Berltsum () is a village in

Waadhoeke Waadhoeke is a municipality of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. It was established 1 January 2018 and consists of the former municipalities of Franekeradeel, het Bildt, Menameradiel and parts of Littenseradiel, all four of which were dis ...

municipality in the 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 ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It had a population of around 2,529 in January 2017. Until 2018, the village was part of the

Menameradiel Menameradiel (; nl, Menaldumadeel ) is a former municipality in Friesland, Netherlands. On 1 January 2018 it merged with the municipalities of Franekeradeel, het Bildt and parts of Littenseradiel to form the new municipality Waadhoeke. Populatio ...

municipality.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1355 as Berlichem, and means "settlement of the people of Berilo (person)". The village of Tutingum or Tutgum which was located to the north probably merged into Berltsum in the 15th century, and the name disappeared in the 19th century. Berltsum developed as a ''

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 ...

'' (artificial living hill) village along the river Riedstroom several centuries

before Christ The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

. Berltsum was never a city, but did receive rights. In the 12th century, it was burnt down by the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

. It developed into a centre of horticulture and fruit cultivation. The domed Dutch Reformed church was built between 1777 and 1779 as a replacement of its medieval predecessor.

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 ...

s were present in Berltsum as early of 1550, and used to have a

clandestine church A clandestine church ( nl, schuilkerk), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition th ...

. In 1843, a church was built which could also be used a conference centre. Berltsum was home to 1,310 people in 1840. At the end of the 19th century, Berltsum started to industrialize and in 1899, an auction was established.

Gallery

File:Hemmemastate-Berlikum poortgebouw.jpg, Pub in Beltsum File:Voorgevel van twee panden onder een dak te Berlikum - Berlikum - 20033985 - RCE.jpg, House with tram rails (1966) File:20191023 Berltsumer Feart.jpg, Canal view File:Wetterhûn.jpg,

Wetterhoun The Wetterhoun (translated into English as the Frisian Water Dog) is a breed traditionally used as a hunting dog for small game and waterfowl and native to the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. The name of the breed comes from the West ...

statue

References

External links

Berlikum.com
{{Authority control Waadhoeke Populated places in Friesland