Terneuzen () is a city and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

in the southwestern

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

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

, in the middle of

Zeelandic Flanders Zeelandic Flanders ( ; zea, Zeêuws-Vlaonderen; vls, Zêeuws-Vloandern)''Vlaanderen'' in isolation: . is the southernmost region of the province of Zeeland in the south-western Netherlands. It lies south of the Western Scheldt that separates ...

. With almost 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland.

History

First mentioned in 1325, Terneuzen was a strategically located port on the waterways to

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest i ...

, in present-day

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. It received city rights in 1584. Tradition has it that Terneuzen was once the home of the legendary

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the Dutch Golden Age, 17th-century Gold ...

, Van der Decken, a captain who cursed God and was condemned to sail the seas forever, as described in the Frederick Marryat novel ''

The Phantom Ship ''The Phantom Ship'' (1839) is a Gothic novel by Frederick Marryat which explores the legend of the '' Flying Dutchman''. Plot introduction The plot concerns the quest of Philip Vanderdecken of Terneuzen in the Netherlands to save his fathe ...

'' and the

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

opera '' The Flying Dutchman''. Before 1877, the city was often called Neuzen.

Geography

The city of Terneuzen is located on the southern shore of the Western Scheldt estuary. The municipality of Terneuzen consists of the following population centres:

Economy

The Ghent–Terneuzen Canal is still an important shipping route connecting the

Port of Ghent The Port of Ghent is the third busiest seaport in Belgium, located in Ghent, East Flanders in the Flemish Region. The first port of Ghent was situated at the river Scheldt and later on at the Leie. Since the Middle Ages Ghent has sought for a co ...

. The port of Terneuzen is the third-largest in the Netherlands, after those of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

and

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 ...

. The largest plant of

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastic ...

outside of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

is located at Terneuzen, on the west side of the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal.

Transport

Terneuzen can be reached from the rest of the Netherlands via the Western Scheldt Tunnel, which opened in March 2003. Terneuzen is not linked to the rest of the Netherlands by rail, although the Dow Chemical plant is served by a freight-only line to Ghent in Belgium (Terneuzen's passenger rail service was withdrawn in 1951).

Notable residents

Lupus Hellinck Lupus Hellinck (also Wulfaert) (1493 or 1494 – ) was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was a prominent composer of masses, as well as German chorales and motets. Although he was a Roman Catholic all of his life, his music shows evid ...

(1493 or 1494 – 1541) a Flemish composer of the Renaissance * Sir Bernard de Gomme (1620–1685) a Dutch military engineer *

Pieter Paulus Pieter Paulus (9 April 1753 – 17 March 1796) was a Dutch jurist, fiscal (prosecutor) of the Admiralty of the Maze and politician. He was one of the ideologues of the Dutch Patriot movement and is considered by many Dutch as the founder of thei ...

(1753–1796) a Dutch jurist, fiscal (prosecutor) of the Admiralty of the Maze and politician * Francien de Zeeuw (1922–2015) a Dutch resistance fighter during WWII and the first female member of the Dutch armed forces *

Lodewijk van den Berg Lodewijk van den Berg (; March 24, 1932 – October 16, 2022) was a Dutch-born American chemical engineer. He studied crystal growth and flew on a 1985 Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' mission as a payload specialist. Van den Berg was born in th ...

(1932–2022) astronaut on a Challenger Space Shuttle mission *

Jacques Hamelink Jacobus Marinus Hamelink (12 January 1939 – 17 November 2021), better known as Jacques Hamelink, was a Dutch poet, novelist, and literary critic, who is best known for his early short story collections such as ''Het plantaardig bewind'' ("''The ...

(born 1939 in Driewegen) a Dutch poet, novelist and literary critic * Klaas de Vries (born 1944) a Dutch composer, co-founded the

Rotterdam School The term Rotterdam School is used to refer to a group of composers related to the city of Rotterdam. What started in the final decade of the twentieth century within a small circle of composition students at the Rotterdam Conservatory with a manife ...

of music * Eric van Damme (born 1956) a Dutch economist *

Jos de Putter Jos de Putter (Terneuzen, 1959) is a Dutch film director, film critic and screenwriter who primarily makes Dutch documentary films. He studied political science and literature at the University of Leiden, and was a member of the editorial staff ...

(born 1959) a Dutch film director, film critic and screenwriter *

Mark Janse Mark Janse (born 31 August 1959 in Sas van Gent, The Netherlands) is BOF-ZAP research professor in Asia Minor and Ancient Greek at Ghent University, where he studied Classics, Hebrew and Linguistics. Before coming to Ghent, Janse has been ...

(born 1959 in Sas van Gent) research professor in Asia Minor and Ancient Greek at

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, whe ...

Erik de Bruyn Erik de Bruyn (born 27 October 1962) is a Dutch film director and actor. His 2000 film ''Wild Mussels'' was entered into the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival. Selected filmography * '' Mates'' (1999) * ''Wild Mussels'' (2000) * ''J. Kes ...

(born 1962) film director and actor IMDb Database
retrieved 3 August 2019 *

Peter van Dommelen Peter Alexander René van Dommelen (born 1966, Terneuzen) is a Dutch archaeologist and academic, who specialises in the archaeology of the Western Mediterranean and Phoenician-Punic archaeology. Since July 2015, he has been Director of the Jouko ...

(born 1966) a Dutch archaeologist and academic *

Sandra Roelofs Sandra Elisabeth Roelofs–Saakashvili (also spelled Saakasjvili, ;, ; uk, Сандра Елісабет Рулофс-Саакашвілі, . born 23 December 1968) is a Dutch–Georgian activist and diplomat who was the First Lady of Georgia f ...

(born 1968) former first lady of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

References

External links

Port of Terneuzen

Official Website (in Dutch)
{{Authority control Municipalities of Zeeland Populated places in Zeeland Cities in the Netherlands Port cities and towns in the Netherlands Port cities and towns of the North Sea Zeelandic Flanders