Amersfoort () is a

city 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 ...

and

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 ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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 ...

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 ...

, about 20 km from the city of

and 40 km south east of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second-largest of the province and fifteenth-largest of the country. Amersfoort is also one of the largest Dutch railway junctions with its three stations— Amersfoort Centraal,

Schothorst Schothorst is the second largest district by population in the Dutch city of Amersfoort. It is located in central Amersfoort, between the districts of Liendert, Landgoed Schothorst (an estate) and De Koppel. The neighbourhood was built in the 1970s ...

and Vathorst—due to its location on two of the Netherlands' main east to west and north to south railway lines. The city was used during the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

as a venue for the

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...

events. Amersfoort marked its 750th anniversary as a city in 2009.

Population centres

The municipality of Amersfoort consists of the following cities, towns, villages and districts: Bergkwartier, Bosgebied, Binnenstad,

Hoogland Hoogland () is a village and former free-standing municipality in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The village population is 10,587 people (2006). Since 1974, Hoogland has been a part of the municipality of Amersfoort. Until that ti ...

, Hoogland-West, Kattenbroek, Kruiskamp, de Koppel, Liendert, Rustenburg, Nieuwland, Randenbroek, Schuilenburg,

, Soesterkwartier, Vathorst,

Hooglanderveen Hooglanderveen () is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Amersfoort, and lies about 4 km northeast of Amersfoort. It is notable for the presence of a large Catholic church. Formerly, the village of ...

, Vermeerkwartier, Leusderkwartier, Zielhorst and Stoutenburg-Noord.

History

Hunter gatherers A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

set up camps in the Amersfoort region in the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

period. Archaeologists have found traces of these camps, such as the remains of hearths, and sometimes microlithic flint objects, to the north of the city.

Early years

Amersfoort, de Monnikendam RM8053 positie1 2012-12-08 11

Remains of settlements in the Amersfoort area from around 1000 BC have been found, but the name Amersfoort, after a

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 ...

in the Amer River, today called the

Eem The Eem (; formerly the Amer) is a river in the central Netherlands with a length of approximately . The river is fed by the Vallei Canal and a number of Veluwe creeks, the most important of which are the Heiligenberger Beek, the Barneveldse Beek ...

, did not appear until the 11th century. The city grew around what is now known as the central square, the ''Hof'', where the

Bishops of Utrecht List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht. Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580 Founders of the Utrecht diocese * * * * * Bishops * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

established a court in order to control the "" area. It was granted city rights in 1259 by the bishop of Utrecht,

Henry I van Vianden Henry (or Hendrik) van Vianden (died 4 June 1267) was a bishop of Utrecht from 1249 to 1267. He was the son of Henry I, Count of Vianden and Margaret, Marchioness of Namur. He was provost at Cologne before he was pushed forward as candidate for ...

. A first defensive wall, made out of brick, was finished around 1300. Soon after, the need for enlargement of the city became apparent and around 1380 the construction of a new wall was begun and completed around 1450. The famous

Koppelpoort The Koppelpoort is a medieval gate in the Dutch city of Amersfoort, province of Utrecht. Completed around 1425, it combines land and water-gates, and is part of the second city wall of Amersfoort, which was constructed between 1380 and 1450. Hist ...

, a combined land and water gate, is part of this second wall. The first wall was demolished and houses were built in its place. Today's ''Muurhuizen'' (wallhouses) Street is at the exact location of the first wall; the fronts of the houses are built on top of the first city wall's foundations. The '' Onze-Lieve-Vrouwentoren'' (Tower of Our Lady) is one of the tallest medieval church towers in the Netherlands at . When it was built, it was the middle point of The Netherlands, it was exactly built in the center and a reference for the Dutch grid system. The nickname of the tower is Lange Jan (‘Long John’). The construction of the tower and the church was started in 1444. The church was destroyed by an explosion in 1787, but the tower survived, and the layout of the church still can be discerned today through the use of different types of stone in the pavement of the open space that was created. It is now the reference point of the RD coordinate system, the coordinate grid used by the Dutch topographical service: the RD coordinates are (155.000, 463.000). The inner city of Amersfoort has been preserved well since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. Apart from the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwetoren, the

, and the ''Muurhuizen'' (Wall-houses), there is also the Sint-Joriskerk (Saint George's church), the canal-system with its bridges, as well as medieval and other old buildings; many are designated as national monuments. In the Middle Ages, Amersfoort was an important centre for the textile industry, and there were a large number of breweries.

