Reitsum is a village in

Noardeast-Fryslân Noardeast-Fryslân is a municipality of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. It was established 1 January 2019 and consists of the former municipalities of Dongeradeel, Ferwerderadiel and Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland, all three of which dissol ...

municipality 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 around 133 in January 2017. Before 2019, the village was part of the

Ferwerderadiel Ferwerderadiel () is a former municipality of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. Its official name is West Frisian, the Dutch name is Ferwerderadeel (). In 2019 it merged with the municipalities of Dongeradeel and Kollumerland en Nieuwkruislan ...

municipality.

History

The village was first mentioned between 822 and 825 as in Richeim. The etymology is unclear. Reitsum is a ''

terp A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling mound found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides an ...

'' (artificial living mound) village dating several centuries

before Christ The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

. It is one of the four so-called Vlieterpen (literally: flee terps) with a church and a couple of houses. The nearby farmers and their cattle could take shelter on the mound in case of high water. The Dutch Reformed church was built in 1738. A tower was added and the church was enlarged in 1874. In 1861, Johannes Ploos van Amstel became a minister of the church. On 10 February 1886, Ploos van Amstel announced as one of the first that he supported

Abraham Kuyper Abraham Kuyper (; ; 29 October 1837 – 8 November 1920) was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905, an influential neo-Calvinist theologian and a journalist. He established the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, which upo ...

which led to the 1886 Dutch Reformed Church split. Even though Ploos van Amstel was formally dismissed, and a lock was installed on the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

, he continued to preach in the village. In 1840, Reitsum was home to 88 people. Most of the ''terp'' was excavated in the late-19th century. Het Friese dorp Reitsum

References

External links

{{Authority control Noardeast-Fryslân Populated places in Friesland