Stichtse Vecht is a

municipality of the Netherlands As of 24 March 2022, there are 344 municipalities ( nl, gemeenten) and three Caribbean Netherlands, special municipalities () in the Netherlands. The latter is the status of three of the six island territories that make up the Dutch Caribbean. ...

and lies in the northwestern part of the

province of Utrecht Utrecht (), officially the Province of Utrecht ( nl, Provincie Utrecht, link=no), is a province of the Netherlands. It is located in the centre of the country, bordering the Eemmeer in the north-east, the province of Gelderland in the east a ...

. The municipality has about 63,000 inhabitants and covers an area of about 107 km² (41 sq mi). Stichtse Vecht has been newly formed by a merger of the municipalities of

Breukelen Breukelen () is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is situated to the north west of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and close to the lakes of the Loosdrechtse Plassen, an area of natural and tourist ...

(in the west),

Maarssen Maarssen () is a town in the middle of the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal. The west of Maarssen is called Maarssen-BroekStatistics are taken from thSDU Staatscourant whereas the east ...

(in the east) and

Loenen Loenen () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It was in the ''Vechtstreek'' area. On January 1, 2011, Loenen merged with Breukelen and Maarssen to form Stichtse Vecht. Population centres The former municipa ...

(in the north) on 1 January 2011.

Geography

Stichtse Vecht is situated north of the

city of Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Neth ...

, in an area called the ''

Vechtstreek The Vechtstreek () (Dutch for "Vecht area") is a region in the Dutch provinces of Utrecht and North Holland along the Vecht River between the towns of Utrecht and Amsterdam. Located in the economic heartland of the Netherlands, it is known for it ...

''. It is near

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

and is mostly rural with many

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

s. Within its boundaries lay the Maarsseveense Plassen, which are recreational lakes. Northeast it borders the Loosdrechtse Plassen, also recreational lakes, which lay in neighbouring municipality of

Wijdemeren Wijdemeren () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, on the western border of the Gooi region. Wijdemeren contains many lakes. In the north(east) ''Spiegelplas'' and ''Ankeveense Plassen'', in the (south)west ''Lo ...

. The

Amsterdam–Rhine Canal The Amsterdam–Rhine Canal ( Dutch: ''Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal'') is a canal in the Netherlands that was built to connect the port and capital city of Amsterdam to the main shipping artery of the Rhine. Its course follows a generally southeasterly di ...

and the river Vecht crosses the municipality from south to north.

Topography

''Dutch Topographic map of Stichtse Vecht, June 2015''

History

The municipality contains many

stately home An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

s (''

buitenplaats A buitenplaats (literally "outside place") was a summer residence for rich townspeople in the Netherlands. During the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, many traders and city administrators in Dutch towns became very wealthy. Many of them bough ...

en'') and several castles, like

Nijenrode Castle Breukelen-Nijenrode is a former municipality in the Dutch province of Utrecht. The municipality was formed in 1815, when the municipality of Breukelen was split into two parts. Breukelen-Nijenrode covered the western part of the former municipality, ...

, Slot Zuylen and Huis te Mijnden.

Transportation

The A2 motorway crosses the municipality from south to north. There are two railway stations: *

Breukelen railway station Breukelen is a railway station located in Breukelen, Netherlands. The station was opened on 18 December 1843 and is on the Amsterdam–Arnhem railway The Amsterdam–Arnhem railway, also referred to as the Amsterdam–Elten railway or ''Rhijnspo ...

Maarssen railway station Maarssen is a railway station in Maarssenbroek and on the opposite side of the Amsterdam Rijnkanaal to Maarssen, Netherlands. The station opened on 18 December 1843 and is located on the Amsterdam–Arnhem railway. The services are operated by Ned ...

Population centers

Former municipality of Breukelen: *

* Gieltjesdorp *

Kockengen Kockengen is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Stichtse Vecht, and lies about 11 km northeast of Woerden. The name of the village is a reference to Cockaigne, a medieval fictional land of plenty ...

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

* Laagnieuwkoop *

Nieuwer-Ter-Aa Nieuwer-Ter-Aa is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht (province). It is a part of the municipality of Stichtse Vecht, and lies about 13 km northwest of Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the ...

* Noordeinde *

Oud-Aa Oud-Aa is a hamlet in the Dutch province of Utrecht (province). It is a part of the municipality of Stichtse Vecht, and lies about 13 km northeast of Woerden. The hamlet was first mentioned in 1138 as "juxta lacum qui vocatur A", and refers ...

* Oukoop * Portengen * Portengense Brug * Scheendijk *

Spengen Spengen is a hamlet in the Dutch province of Utrecht (province). It is a part of the municipality of Stichtse Vecht, and lies about 10 km northeast of Woerden. The hamlet was first mentioned in 1217 as Spanien, and is a reference to Spain. I ...

