Bilthoven 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 a part of the municipality of

De Bilt De Bilt () is a municipality and town in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. It had a population of in . De Bilt houses the headquarters of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). It is the ancestral home and namesake for the pro ...

. It has a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

with connections to

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...

and

Baarn Baarn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, near Hilversum in the province of Utrecht. The municipality of Baarn The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche. The town of Baarn Ba ...

. It is home to the

Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment ( nl, Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu or simply RIVM) is a Dutch research institute that is an independent agency of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. RIVM perfo ...

, RIVM; and to the

Union Mundial pro Interlingua The Union Mundial pro Interlingua (UMI; World Interlingua Union) is a global organization that promotes Interlingua, an international auxiliary language (IAL) published in 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). UMI was ...

, UMI, which promotes

Interlingua Interlingua (; ISO 639 language codes ia, ina) is an international auxiliary language (IAL) developed between 1937 and 1951 by the American International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). It ranks among the most widely used IALs and is t ...

internationally. The statistical area "Bilthoven", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 17,560.Statistics Netherlands (CBS)
''Statline: Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2003-2005''
. As of 1 January 2005.

History

The history of the town goes back to 20 August 1843, the day when the

railway track began operating. A station was placed at the junction of the track line with the Soestdijkseweg. Initially the Dutch railways did not plan a station on this spot. Around 1900, the first villas appeared round the new station. The train traffic to and from the new station increased strongly at the same time: in 1902, one could take the train in both directions 52 times per day. As a result of this rail connection with the city, and the fact that the land nearby was relatively cheap, the number of villas continued to increase rapidly. At this time the name of the town was still Bilt-station, but since it was not just a station anymore, the name was changed during a Council meeting on the 23 May 1917. Several names were presented, among which Bilt-Buiten, the Biltwijk and the Leyen. Eventually the name Biltsche Duinen was chosen. However, this name was not accepted by the Dutch railway company. For this reason, on 11 October 1917 another Council meeting was dedicated to the naming of the village. At this Council meeting several names were discussed, such as Leyenhoven, Bilt-Hoog and the Bilthof. The majority of the Council eventually agreed to the name of Bilthoven (which is the plural of Bilthof), which was suggested by Council member Melchior.

Significant events

Three international peace groups were founded in Bilthoven in the aftermath of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as part of the

Bilthoven Meetings The Bilthoven Meetings were a series of networking and capacity building meetings of pacifism, pacifist activists after World War I in the town of Bilthoven in the Netherlands. The activists gathered under the name of ''Movement Towards a Christian ...

: the

International Fellowship of Reconciliation The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1914 in response to the horrors of war in Europe. Today IFOR counts 71 branches, groups and affiliates in 48 countries on all continents. IFOR me ...

in 1919,

Service Civil International Service Civil International (SCI) is an international peace organisation. Since 1920, it organises international volunteering projects in the form of workcamps and it was the first organisation worldwide to do so. The organisation was founded by S ...

in 1920, and

War Resisters' International War Resisters' International (WRI), headquartered in London, is an international anti-war organisation with members and affiliates in over 30 countries. History ''War Resisters' International'' was founded in Bilthoven, Netherlands in 1921 unde ...

in 1921. The founding meetings of all three groups took place at the home of Kees and Betty Boeke.Devi Prasad, ''War is a Crime against Humanity: the Story of War Resisters' International''. London: WRI 2005 The experimental school De Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap,De Werkplaats
website. Viewed 04/12/2006. founded by Kees Boeke, has been based in Bilthoven since 1926. The former Dutch Queen

Beatrix Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from ''Viatrix'', a feminine form of the Late Latin name ''Viator'' which meant "voyager, traveller" and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word ''beatus'' or "bles ...

went to this school.

Transport

Bilthoven railway station Bilthoven is a railway station located in Bilthoven, Netherlands. The station is located on the Utrecht–Kampen railway The Utrecht–Kampen railway (also known as ''Centraalspoorweg'') is an important railway line in the Netherlands running from ...

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Utrecht (province) De Bilt