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

also lived in Amersfoort in the Middle Ages, before being expelled from the province in 1546 and beginning to return to the city in 1655.

Origin of the ''Keistad''

The nickname for Amersfoort, ''Keistad'' (boulder-city), originates in the ''Amersfoortse Kei'', a

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

that was dragged from the Soest moors into the city in 1661 by 400 people because of a bet between two landowners. The people got their reward when the winner bought everyone

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

and

pretzels A pretzel (), from German pronunciation, standard german: Breze(l) ( and French / Alsatian: ''Bretzel'') is a type of baked bread made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical ...

. Other nearby towns then nicknamed the people of Amersfoort ''Keientrekker'' (boulder-puller). This story embarrassed the inhabitants, and they buried the boulder in the city in 1672, but after it was found again in 1903 it was placed in a prominent spot as a monument. There are not many boulders in the Netherlands, so it can be regarded as an icon.

Nieuw Amersfoort

One of the six Dutch towns established in the 17th Century in what is now

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

was called "Nieuw Amersfoort" (New Amersfoort). The original patentees were Wolfert Gerritse van Kouwenhoven and

Andries Hudde Andries Hudde (1608–1663) was a landowner and colonial official of New Netherland. Early life and New Amsterdam Andries Hudde was born in Kampen, Overijssel in the Netherlands in 1608 to Hendrick Hudde (himself son of the local burgomaster ...

. Unlike other Dutch names which were retained up to the present, Nieuw Amersfoort is now called " Flatlands". In the 18th century the city flourished because of the cultivation of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

,The Russian word for the tobacco ''

Nicotiana rustica ''Nicotiana rustica'', commonly known as Aztec tobacco or strong tobacco, is a rainforest plant in the family Solanaceae. It is a very potent variety of tobacco, containing up to nine times more nicotine than common species of ''Nicotiana'' such ...

'', махорка (makhorka), may bear an etymological debt to this city. See th
dictionary of Max Vasmer.
/ref> but from about 1800 onwards began to decline. The decline was halted by the establishment of the first railway connection in 1863, and, some years later, by the building of a substantial number of

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

and

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

, which were needed to defend the western cities of the Netherlands. After the 1920s growth stalled again, until in 1970 the national government designated Amersfoort, then numbering some 70,000 inhabitants, as a "growth city".

First World War

During the First World War, the area of Amersfoort with nearby

Soesterberg Soesterberg is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Soest, and lies about 5 km northeast of Zeist, on the road between Amersfoort and Utrecht. It was the location of Soesterberg Air Base History The ...

and

Zeist Zeist () is the capital and largest town of the municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of "Seist" was first mentioned in a charter in the year 83 ...

was one of the places in The Netherlands where many refugees from Belgium were sheltered. The "Belgenmonument", located in the vicinity of the former refugee camp Elisabethdorp, commemorates this period and the hardships of the Belgian refugees.

Second World War

Since Amersfoort was the largest garrison town in the Netherlands before the outbreak of 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 eight barracks, and part of the main line of defence, the whole population of then 43,000 was evacuated at the start of the invasion by the Germans in May 1940. After four days of battle, the population was allowed to return. There was a functioning Jewish community in the town, at the beginning of the war numbering about 700 people. Half of them were deported and killed, mainly in

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

and

Sobibor Sobibor (, Polish: ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of German-occupied Poland. As an ...

