Hillegom () is a town and municipality in the western

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 ...

, in the province of

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

. Hillegom is part of an area called the

Duin- en Bollenstreek The Duin- en Bollenstreek (; Dutch for "Dune and Bulb Region") is a region in the Western Netherlands, that features coastal dunes and the cultivation of flower bulbs. Situated at the heart of historical Holland nearby the city of Leiden, South Ho ...

("Dune and Bulb Region"). As such, a large portion of the local economy was traditionally geared to the cultivation of bulb flowers. The name Hillegom is derived from the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

named ''Hijlighem'' (

Old Frankish Frankish ( reconstructed endonym: *), also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 9th century. After the Salian Franks settled in Roman Gaul, its speakers in Picardy an ...

for "Holy Home"). This abbey no longer exists. The current Lord of Hillegom is Jan Six X.

History

Hillegom was formed on the eastern edge of the coastal

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s where the old

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

route crossed the ''Hillegommerbeek'' (Hillegom's Creek), not far from the shores of the ''

Haarlemmermeer Haarlemmermeer () is a municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The name Haarlemmermeer means ' Haarlem's lake', referring to the body of w ...

'' (Haarlem's Lake). Places with the suffix "-heim" (or variant spellings) usually developed before the year 1000 and therefore it is assumed that this may apply to Hillegom as well. In 1150 the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of Egmond had the rights to naming priests in Hillegom, indicating that a church or chapel existed there. In 1248 the count Willem II gave the Chapel of Hijllinghem and all its buildings to the Abbot of Egmond. In the middle of the 14th century, Hillegom gained some prominence when the

counts of Holland The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century. House of Holland The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...

convened there 3 times for council. In 1369, there were 46 houses with a population of 283, growing to 67 houses and 412 people in 1477. During the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

, Hillegom found itself several times between the opposing Spanish and Dutch Rebel armies, resulting in its near destruction in 1577. But after the middle of the 17th century, the area became prosperous through the cultivation of fruits and vegetables, growing on the sandy soil of fields dug out the dunes. In 1722, the rich Amsterdam merchant Jan Six II bought the

fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...

Hillegom and built improvements, including a stone bridge over the Hillegommerbeek and a pump in the village square as well as paving a portion of the main road. In 1749, he purchased ''Het Hof'' (The Courtyard), an estate in the centre of Hillegom. At this time, there were many other estates of rich merchants and stadtholders in Hillegom, such as Bethlehem, Oostende, Horstendael, Weeresteyn, Treslong, Duin en Weg, Meer en Dorp, Het Hof, Lapinenburg and Elsbroek (many of these names survive as neighborhood names). The population grew to 930 in 1732 and to 1050 in 1795. In 1855 Hillegom absorbed the former municipality of

De Vennip De Vennip is a former municipality in the Netherlands, which at the time belonged to the province of South Holland. It consisted of a small area of land east of Hillegom, and a large part of the Haarlemmermeer lake, including the island of Beinsd ...

. During the 19th century, the beauty of the area and its estates slowly began to disappear. Developers bought the estates, cut down the forests, and excavated the sand dunes to create fields for bulb flower cultivation. This process accelerated in 1904 when a lime-sand brick factory was built just south of Hillegom, which needed large amounts of sand. By the early 1920s, all estates had disappeared, except for ''Het Hof'' which became Hillegom's

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

. This same period saw the rapid growth of the bulb flower industry and Hillegom's population, up to 8800 in 1916. Hillegom's convenient location led to another rapid growth period during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, when many new neighborhoods were built to accommodate families working in either Haarlem, Amsterdam, or Leiden. Its economy became less dependent on the bulb flower trade and more diversified with the establishment of a few business parks.

Geography

Hillegom is bordered by the municipalities of

Bloemendaal Bloemendaal () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Bloemendaal is, together with Wassenaar, the wealthiest place in the Netherlands. In October 2015, after persistent problems with the local governa ...

(and formerly

Bennebroek Bennebroek () is a village and former municipality in the northwest Netherlands, now part of Bloemendaal, North Holland. Before its merger, it was the smallest municipality in the Netherlands, covering an area of only 1.75 km². History Be ...

) to the north,

to the east,

Lisse Lisse () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Western Netherlands. The municipality, which lies within the Duin- en Bollenstreek, covers an area of of which is water. Its population was in . Located within the mun ...

to the south, and

Noordwijk Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in . On 1 January 2019, the former municipality of Noordwij ...

(formerly

Noordwijkerhout Noordwijkerhout () is a town and former municipality in the western part of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The town is currently part of the municipality of Noordwijk and lies in the bulb-growing region (the Duin- en Bollenstre ...

) to the west. The municipality covers an area of of which is water.

