Wieringermeer () is a former

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 ...

and 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 ...

in 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 ...

, in the 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 ...

. Since 2012 Wieringermeer has been a part of the new municipality of

Hollands Kroon Hollands Kroon is a municipality located in the Northwest Netherlands. It was created on 1 January 2012, as a merger of four municipalities: Anna Paulowna, Niedorp, Wieringen, and Wieringermeer.Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations''Samen ...

Population centres

The former municipality of Wieringermeer consisted of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts:

Kreileroord Kreileroord is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, and lies about 21 km north of Hoorn. The settlement started around 1930 as Dorp IV (village IV). In the 1950s, the current ...

Middenmeer Middenmeer is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, and lies about 23 km north of Hoorn. Middenmeer was established in 1932 under the name of Sluis III. Nearby the village was ...

Slootdorp Slootdorp is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon Hollands Kroon is a municipality located in the Northwest Netherlands. It was created on 1 January 2012, as a merger of four munici ...

Wieringerwerf Wieringerwerf is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, and lies about southeast of Den Helder. It is situated in a polder. The elevation of the village is below sea level. Dikes and p ...

History

Around the year 1000 AD, this area was land. However, several storms after 1100 flooded the land, turning it into a

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

. Wieringmeer means "

Wieringen Wieringen () is part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, established in 2012 in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It is a former municipality in this province, with its name appearing in records of the late 9th and early 10th ...

Lake", the name of an inland lake that filled the area in the early

medieval 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, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

period. The Wieringmeerpolder is a

, newly created land, and part of the Zuiderzee Works developed in the 20th century. The creation of this polder started in 1927. Originally the polder was planned to have been created after the completion of the Afsluitdijk. As there was a severe lack of agricultural ground, the dikes for the polder had to be built in the

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an o ...

, a sea. The dikes had to be tougher and ready to withstand the force of the sea. Draining of the polder was finished on 21 August 1930. After the completion of the Afsluitdijk in 1932, the lake

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an a ...

was formed from the waters. Exterieur OVERZICHT - Medemblik - 20284820 - RCE

After desalinization, the new land became usable in 1934. Four villages (Slootdorp (1931), Middenmeer (1933), Wieringerwerf (1936) and Kreileroord (1957)) eventually were developed in the polder. Since 1 July 1941, the Wieringermeer had been an independent municipality. During 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 ...

, the

was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. On 17 April 1945, a vengeful German command ordered the dike of the Wieringermeer to be blown up: the area was inundated. No one was killed as the polder slowly submerged again (the inhabitants had been warned), but the high water and a subsequent storm destroyed most of the infrastructure built in the previous decade. The floodwater was

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

, so the land did not have to be

desalinate Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture. Saltwa ...

d again. Reconstruction followed quickly; by the end of 1945, the polder was declared drained again. Rebuilding of roads and bridges, houses and farms, was greatly facilitated by the experience of building them the first time.

Local government

The former municipal council of Wieringermeer consisted of 15 seats, which were divided as follows: * CDA – 4 seats *

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

– 4 seats * Gemeente Belangen Wieringermeer – 2 seats * PvdA – 2 seats * ChristianUnion – 1 seat * Independent – 1 seat * Progressief Wieringermeer – 1 seat

References

{{Reflist * Statistics are taken from th
SDU Staatscourant
Zuiderzee Works Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2012 Former municipalities of North Holland Polders of North Holland Hollands Kroon