. In 1943, the

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

, dating from 1727, was severely damaged on the orders of the then Nazi-controlled city government. It was restored and opened again after the war, and has been served since by a succession of

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

s. There was a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

near the city of Amersfoort during the war. The camp, officially called ''Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort'' (Police Transit Camp Amersfoort), better known as ''

Kamp Amersfoort Kamp Amersfoort ( nl, Kamp Amersfoort, german: Durchgangslager Amersfoort) was a Nazi concentration camp near the city of Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The official name was "Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort", P.D.A. or Amersfoort Police ...

'', was actually located in the neighbouring municipality of

Leusden Leusden () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located about 3 kilometres southeast of Amersfoort. The western part of the municipality lies on the slopes of the Utrecht Hill Ridge and is largely cov ...

. After the war the leader of the camp, Joseph Kotälla, served a life sentence in prison. He died in captivity in 1979. Some of the victims of the camp are buried in Rusthof cemetery near the town. Among the victims were prisoners of war from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, including 101

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

ns, mostly

Uzbeks The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...

. Locals would commemorate them, but the identity of the 101 soldiers was not known, until journalist Remco Reiding started investigating this case in 1999, after hearing about the cemetery. Amongst the few remaining people who witnessed the 101 soldiers is Henk Broekhuizen."Soviet Field of Glory"

Culture

Museums

The Mondriaan House The Mondriaan House (Dutch: Het Mondriaanhuis, Museum voor Constructieve en Concrete Kunst) is a museum in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, in the house where Piet Mondriaan Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also ...

: birthplace of the painter

Piet Mondriaan Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being o ...

. Exhibits a lifesize reconstruction of his workshop in Paris. Some temporary shows and work by artists inspired by the painter. * Flehite: historic, educational and temporary exhibitions behind a splendid facade. The museum closed in 2007 due to asbestos contamination. It was refurbished and reopened in May 2009. * Zonnehof: small elegant modernist building designed by Gerrit Rietveld on an eponymous square just south of the centre with temporary exhibitions of mostly contemporary art. (closed) * Armando Museum: work by the painter

Armando Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...

who lived in Amersfoort as a child in a renovated church building. Most of the church and the art on exhibition was destroyed in a fire on 22 October 2007. *

Dutch Cavalry Museum The Dutch Cavalry Museum is located in the centre of The Netherlands in the city of Amersfoort. The museum is hosted in two large buildings at the ''Bernhardkazerne'' army barracks. The collection contains small objects, like uniforms, firearms, ...

: museum in 475 years old barracks. Most other military museums in the Netherlands got absorbed into the National Military Museum (''Nationaal Militair Museum''), but the cavalry museum has stood strong. It shows Dutch cavalry and tanks. * Culinary Museum (was closed in 2006). * Kunsthal KAdE: a modern art exhibition hall.

Sports

Amersfoort had its own professional

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club named HVC Amersfoort. It was founded on 30 July 1973, but disbanded on 30 June 1982 because of financial problems. The city also hosted the riding part of the

event for the

. Amersfoort also hosted the

Dutch Open (tennis) The Dutch Open Tennis Amersfoort (or Dutch Open) originally known as the Netherlands International Championships and Netherland Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay court and held in three different locations in The Nethe ...

tournament from 2002 till its end in 2008. The city is also home to the baseball and softball club Quick Amersfoort. The club's top men's baseball team plays in the

Honkbal Hoofdklasse The Honkbal Hoofdklasse (Dutch for ''Major League Baseball'') is the highest level of professional baseball in the Netherlands. It is an eight-team league that plays a 42-game schedule and is overseen by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball ...

, the highest level of Dutch baseball.

Other

The city has a zoo, ''

DierenPark Amersfoort DierenPark Amersfoort is a zoo located on the West side of Amersfoort, in the province of Utrecht, on the edge of the Birkhoven forest, in the Netherlands. History The zoo was founded on 22 May 1948 by Mr. Tertoolen and Mr. Knoester. Initially ...

'', which was founded in 1948. Amersfoort is the greenest city in the Netherlands.