* Zuideinde Former municipality of

: * Loenen (aan de Vecht) *

Loenersloot Loenersloot is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was a part of the former municipality of Loenen. Since 2011 it has made part of the new formed municipality of Stichtse Vecht. It lies about 12 km west of Hilversum. It is located ...

Mijnden Mijnden is a hamlet in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was a part of the former municipality of Loenen Loenen () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It was in the ''Vechtstreek'' area. On January 1, 2011, L ...

* Nieuwerhoek * Nieuwersluis *

Nigtevecht Nigtevecht () is a village in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands with a population of 1,395. Formerly part of the municipality of Loenen; it has been part of the newly-formed municipality of Stichtse Vecht since 2011. It is situated about west ...

Vreeland Vreeland () is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was a part of the former municipality of Loenen. Since 2011 it has been part of the new formed municipality of Stichtse Vecht. It is located on the river Vecht, about 2 km north o ...

Former municipality of Maarssen: *

Maarssenbroek Maarssenbroek is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is nowadays part of the municipality of Stichtse Vecht. It lies on the west side of the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal. Between 1815 and 1857, Maarssenbroek was a separate municipality. Maars ...

Maarsseveen Maarsseveen is a former hamlet in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was located on the east bank of the Vecht River, opposite the village of Maarssen, and has now been completely absorbed by that town. It makes part of the municipality of Sticht ...

* Molenpolder *

Oud-Maarsseveen Oud-Maarsseveen is a hamlet in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Stichtse Vecht, and lies about 7 km north of Utrecht. The hamlet was first mentioned around 1200 as Marsenrevene, and means "moorland belonging ...

Oud-Zuilen Oud-Zuilen is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Stichtse Vecht, and lies about 4 km northwest of Utrecht. It is in an area called the "Vechtstreek". Zuylen Castle is located in the village. Histo ...

* Tienhoven

Politics

Municipal council

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 ...

consists of the following parties:

Executive board

VVD, CDA, D66, ChristenUnie-SGP, Streekbelangen and Het Vechtse Verbond have formed a

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

. Together they have 22 seats. Members of the

executive board A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

are:

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

: * Marc Witteman (CDA)

Aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

: * Pieter de Groene (D66) * Gera Helling-Zeisseink (CDA) * Vital van der Horst (Streekbelangen) * Piet Ploeg (VVD) * Jaap Verkroost (CDA) * Klaas Wiersema (VVD)

Notable people

Isabelle de Charrière - Quentin de La Tour

The Arts

Willem Vrelant Willem Vrelant (died c. 1481/1482) was a Dutch book illuminator. Life He is first registered in 1449, when an illuminator from Vreeland named ''Willem Backer'' obtained citizenship of Utrecht.Thomas Kren, Scot McKendrick, Illuminating the Renai ...

(?? in Vreeland - ca.1481) a Dutch book illuminator * Constantijn à Renesse (1626 in Maarssen – 1680) a

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...

painter *

Gerrit Zegelaar Gerrit Zegelaar (born Loenen aan de Vecht 16 July 1719 – Wageningen 24 July 1794) was a Dutch painter. Zegelaar was born as son of the carpenter and alderman Hendrik Zegelaar and Johanna ter Bruggen. Gerrit was a deaf mute. He settled in Amste ...

(1719 in Loenen aan de Vecht – 1794) a Dutch painter *

Isabelle de Charrière Isabelle de Charrière (20 October 174027 December 1805), known as Belle van Zuylen in the Netherlands, née Isabella Agneta Elisabeth van Tuyll van Serooskerken, and adameIsabelle de Charrière (married name) elsewhere, was a Dutch and ...

(1740 in Castle Zuylen – 1805) a Dutch writer of letters, novels, pamphlets, music and plays *

Nicolaas Bastert Syvert Nicolaas Bastert (7 January 1854 – 18 April 1939), was a 19th-century Dutch landscape painter, best known for his scenes along the river Vecht. He is counted among the "second generation" of the Hague School. Biography Bastert was b ...

(1854 in Maarssen – 1939) a Dutch landscape painter *

Marjolein Bastin Marjolein Bastin (née uit den Bogaard) (born 1943) is a Dutch nature artist, writer, children's author and illustrator. She is the creator of the character "Vera the Mouse". Biography Bastin was born in Loenen (aan de Vecht) and studied at the ...

(born 1943 in Loenen aan de Vecht) a Dutch nature artist, writer, children's author and illustrator *

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

(1944 in Breukelen – 2019) a Dutch actor, writer and environmentalist *

Penney de Jager Wilhelmina Maria (Penney) de Jager (born Utrecht, 2 January 1948) is a Dutch dancer and choreographer. De Jager received her training with Rotterdam's Scapino Ballet, and was then hired by the Dutch National Ballet. She achieved national fame ...

