Zwanenburg () is a town 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. 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 wate ...

, and lies about 11 km west of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. Zwanenburg has a population of around 7,670.Statistics Netherlands (CBS), ''Gemeente Op Maat 2004: Haarlemmermeer'

History

Zwanenburg takes its name from Gemeenlandshuis Zwanenburg, the former headquarters of the Hoogheemraadschap Rijnland, a water board that used to have its headquarters in

Halfweg Halfweg () is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. Previously a part of the municipality of Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude, it is currently a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer and lies about east of Haarlem. Its name, whic ...

, on the other side of the canal known today as the

Ringvaart The Ringvaart (known in full as Ringvaart of the Haarlemmermeer Polder) is a canal in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The Ringvaart (Dutch meaning "ring canal") is a true circular canal surrounding the Haarlemmermeer polder an ...

. Up until the 19th century, Zwanenburg was under water. When the pumping station at Halfweg had succeeded in making the land ripe for building, the workers who had settled at Halfweg purchased this cheap land below the dike for their homes. The infrastructure linking Halfweg to Haarlem and

was already quite good, so Zwanenburg became a true commuter town. Halfweg was also the site of a large sugar factory, first opened in 1863, that served as an employer for Zwanenburg residents for more than a century. For this reason, the history of Zwanenburg cannot be seen separately from the history of Halfweg.

Halfweg buildings important to Zwanenburg history

File:Gemaal Halfweg.jpeg, Steam pumping mill at the location of the old sluice; now a museum File:Huis Zwanenburg te Halfweg 20090927.jpg, Former headquarters of

Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland The Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland is the oldest water authority in the Netherlands, having received commission to coordinate protection of the land from flooding in 1248 from Count William II of Holland and Zeeland. The council conducts surface ...

File:Halfweg suikerfabriek.jpg, Old sugar factory (silos, not visible, have been transformed into office space) File:Zwanenburg01.JPG, Aerial view of Zwanenburg from the Northwest

References

Populated places in North Holland Haarlemmermeer {{NorthHolland-geo-stub