Transport

Bus

Bus services are provided by 2 firms: U-OV and Syntus. Syntus provides services in town and the entirety of the province Utrecht, save for the bus to the city Utrecht, which is provided by U-OV.

Rail

Amersfoort has three railway stations: * Amersfoort Centraal, the main station, located on the western edge of the city at the crossing of the Amsterdam–Zutphen and Utrecht–Kampen railways * Amersfoort Schothorst, located northeast of the city centre on the Utrecht–Kampen railway * Amersfoort Vathorst, located in the extreme northeast of the city on the Utrecht–Kampen railway All three serve direct trains to

Utrecht Centraal Utrecht Centraal, officially Station Utrecht Centraal (), is the transit hub that integrates three bicycle parkings, two bus stations, two tram stops and the central railway station for the city of Utrecht in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. ...

and

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is o ...

. Amersfoort Centraal and Amersfoort Schothorst also have direct service to Den Haag Centraal,

Amsterdam Centraal Amsterdam Centraal Station ( nl, italic=no, Station Amsterdam Centraal ; abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passengers a day, m ...

, and Amsterdam Zuid. Amersfoort Centraal further serves direct trains to

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

Rotterdam Centraal Rotterdam Centraal railway station () is the main railway station of the city Rotterdam in South Holland, Netherlands. The station received an average of 112,000 passengers daily in 2019. The current station building, located at Station Square, ...

Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

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 ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, Ede–Wageningen and

Berlin Hauptbahnhof Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...

Road

Two major motorways pass Amersfoort: *along the north, the

A1 motorway A1, A-1, A01 or A.1. may refer to: Education * A1, the Basic Language Certificate of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages * Language A1, the former name for "Language A: literature", one of the IB Group 1 subjects * A1, a ...

(Amsterdam–

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. It is located about 60 km east of Utrecht, 60 km west of Enschede, 25 km north of Arnhem and 35 km south of Zwolle. The ...

) *along the east, the A28 motorway (Utrecht–Groningen)

Water

The river

(pronounced roughly "aim") begins in Amersfoort, and the town has a port for inland water transport. The Eem connects to the nearby ''

Eemmeer The Eemmeer () is a lake situated in the middle of the Netherlands between the provinces of Flevoland, Utrecht, and North Holland. It measures and contains one small island, the Dode Hond (''Dead Dog''). The Eemmeer is one in a series of periph ...

'' (Lake Eem). The Valleikanaal drains the eastern and joins with other sources to form the Eem in Amersfoort.

Local government

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

of Amersfoort consists of 39 seats, which are divided as follows: *

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberalRudy Andeweg, Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingsto ...

– 6 seats (5 seats in 2014) * CDA – 6 seats (4 seats in 2014) *

GroenLinks GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

– 6 seats (3 seats in 2014) *

D'66 Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a social liberal political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the centre of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democ ...

– 5 seats (9 seats in 2014) *

ChristenUnie The Christian Union ( nl, ChristenUnie, CU) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more sociall ...

– 4 seats (5 seats in 2014) * Amersfoort2014 – 3 seat (1 in 2014) * SP – 2 seats (4 seats in 2014) * Burger Partij Amersfoort – 2 seats (2 seats in 2014) * PvdA – 2 seats (5 seats in 2014) * Denk – 1 seat (not represented in 2014) * Lijst Molenkamp - 1 seat (former SP) * Lijst Sanders - 1 seat (former D66) The city has a

court of first instance A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance w ...

(''kantongerecht'') and a regional chamber of commerce.

Economy

The city is a main location for several international companies: * Royal

VolkerWessels Koninklijke VolkerWessels B.V. is a major European construction services business with Netherlands, Dutch-based headquarters. It is owned by the Wessels Family through Reggeborgh Holding. History The company was founded by Adriaan Volker in Slied ...

Stevin N.V., a major European construction-services business. *

FrieslandCampina Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. is a Dutch multinational dairy cooperative which is based in Amersfoort, Netherlands. It is the result of a merger between Friesland Foods and Campina on 30 December 2008. The European Commission approved this merger ...

