Gaastmeer ( fry, De Gaastmar) is a village in

Súdwest-Fryslân Southwest Friesland ( fy, Súdwest-Fryslân ) is a municipality in the Northern Netherlands, located in the province of Friesland. It had a population of 84,092 in August 2017. Sneek is the municipal seat. With a total area of 841.56 km2, Sú ...

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 295 in January 2017.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1245 as Gersmere, and used to mean "grassland near water", however erroneously evolved into gaast meaning higher land. Gaastmeer was an isolated village between the and the . It was well connected via water, but had no road connections. It used to be a fishing village, and used to specialise in

European eel The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. They are normally around and rarely reach more than , but can reach a length of up to in exceptional cases. Eels have been important sources of fo ...

. During the 18th and 19th century, the fishermen of Gaastmeer and neighbouring

Heeg Heeg ( fry, Heech) is a village in Súdwest Fryslân municipality in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and had a population of around 2,175 in January 2017.wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Gaastmeer was home to 95 people in 1840. The Protestant Church dates from the 19th century and was rebuilt in 1953. The wooden tower was constructed in 1940. From 1962 onwards, many recreational homes were built in Gaastmeer. Before 2011, the village was part of the

Wymbritseradiel Wymbritseradeel (; official fry, Wymbritseradiel ()) was a rural municipality ( nl, gemeenten) in the Dutch province of Friesland from 1984 until 2011. An earlier type of municipality ( nl, grietenij) of the same name existed from 1500 until 198 ...

municipality.

Gallery

File:Gaastmeer, monumentaal pand foto1 2011-04-25 11.34.JPG, Monumentaal house File:Bij Gaastmeer, sloot in het polderlandschap IMG 2459a 2018-04-19 08.28.jpg, Ditch in the polder landscape near the village

References

External links

Súdwest-Fryslân Populated places in Friesland {{Friesland-geo-stub