Culemborg () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and a city in the centre 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 ...

. The city had a population of 29,386 on 1 January 2022 and is situated just south of the

Lek river The Lek () is a river in the western Netherlands of some in length. It is the continuation of the Nederrijn after the Kromme Rijn branches off at the town of Wijk bij Duurstede. The main westbound waterway is hereafter called the Lek River. The N ...

. Direct train lines run from the

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 ...

towards the cities 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 ...

and

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

History

Culemborg, formerly also spelled Kuilenburg or Kuylenburgh, received

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1318. For a long time, Culemborg was independent from any counties or duchies in the Netherlands. The city had gained the right of toll collection and the

right of asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

: it was a so-called '''Vrijstad''' (

free city Free city may refer to: Historical places * Free city (antiquity) a self-governed city during the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial eras * Free imperial city, self-governed city in the Holy Roman Empire subordinate only to the emperor ** Free City of ...

). In practice, this meant that people who had fled to Culemborg from other cities (for example due to bankruptcy) could evade their creditors in Culemborg. The creditors would not be allowed entry into the city. This did not mean that criminals could escape justice in Culemborg: the city had its own justice system which could sentence criminals. In Amsterdam, the phrase '''Naar Culemborg gaan (Going to Culemborg) became synonymous with going bankrupt. In

Joan Blaeu Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673) was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu. Life In 1620, Blaeu became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father. In 1635, they published ...

's map of 1649, Culemborg remains entirely enclosed by walls behind its city

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

-like encircling canals. The moated castle stands ''outside'' the city walls. Houses present a united front along streets and the two canals that cut the city in three sections, but they all face gardens behind, and

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or s ...

s are plentiful within the city walls. In the beginning of the 18th century, Culemborg effectively lost its independence as it was incorporated into the

Nijmegen Quarter The Nijmegen Quarter (Dutch: ''Kwartier van Nijmegen'') was the first of the four quarters in which the county, later duchy of Guelders was divided, as they were separated by rivers. In addition Guelders consisted of Zutphen Quarter, the Upper Q ...

, although it regained some sovereign rights. Later, it was given to stadholder Willem IV. To this day, the Dutch king Willem-Alexander remains count of Culemborg. In 1795, the city was occupied by French forces, who left the castle in such a despicable state it was demolished after the French had left. A few years later it was completely incorporated in the Bataafse Republiek, and losing its sovereign rights. In 1868, a railway bridge was built over the river Lek which was the longest bridge in Europe for a few years. Just upstream of it is a

reaction ferry A reaction ferry is a cable ferry that uses the reaction of the current of a river against a fixed tether to propel the vessel across the water. Such ferries operate faster and more effectively in rivers with strong currents. Some reaction ferri ...

In 1995, Culemborg was one of the cities which was temporarily evacuated because of the risk of flooding. Between 1994 and 2009 the city of Culemborg developed the innovative ecological neighbourhood EVA Lanxmeer. Close collaboration with inhabitants and experimental

sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

has made the neighbourhood an international best practice.

Transportation

Culemborg is served by

Culemborg railway station Culemborg is a railway station in Culemborg, Netherlands. The station opened on 1 November 1868 and is on the Utrecht–Boxtel railway. The station is in the southern end of the town, on the edge of the Pavijen industrial estate and near the sus ...

, which offers trains to

Utrecht (city) Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Nethe ...

4x per hour and 2x per hour to

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

and

Tiel Tiel () is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the East. Tiel comprises the population centres Kapel- ...

each. The railway station also provides a bus hub, offering buses to the various neighbouring cities and villages (namely

Buren Buren () is a town and municipality in the Betuwe region of the Netherlands. Buren has 27,168 inhabitants as of 1 January 2022. Geography Buren is located in Gelderland, a province of the Netherlands. It is part of the landscape of Betuwe, a ve ...

Beusichem Beusichem is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Buren, and lies about northwest of Tiel. History It was first mentioned between 918 and 948 Buosinhem, and means "settlement of the people of Boso ...

and

Nieuwegein Nieuwegein () is a municipality and city in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. It is bordered on the north by the city of Utrecht (city), Utrecht, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the ...