, a Dutch dairy cooperative. *

Royal HaskoningDHV Royal HaskoningDHV is an international, non-listed engineering consultancy firm with headquarters in Amersfoort, Netherlands. It has offices in 30 countries, employing 5,800 professionals worldwide. Royal HaskoningDHV is active in aviation, build ...

, consultants and engineers. * Golden Tulip Hospitality Group, international hotel chain Golden Tulip Hotels, Inns and Resorts. *

Nutreco Nutreco N.V. is a Dutch producer of animal nutrition, fish feed and processed meat products. It has about 100 production facilities in more than 30 countries, and eight research centers. The company was founded in 1994 after a Cinven-backed manage ...

, animal feed and human foodstuffs *

Yokogawa Electric is a Japanese multinational electrical engineering and software company, with businesses based on its measurement, control, and information technologies. It has a global workforce of over 19,000 employees, 84 subsidiary and 3 Affiliate (commer ...

, an electrical engineering and software company, the European headquarters for which are located in Amersfoort It also has a number of

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s and foundations: * Christian Union, a Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. *

Oikocredit Oikocredit (in full Oikocredit, Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society U.A.) is a cooperative society that offers loans or investment capital for microfinance institutions, cooperatives and small and medium-sized enterprises in developing coun ...

, headquarters of global cooperative society, financing economic development focused on poverty alleviation. *

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, a left-wing social-democratic political party in The Netherlands. * KNLTB, the Dutch national lawn-tennis association. * Vereniging Eigen Huis, the largest home-owners association in the Netherlands; with 700,000 members, it is also the largest in the world

Notable residents

* Paulus Buys (1531–1594) – Grand Pensionary *

Johan van Oldenbarnevelt Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (), Heer van Berkel en Rodenrijs (1600), Gunterstein (1611) and Bakkum (1613) (14 September 1547 – 13 May 1619) was a Dutch statesman and revolutionary who played an important role in the Dutch struggle for indepen ...

(1547–1619) – statesman. *

(1872–1944) – painter, pioneer of 20th century

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th ...

Dirk Fok van Slooten Dirk Fok van Slooten (1891, Amersfoort, the Netherlands – 1953, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) was a Dutch botanist. He obtained a doctorate from Utrecht University in 1919. In 1948 he became acting director of the Buitenzorg Botanical Gardens (now ...

(1891–1953) – botanist *

Willem Sandberg Jonkheer Willem Jacob Henri Berend Sandberg (24 October 1897 – 9 April 1984) known as Willem Sandberg was a Dutch typographer, museum curator, and member of the Dutch resistance during World War II. Early life and career Sandberg was born i ...

(1897–1984) – graphic designer,

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

director * Jan van Hulst (1903-1975) – recognised as

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...

Johannes Heesters Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters (5 December 1903 – 24 December 2011), known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the concert stag ...

(1903–2011) – actor and singer *

Ben Pon (senior) Bernardus Marinus "Ben" Pon, Sr. (April 27, 1904 – May 15, 1968) was a Dutch businessman. In 1947, ''Pon's Automobielhandel'' ("Pon's Car Dealership"), became the first dealer outside of Germany to sell vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen. Ben' ...

(1904–1968) – car importer and developer of the

Volkswagen Type 2 The Volkswagen Type 2, known officially (depending on body type) as the Transporter, Kombi or Microbus, or, informally, as the Bus (US), Camper (UK) or Bulli (Germany), is a forward control light commercial vehicle introduced in 1950 by the Ge ...

* Victor Kaisiepo (1948–2010) – advocate for West Papuan self-determination. * Paul Cobben (born 1951) – philosopher *

Gino Vannelli Gino Vannelli (born June 16, 1952) is a Canadian rock singer and songwriter who had several hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s. His best-known singles include "People Gotta Move" (1974), "I Just Wanna Stop" (1978), " Living Inside Myself" (1981) a ...

