designer * Marlayne (born 1971), singer

Sport

* Fanny Blankers-Koen (1918 in Lage Vuursche – 2004) a Dutch track and field athlete, won four gold medals at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

* Jan van Gooswilligen (born 1935 in Baarn - 2008) a former Dutch field hockey player, participated in two Olympic Games

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

* André Hoekstra (born 1962 in Baarn) a retired Dutch footballer with over 300 club caps * Maryse Abendanon (born 1966) a former Dutch field hockey player, lives in Baarn * Diederik van Weel (born 1973 in Baarn)

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player, team gold medallist at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

* Dustley Mulder (born 1985 in Baarn) a Curaçaoan footballer with over 300 club caps * Ilse van der Meijden (born 1988 in Baarn) a water polo player, team gold medallist at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Sharon van Rouwendaal Sharon van Rouwendaal (born 9 September 1993) is a Dutch swimmer and the Olympic gold medalist in the 10 km open water marathon at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2024 Olympics in Paris. She grew up in Soest, and later moved t ...

(born 1993 in Baarn) a Dutch distance swimmer and a gold medalist at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Gallery

Image:Baarn, de Pauluskerk RM8537 foto1 2012-05-28 11.21.JPG, Church: the Pauluskerk File:Cast iron bridge over the pond at Soestdijk Palace.jpg, Cast iron bridge over the pond at Soestdijk Palace File:Paaskerk Baarn.jpg, Paaskerk (Easter Church) in Baarn File:Baarn Telefoonhuisje 2013.JPG, Baarn Telefoonhuisje File:Baarn Watertoren 9170.JPG, Baarn Watertoren File:Baarn Pijnenburg westzijde 2013 49.JPG, Baarn Pijnenburg westzijde

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Municipalities of Utrecht (province) Populated places in Utrecht (province)