Topography

''Dutch topographic map of the municipality of Culemborg, June 2015''

Economy

Dough processing company Rademaker BV, founded in 1977, moved to Culemborg in 1981 and still has their headquarters here.

Windmills

There are two traditional windmills in Culemborg, ''De Hoop'' and ''Johanna''. The base of a third mill, ''De Koornvriend'', also survives.

Notable residents

Anthony van Diemen Anthony van Diemen (also ''Antonie'', ''Antonio'', ''Anton'', ''Antonius'') (1593 – 19 April 1645) was a Dutch colonial governor. Early life He was born in Culemborg in the Netherlands, the son of Meeus Anthonisz van Diemen and Christina Hoe ...

(1593–1645),

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies ( nl, gouverneur-generaal van Nederlands Indië) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese fo ...

Jan van Riebeeck Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Life Early life Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg, as the son of a surgeon. He ...

(1619–1677) colonial administrator, founded

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

(

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

) *

Roelof de Man Roelof de Man (1634–1663) was a Dutch colonial administrator in South Africa. He was born in Culemborg (formerly also spelled Culenborg or Kuilenburg or Kuylenburgh), Netherlands in 1634 and grew up in the same walled village and era as Dutch Ex ...

(1634 - 1663), bookkeeper and second-in-charge to

at founding of

(

) * Otto van Rees (1823–1892), minister and

Rudi Martinus van Dijk Rudi Martinus van Dijk (27 March 1932 – 29 November 2003) was a Dutch and Canadian composer of orchestral, chamber and vocal music. In all Van Dijk's music, whichever of his stylistic trends it seems immediately to favour, the voice of a highly ...

(1932–2003) a Dutch and Canadian composer of orchestral, chamber and vocal music *

Wilhelmina Cooper Wilhelmina Gertrud Frieda Cooper (née Behmenburg; 1 May 1939 – 1 March 1980) was a Dutch-American model who began with Ford Models, and at the peak of her success, founded her own agency, Wilhelmina Models, in New York City in 1967. Retriev ...

(1939–1980), fashion model, founded

Wilhelmina Models Wilhelmina International Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLM), formerly Wilhelmina Models, is a full service modeling and talent agency headquartered in New York City, United States. The company also has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. Founded in 196 ...

, New York *

Farid Azarkan Farid Azarkan (born 16 October 1971) is a Moroccan-born Dutch politician serving as Leader of DENK since 26 September 2020. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 23 March 2017 and parliamentary leader since 21 March 2020. Aza ...

(born 1971), politician and leader of

Denk Denk may refer to: People *Jeremy Denk (born 1970), American classical pianist * Michael K. Denk, Canadian professor of chemistry * Paula Denk (1908–1978), German actress *Ralph Denk (born 1973), German cyclist and cycling manager *Ulrike Denk ( ...

Jelka van Houten Jelline Floriska van Houten (; born 1 September 1978) is a Dutch actress. She has acted in Dutch films, musicals, and television series. She also played Sabine in the British TV series '' Fresh Meat''. She won the John Kraaijkamp Musical Award ...

(born 1978), actress IMDb Database
retrieved 27 December 2019

Sport

* Elly van Hulst (born 1959), middle distance runner, competed at the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Patrick Pothuizen Patrick Pothuizen (born 15 May 1972) is a Dutch football manager and former player who is the head coach of Eerste Klasse club Achilles '29. Career Pothuizen was a defender who was born in Culemborg and made his debut in professional football, b ...

(born 1972), football player over 450 club caps *

Michiel Elijzen Michiel Elijzen (born 31 August 1982 in Culemborg, Gelderland) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer, who retired from competition after the 2010 season to become a sporting director for , the team for which he last rode competitively ...

(born 1982) a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer

Gallery

File:Culemborg, de Binnenpoort RM11554 foto11 2015-08-06 13.21.jpg, Town gate: ''de Binnenpoort'' File:Culemborg, by Jan Weissenbruch.jpg, Culemborg, 1880 File:Culemborg, molen de Hoop RM451862 foto3 2015-08-06 13.14.jpg, Windmill: ''molen de Hoop'' File:Culemborg, Netherlands - panoramio (18).jpg, Culemborg - panorama

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Municipalities of Gelderland Populated places in Gelderland Cities in the Netherlands