Neighborhoods

Demographics

Population on January 1: *1899: 5,361 *1930: 10,812 *1960: 14,789 *1970: 16,963 *1980: 17,937 *1990: 19,885 *2000: 20,664 *2004: 20,588 *2006: 20,317 *2011: 20,627 *2017: 21,629 :''Source: Statistics Netherlands''

Transportation

Historically, much of the town's transportation was done by water, either canals or streams. The Hillegommerbeek (Hillegom's Creek) was used to transport goods from the town to Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem's Lake) and, after its

reclamation Reclaim, reclaimed, reclaimer, reclaiming or reclamation means "to get something back". It may refer to: * Land reclamation, creating new land from oceans, riverbeds, or lake beds * Dedesertification, reversing of the land degradation in arid ...

, to the

Ringvaart The Ringvaart (known in full as Ringvaart of the Haarlemmermeer Polder) is a canal in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The Ringvaart (Dutch meaning "ring canal") is a true circular canal surrounding the Haarlemmermeer polder an ...

. Several docks and wharfs still line the creek and canal. The ''

Leidsevaart The Leidsevaart (also known as Leidse trekvaart, Dutch for "Leiden's Pull-Canal") is a canal between the cities of Haarlem and Leiden in the Netherlands. It was dug in 1657, making it one of the oldest canals in the Netherlands. It was the major ...

'' (Leiden Canal) was completed in 1657 and runs between Leiden and Haarlem just west of Hillegom. This canal has fallen in disuse because of its many non-operable bridges. Hillegom is served by Provincial Roads 207, 208, and 442.

Railway

Hillegom is served by

Hillegom railway station The railway station of Hillegom in the Netherlands is located on the railway line between Haarlem railway station, Haarlem and Leiden Centraal railway station, Leiden. The first railway station in the town was opened in 1891, closed in 1898 and to ...

, with direct connections to

in the north and

and

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

southward.

Tourism and attractions

The most interesting time to visit is during the spring when the fields around Hillegom are in a colourful bloom. At this time a flower

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

, the ''Bloemencorso'', travels through its main streets. Hillegom was home to the Den Hartogh Ford Museum, which had the world's largest collection of

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

automobiles, until it closed down in 2016. It had over 200 classic cars, all from before World War II.

Notable persons from Hillegom

* Adriaan van der Willigen Pz. (1810 in Hillegom – 1876) a doctor and historian * Dr.

Willem Pleyte Dr. Willem Pleyte (26 June 1836 – 1 March 1903) was a Dutch Egyptologist and museum director. Family Willem Pleyte was the son of Cornelius Marinus Pleyte. He was born on 26 June 1836 in Hillegom, where his father was a pastor. Education He at ...

(1836 in Hillegom – 1903) a Dutch

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

and museum director * Jacob Cornelis van Slee (1841 in Hillegom – 1929) a Dutch Reformed clergyman and scholar * Constantijn Muysken, Dutch Wiki (1843 in Hillegom - 1922), architect *

Piet van Zeil Piet may refer to: People *Piet (given name), a common name in the Netherlands and South Africa *Henri Piet (1888–1915), French lightweight boxer *Tony Piet (1906–1981), American Major League Baseball player Schools *Purushottam Institute of ...

(1927 in Hillegom – 2012) a Dutch politician and trade union leader * Hans 't Mannetje (1944 in Hillegom – 2016) a Dutch sculptor, mostly of

gable stone Gable stones (Dutch ''gevelstenen'') are carved and often colourfully painted stone tablets, which are set into the walls of buildings, usually at about 4 metres from the ground. They serve both to identify and embellish the building. They are al ...

s. *

Wim Turkenburg Wim C. Turkenburg (born 1947, in Hillegom) is emeritus professor 'Science, Technology & Society' (STS) at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, and owner of a consultancy on energy and environmental issues. He is member of the board of the Foundati ...

(born 1947 in Hillegom) an academic on energy and environmental issues *

Thea de Roos-van Rooden Th.C.M. (Thea) de Roos-van Rooden (born 27 May 1949 in Hillegom) is a Dutch historian and politician for the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid). Biography She studied history at the University of Groningen and gr ...

(born 1949 in Hillegom), historian and former politician * Annemarie Spilker (born 1980 in Hillegom) a Dutch photographer

Sport

* Dick van Egmond, Dutch Wiki (born 1961 in Hillegom) soccer referee *

Jesse Huta Galung Jesse Huta Galung (born 6 October 1985) is a former professional Dutch tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each playe ...

(born 1985) a former Dutch professional tennis player, lives in Hillegom * Marc Evers (born 1991 in Hillegom) a Dutch Paralympic swimmer

Gallery

File:Voormalig Postkantoor Hillegom.jpg, Former post office File:Silo’s van de kalkzandsteenfabriek - Hillegom.jpg, Silos of the siliceous brick factory File:Hillegommerbeek dichtgevroren foto 2.JPG, Frozen ''Hillegommerbeek'' (Hillegom's Creek) File:Moskee Al Ansaar - Hillegom.jpg, Mosque Al Ansaar File:Hillegom, ophaalbrug met de toren van de Maartenskerk RM22136 foto5 2017-04-09 16.06.jpg, Hillegom, drawing bridge with churchtower (de Maartenskerk)

References

External links

Official websiteHistory of Hillegom
(in Dutch) {{Authority control Municipalities of South Holland Populated places in South Holland