Franeker (; fry, Frjentsjer) is one of the eleven historical

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

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 ...

and capital of the municipality of

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 ...

. It is located north of the

Van Harinxmakanaal The van Harinxmakanaal is a major canal in western Frisland. It runs from the sea at Harlingen eastwards to Leeuwarden. Major places along the canal include Franeker, Dronrijp Dronryp ( nl, Dronrijp) is a village in the Dutch municipality o ...

and about 20 km west of

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

. As of 1 January 2014, it had 12,781 inhabitants. The

Eise Eisinga Planetarium The Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium ( nl, Koninklijk(e) Eise Eisinga Planetarium) is an 18th-century orrery in Franeker, Friesland, Netherlands. It is currently a museum and open to the public. The orrery has been on the top 100 Dutch heritage sit ...

, established in 1781, is located in the city.

History

Atlas Schoemaker-FRIESLAND-DEEL3-3058-Friesland, Franeker

Franeker was founded around 800 as a Carolingian stronghold. The name probably derives from ''Froon-acker'', meaning "land of the lord/king"; the oldest street in the city is still called Froonacker. Beginning around the 11th century, Franeker developed into the administrative center

Westergoa Westergoa was one of the seven sealands and one of the three that now lie within the borders of today's Dutch province of Friesland. Later it was one of the three goaen of Frisia. In the Middle Ages Westergoa most probably formed the political c ...

. Franeker 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 1374. In the 15th century, Albert, Duke of Saxony established himself in Franeker. The city appeared for a time to be growing into the primary city of Friesland, but was eventually overshadowed in this role by Leeuwarden. During the period of the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

, the town sided early on with

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

. From 1585 to 1811, the city housed the

University of Franeker The University of Franeker (1585–1811) was a university in Franeker, Friesland, the Netherlands. It was the second oldest university of the Netherlands, founded shortly after Leiden University. History Also known as ''Academia Franekerensis'' ...

, which was the second Protestant university in the Netherlands. It was closed shortly after the incorporation of the

Kingdom of Holland The Kingdom of Holland ( nl, Holland (contemporary), (modern); french: Royaume de Hollande) was created by Napoleon Bonaparte, overthrowing the Batavian Republic in March 1806 in order to better control the Netherlands. Since becoming Empero ...

into the French Empire. A successor institution, the ''Rijksatheneum'', was founded in 1815, but in 1847 it, too, closed. Before 2018, the city was part of the

Franekeradeel Franekeradeel (; fry, Frentsjerteradiel) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands. It was created in 1984 by combining an earlier Franekeradeel municipality with the city of Franeker and parts of the former municipality of Barradeel. ...

municipality and before 1984 the city was a municipality of its own.

Geography

Franeker is located in the municipality of

in the northwest of the province of

in the 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 is east of the city of Harlingen, north of the

and about west of the provincial capital

Demographics

As of 1 January 2014, the city of Franeker had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 12,781.

Culture

Museums

The

and the

Museum Martena A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

are museums located in the city. The Planetarium is an

orrery An orrery is a mechanical model of the Solar System that illustrates or predicts the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons, usually according to the heliocentric model. It may also represent the relative sizes of these bodies ...

built by a local wool carder to explain a

conjunction Conjunction may refer to: * Conjunction (grammar), a part of speech * Logical conjunction, a mathematical operator ** Conjunction introduction, a rule of inference of propositional logic * Conjunction (astronomy), in which two astronomical bodies ...

of the planets and to help mitigate local fears of what would happen during the planets' alignment. Built in Eisinga's own living room, it is one of the oldest operating orreries in the world. The Museum Martena, opened in 2006, is housed in a manor house built in 1498 and is devoted to the history of the city and the region.

Windmill

The windmill '' Arkens'' is a hollow post mill which has been restored. It originally stood in Arkens and was moved in 1972. It is the only windmill in the Netherlands equipped with ''Vlinderwieken'' ( en, Butterfly sails).

Sports

Since 1852 Franeker is the home of the . the most important tournament in

Frisian handball Frisian handball ( fry, keatsen; nl, kaatsen) is a traditional Frisian sport, related to American handball and fives, that is most commonly practiced by people from the northern Dutch province of Friesland (''Fryslân''). It is believed to be ...

. Franeker is a regular host of the

Frisian draughts Frisian draughts is a variant of draughts native to Friesland in the Netherlands.The rules are similar to International draughts, but is notable for its unique feature of allowing for orthogonal captures (up, down, left, right) in addition to the ...

competitions. Being one of the Frisian cities, Franeker is also on the route of the ''

Elfstedentocht The ''Elfstedentocht'' (; West Frisian: ''Alvestêdetocht'' , English: ''Eleven cities tour'') is a long-distance tour skating event on natural ice, almost long, which is held both as a speed skating competition (with 300 contestants) and a lei ...

'' (Eleven-cities Tour), an endurance skating event held at irregular intervals depending on weather conditions. In August 2014, Jeffrey Peereboom, a student from Franeker, introduced an idea of the speed limits for bicycles in order to make biking in the city safer.

Infrastructure

Franeker railway station is a station on the NS line between

and Harlingen. It also had a station on the

North Friesland Railway The Noord-Friesche Locaalspoorweg-Maatschappij (North Friesland Railway) was a railway serving the sparsely populated north of the Dutch province of Friesland. It was operated by the North Friesland Local Railway Company (Dutch: ''Noord-Friesche Lo ...

which was the terminus of a branch from Tzummarum. The line opened in October 1903 and closed in October 1933. The station building survives.

Notable people

Sebald Justinus Brugmans Sebald Justinus Brugmans (24 March 1763, Franeker – 22 July 1819, Leiden) was a Dutch botanist and physician. He was the son of naturalist Anton Brugmans (1732-1789). Brugmans studied philosophy, mathematics and physics at the Universities ...

Pia Dijkstra Pia Dijkstra (born 9 December 1954 in Franeker) is a Dutch politician and chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Dutch House of Representatives. Ms Dijkstra is a member of Democrats 66 (D66) and has been an MP since 17 June 201 ...

Eise Eisinga Eise Jeltes Eisinga (21 February 1744 – 27 August 1828) was a Frisian amateur astronomer who built the Eise Eisinga Planetarium in his house in Franeker, Dutch Republic. The orrery still exists and is the oldest functioning planetarium in the w ...

François Hemsterhuis François Hemsterhuis (27 December 1721 – 7 July 1790) was a Dutch writer on aesthetics and moral philosophy. The son of Tiberius Hemsterhuis, he was born at Franeker in the Netherlands. He was educated at the University of Leiden, where he s ...

* Ulrik Huber *

Jan Hendrik Oort Jan Hendrik Oort ( or ; 28 April 1900 – 5 November 1992) was a Dutch astronomer who made significant contributions to the understanding of the Milky Way and who was a pioneer in the field of radio astronomy. His ''New York Times'' obituary ...

Anna Maria van Schurman Anna Maria van Schurman (November 5, 1607 – May 4, 1678) was a Dutch painter, engraver, poet, and scholar, who is best known for her exceptional learning and her defence of female education. She was a highly educated woman, who excelled in ...

* Johan Sems * Dennis Wiersma

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Waadhoeke Cities in Friesland Cities in the Netherlands Populated places in Friesland Former municipalities of Friesland