Vijfhuizen is a village in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

. It is a part of the municipality of

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 ...

, and lies about 4 km southeast of

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 ...

. In January 2011, the town of Vijfhuizen had 4387 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 0.48 km², and contained 728 residences.Statistics Netherlands (CBS), ''Bevolkingskernen in Nederland 2001'

Statistics are for the continuous built-up area. The wider statistical area of Vijfhuizen has a population of around 2800.Statistics Netherlands (CBS), ''Gemeente Op Maat 2004: Haarlemmermeer'' From 2002 a new Vinex location has been built along Vijfhuizen, expanding the size of the village to twice the size, approximately 5,000 inhabitants

Vijfhuizen is located on the northwest side of the Haarlemmermeer on the ring canal opposite Haarlem. To the south of it lies Cruquius,_North_Holland, Cruquius, and to the north, on the ring dike, Nieuwebrug. The characteristic Vijfhuizen bridge connects the village with Haarlem and was completely renewed a few years ago. For a number of years there has been a cycle path along the Geniedijk to

Hoofddorp Hoofddorp (; ) is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2021, the population was 77,885. The town was founded in 1853, immediately after the Haarlemmermeer had been drained. His ...

. The roads east of the village run dead on the Polderbaan of Schiphol.

Monuments and parks

Fort Vijfhuizen Fort Vijfhuizen is one of forty-two forts in the Defense Line of Amsterdam (Dutch: ''stelling van Amsterdam''), a World Heritage Site. It is located in the town of Vijfhuizen on the ''ringvaart'' which surrounds the Haarlemmermeer polder. The mai ...

is part of the

Stelling van Amsterdam The UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Defence Line of Amsterdam (in Dutch named ''Stelling van Amsterdam'', ) is a ring of fortifications around Amsterdam. It has 42 forts that are from the centre and lowlands, which can easily be floode ...

and a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. It is currently home to a charitable foundation run by volunteers with 12 art studios and a restaurant. * Vijfhuizen bridge

The village

Initially, Vijfhuizen was a ribbon-developed dike village, but with time the old village has been enclosed by various districts and neighborhoods: Mient, Nes, Baarsjes and Stellinghof. The latter is one of the Haarlemmermeer Vinex districts and is characterized by special architecture. To the north of Vijfhuizen, on the old land is located the Stokman duck decoy, and to the south are the fort of Vijfhuizen and the Kunstfort center for contemporary art (part of the Defense Line of Amsterdam). The Floriade site is also located on the south side, where the world horticultural exhibition of the same name was held in 2002. This area is also the stage of the annual dance festival

Mysteryland Mysteryland is the leading electronic dance music festival in the Netherlands, organized by the Netherlands-based promoter ID&T. Being the first of its kind in the country when it was established, its organizers have billed the event as the o ...

. The Groene Weelde park is also located south of the village. Vijfhuizen has a business association, an active village association, a neighborhood council in Stellinghof, a party week committee and an orange committee. There are two youth associations for young people: the Spiering and the Jungle. Vijfhuizen has two churches: the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Saint Augustine Church and the Protestant Covenant Church. The village has two schools, a public school "the

Waterwolf Waterwolf, or Water-wolf is a Dutch word that comes from the Netherlands, which refers to the tendency of lakes in low lying peaty land, sometimes previously worn-down by men digging peat for fuel, to enlarge or expand by flooding, thus eroding th ...

" and an interdenominational school "the Tweemaster". The latter arose as a fusion between the Catholic school and the Protestant Christian school. The schools are small in size and are located next to each other in the same building. Most children are on "the Tweemaster". The N205 (Drie Merenweg (Three Lakes Road)) runs past Vijfhuizen and there is an R-net stop in the Stellinghof district on the route between Haarlem and Hoofddorp. Between the Stellinghof district and the N205 is the former Floriade building that will accommodate the Expo Haarlemmermeer as of 1 February 2009. The Expo has its own R-net stop. Between 3 August 1912 and 31 December 1935, Vijfhuizen had a station on the

Aalsmeer Aalsmeer () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its name is derived from the Dutch for eel (''aal'') and lake (''meer''). Aalsmeer is bordered by the Westeinderplassen lake, the largest open water of ...

–

railway of the Haarlemmermeer railways. The old station building is still there.

History

Vijfhuizen already existed before the reclamation of the

lake. In the Middle Ages, the village was situated along the main route from

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 ...

. Vijfhuizen stretched from Haarlem to halfway through

Nieuwerkerk Nieuwerkerk is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 23 km south of Hellevoetsluis. Nieuwerkerk was a separate municipality until 1961, when the new municipality of ...

, where the villagers went to church. To the north of Vijfhuizen was the Spieringmeer lake and to the south - the Haarlemmermeer lake. The land bridge between the lakes was swept away in 1508 by further flooding and bank erosion and what remained was a

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

with a

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

behind it. Until the reclamation of the Haarlemmermeer, Vijfhuizen held out against the "

" (nickname of the Haarlemmermeer). The village was cut in two by the ring canal and Vijfhuizen came to lie as a piece of old land within the new polder. The street Kromme Spieringweg runs over the dike that has protected Vijfhuizen until the reclamation on the south side. After the reclamation, the first church service in the polder was on January 22, 1853 in an emergency church near Vijfhuizen.

Photos

File:Fort-vijfhuizen-geniedijk.jpg, View of the geniedijk dike, southern border of Vijfhuizen File:Vijfhuizen centrum.jpg, Vijfhuizen File:Vijfhuizen fort.jpg,

File:Station Vijfhuizen.JPG, Station Vijfhuizen File:Station_Vijfhuizen_(Haarlemmermeer).JPG, Station Vijfhuizen File:Vijfhuizen, de Vijfhuizerbrug GM0394-7 foto3 2015-08-28 17.11.jpg, Vijfhuizen bridge

References

{{Haarlemmermeer navbox Populated places in North Holland Haarlemmermeer