Den Hoorn is a village in the Dutch province of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

. It is a part of the municipality of Texel, and lies about 9 km north of

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

History

A prominent feature outside the modern core of the village is the white ( Dutch reformed) church, built in the fifteenth century to replace a wooden chapel demolished in 1409. The new church was ready in 1425 and 25 years later received a tower which would later also serve as a beacon. The three signal beacons for shipping were replaced only in 2008 by a modern tri-colour signalling device featuring oscillating green light on one side, an oscillating red light on the other side and a white light in the middle. Parts of the church were rebuilt in the seventeenth century. The church bells date from the fifteenth century, but during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, with the country under occupation, the order was received to remove the bells and convey them, along with the bells from more than 200 other Dutch clock towers, to Germany. The bells were duly demounted from the tower and shipped along the coast towards Germany. However, near

Urk Urk () is a municipality and a town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. Urk is first mentioned in historical records dating to the 10th century, when it was still an island in the Zuiderzee, an inland sea that would become part ...

the ship sank and after the war the bells from Den Hoorn were salvaged and returned to the tower. The location of the church outside the built up part of the village is striking. In the past Den Hoorn was much larger and the church was surrounded by buildings, but major reductions in shipping transport led to many houses in the village being abandoned and subsequently destroyed, leaving the church looking isolated. Since 1962 boats to Texel have docked at 't Horntje, very close to Den Hoorn which is near the southern tip of the island. Den Hoorn is also home to two national institutes. These are the Royal Dutch Institute for Maritime Research (''Nederlands Instituut voor Zeeonderzoek / NIOZ'') and a short distance away Alterra, previously and more instructively known as the Institute for Woodland and Rural Environment Research (''het Instituut voor Bos- en Natuuronderzoek / IBAN'')

Notable people

Racing driver

Tijmen van der Helm Tijmen van der Helm (born 26 January 2004) is a Dutch racing driver currently competing in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship with ARC Bratislava, and the 2022 European Le Mans Series with TDS Racing. Personal life Van Der Helm was b ...

was born in Den Hoorn in 2004.

Gallery

File:DeHors-Texel-SjoerdMartens.jpg, Den Hoorn,

Dunes of Texel National Park ''Duinen van Texel'' National Park (''duinen'' = dunes) is a national park located on the North Holland island of Texel in the Netherlands. All dune systems on the western side of the island and the large coastal plains on both the northern and so ...

File:Den Hoorn - De Diek 33.JPG, Farm in Den Hoorn File:Texel - Bollekamer - Wild Cows - View SW.jpg, Countryside File:Den Hoorn - Texel - panoramio.jpg, Street view

References

{{Authority control Populated places in North Holland Texel