(born 1952) – Canadian singer, songwriter, musician and composer * Father Roderick Vonhögen (born 1968) – television host and podcaster * Blaudzun (born 1974) – singer and filmmaker, stage name of Johannes Sigmond *

Sarah Wiedenheft Sarah Wiedenheft is a voice actress known for her voice work on English dubs of Japanese anime series and films associated with Funimation and Sentai Filmworks. Wiedenheft is known as the voice of Tohru from ''Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid'', Pho ...

(born 1993) – anime dubbing actress IMDb Database
retrieved 11 November 2019 ;Sport *

Ben Pon Bernardus Marinus "Ben" Pon (9 December 1936 – 30 September 2019) was a Dutch vintner and Olympian and motor racing driver. He competed in one Formula One race, the 1962 Dutch Grand Prix, but had a far longer career in sports car racing, befo ...

(1936-2019) – sports car racing driver * Loet Geutjes (born 1943) – water polo player * Feike de Vries (born 1943) – water polo player *

Ton van Heugten Antonius Maria van Heugten (9 September 1945 – 27 March 2008) was a Dutch sidecarcross rider and the 1981 Sidecarcross World Championship, World Champion in the sport, together with his passenger Frits Kiggen. He has also won the List of nationa ...

(1945–2008) – former sidecarcross world champion *

Anke Rijnders Anthonia Marie "Anke" Rijnders (born 23 August 1956) is a former butterfly and freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who competed for her native country at the 1972 Summer Olympics. As a member of the Dutch relay teams she finished in fifth p ...

(born 1956) – swimmer * Frank Drost (born 1963) – swimmer *

Joop Kasteel Joop Kasteel, also known as "de zwarte parel" ("the black pearl", born 27 August 1964), is a Dutch former mixed martial artist. He made his mixed martial arts debut on 15 June 1996. He is a veteran of the RINGS promotion and as he has fought th ...

(born 1964) – Professional Fighter and Bodybuilder *

Jan Wagenaar Jan Wagenaar (25 October 1709 – 1 March 1773) was a Dutch historian, best known for his contributions to ''Tegenwoordige staat van nederland'' and ''Vaderlandsche Historie''. Biography Wagenaar was born in Amsterdam to a Mennonite master ...

(born 1965) – water polo player *

John van den Brom Joseph Anthonius ''John ''van den Brom (born 4 October 1966) is a Dutch former professional footballer and the current manager of Ekstraklasa side Lech Poznań. As a player, he played for Vitesse, Ajax, De Graafschap and Istanbulspor. After h ...

(born 1966) – a former professional footballer and manager *

Arie van de Bunt Arend Jantinus "Arie" van de Bunt (born 7 June 1969 in Amersfoort) is a former water polo goalkeeper from the Netherlands, who participated in three Summer Olympics for Holland. From 1992 on he finished in ninth (Barcelona), tenth (Atlanta) and el ...

(born 1969) – water polo goalkeeper *

Valentijn Overeem Valentijn Overeem (; born 17 August 1976) is a retired Dutch professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently signed with United Glory. A professional competitor since 1996, he has previously fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, ...

(born 1976) – mixed martial artist *

Alistair Overeem Alistair Cees Overeem (born 17 May 1980) is a Dutch professional heavyweight mixed martial artist and kickboxer, currently competing in the heavyweight division of Glory. He is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight C ...

(born 1980) – mixed martial artist & kickboxer *

Marco van Ginkel Marco Wulfert Cornelis van Ginkel (; born 1 December 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eredivisie club Vitesse. He can also play as a defensive or attacking midfielder. Van Ginkel began his career in the y ...

(born 1992) – Dutch football player for

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

& the Netherlands national team * Bart Ramselaar (born 1996) Dutch professional footballer for FC Utrecht

Sister city

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

References

Notes

External links

* * * {{Authority control Cities in the Netherlands Municipalities of Utrecht (province) Populated places in Utrecht (province) Venues of the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic modern pentathlon venues Holocaust locations in the Netherlands