(born 1948) dancer and choreographer, lives in Stichtse Vecht *

Leoni Jansen Leoni Jansen (born 18 September 1955) is a Dutch singer who performs American folk music and Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern E ...

(1955 in Leiden) a Dutch singer, stage-director and TV anchor-woman IMDb Database
retrieved 24 September 2019

Public thinking & Public Service

Gerrit van Arkel Gerrit A. van Arkel (April 3, 1858 in Loenen aan de Vecht – July 11, 1918 in Abcoude) was a Dutch architect who designed many of Amsterdam's most prominent Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) buildings. He moved to Amsterdam in 1883 to become an architec ...

(1858 in Loenen aan de Vecht – 1918) a Dutch

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

(Art Nouveau) architect *

Aarnoud van Heemstra Aarnoud Jan Anne Aleid, Baron van Heemstra (22 July 1871 – 30 December 1957) was a Dutch nobleman, jurist and politician. He served as mayor of Arnhem between 1910 and 1920, and Governor-General of Suriname from 1921 until 1928. Van Heems ...

(1871 in Vreeland – 1957) a Dutch nobleman, jurist and politician. *

Pieter Nicolaas van Eyck Pieter Nicolaas/Nicolaus van Eyck (Breukelen, 1 October 1887 – Wassenaar, 28 April 1954) He was born Pieter Nicolaas van Eijk and changed his name to van Eyck around 1907. He worked as a foreign correspondent for the Dutch newspaper NRC in Rome ...

(1887 in Breukelen - 1954) a foreign correspondent, poet, critic, essayist and philosopher *

Pierre Joseph Eyma Pierre Joseph Eyma (25 July 1903 – 1945) was a Dutch botanist.van Steenis-Kruseman, M.J., ''et al.'' 2006Cyclopaedia of Malesian Collectors: Pierre Joseph Eyma Nationaal Herbarium Nederland. Eyma was born in Maarssen, Netherlands, in 1903. He s ...

(1903 in Maarssen – 1945) a Dutch botanist *

Annelien Kappeyne van de Coppello Annelien Kappeyne van de Coppello (24 October 1936 – 23 February 1990) was a politics of the Netherlands, Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). She was actively involved in politics from 1966 to 1990, first o ...

(1936 in Loenen aan de Vecht – 1990) a Dutch politician *

Sander Griffioen Sander Griffioen (born 31 May 1941) is a Dutch philosopher, and Emeritus Professor for intercultural philosophy at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Biography Born in Loenen aan de Vecht, Griffioen studied at the Vrije Universiteit The V ...

(born 1941 in Loenen aan de Vecht) a Dutch philosopher and academic *

Bernt Schneiders Bernard Bram "Bernt" Schneiders (born 2 April 1959 in Breukelen) is a Dutch politician who is a member of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) and. From July 2006 until September 2016 he was mayor of Haarlem. Career Schneiders studied law and worked ...

(born 1959 in Breukelen) a Dutch politician, Mayor of Landsmeer, Heemskerk & Haarlem *

Liesbeth Spies Jantje Wilhelmina Elisabeth "Liesbeth" Spies (born 6 April 1966) is a Dutch politician. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), she has served as Mayor of Alphen aan den Rijn since 2014. She served as Minister of the Interior and Kin ...

(born 1966 in Alphen aan den Rijn) a Dutch politician, Mayor of Alphen aan den Rijn *

Marianne Thieme Marianne Louise Thieme (, born 6 March 1972) is a Dutch politician, author and animal rights activist. A jurist by education, she served as the Party for the Animals' political leader from 2002 to 2019 and a member of the House of Representatives ...

(born 1972 in Ede) a Dutch politician, author, animal rights activist and jurist

Sport

Cor Aalten Cornelia "Cor" Aalten (later Strannood, 14 September 1913 – 21 January 1991) was a Dutch athlete. She competed at the 1932 Olympics in the 100 m and 4 × 100 m sprint events and finished fourth in the relay. In 1934 she won a national title i ...

(1913 in Breukelen-Nijenrode – 1991) a Dutch athlete, competed at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

Henk van der Grift Hendrik ("Henk") van der Grift (born 25 December 1935) is a retired Dutch speed skater. At the 1960 Winter Olympics van der Grift finished 10th on the 500 m and fell on the 1500 m. Not satisfied with training facilities in the Nether ...

(born 1935 in Breukelen) a retired Dutch speed skater, competed at the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...

* Bart Verschoor (born 1965 in Loenersloot) a sailor, competed at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Annemieke Kiesel Annemieke Kiesel (née Griffioen; born 30 November 1979) is a former Dutch footballer and coach. She played for clubs in the Netherlands, United States, England and Germany, winning titles with Dutch and German clubs. She also played for the Dutc ...

(born 1979 in Kockengen) a former Dutch footballer and coach, also played for the Dutch national team, retiring with 156 caps

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of Utrecht (province) Municipalities of the Netherlands established in 2011