Doetinchem (;

Low Saxon Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of ...

: ) is a city and

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 ...

in the east of 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 ...

. It is situated along the

Oude IJssel The Oude IJssel ( Dutch, , literally ''old IJssel'') or Issel (German, ) is a river in Germany and the Netherlands approximately long. It is a right tributary of the river IJssel. ''Oude IJssel'' is Dutch for "Old IJssel"; the Oude IJssel wa ...

(Old IJssel) river in a part of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

called the

Achterhoek The Achterhoek (; Dutch Low Saxon: ''Achterhook'') is a cultural region in the Eastern Netherlands. Its name (meaning "rear-corner") is geographically appropriate because the area lies in the easternmost part of the province of Gelderland and th ...

. The municipality had a population of in and consists of an area of of which is water. This makes Doetinchem the largest town (by population) in the Achterhoek. On 1 January 2005, a municipal restructuring merged the neighbouring municipality of Wehl as well as the Zelhelmse Broek area with Doetinchem.

Population centres

The local government organization in the Netherlands is complex and fine-grained (see

and Govt Stats, with municipalities being divided into various entities. The municipality of Doetinchem consists of: The city ('stad'): * Doetinchem The neighborhoods ('wijken'): * Centrum * Bezelhorst * Dichteren *

Overstegen Overstegen is a district in the north-east of Doetinchem, the biggest city within the Gelderse Achterhoek. Typical for this district is the many apartment buildings found by the Caenstraat and around the mall. Apart from a mall, a care facility, H ...

De Huet De Huet is a suburban district near the city of Doetinchem, mostly built in the 1980s and 1990s. The district is located south-west of the city centre, and south of the Oude IJssel river. The residential district has a lot of greenery. Apart from ...

* De Hoop *

Oosseld Oosseld or Oosselt, also known as De Bloemenbuurt is a district within, and former hamlet (buurtschap) of the municipality of Doetinchem, located in the Dutch province of Gelderland. Until 1919 Oosseld belonged to the municipality Ambt Doetinche ...

* Schöneveld & Muziekbuurt The townships ('buurtschappen'): *

Gaanderen Gaanderen is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Doetinchem Doetinchem (; Low Saxon: ) is a city and municipality in the east of the Netherlands. It is situated along the Oude IJssel (Old IJssel) ...

* Wehl *

IJzevoorde IJzevoorde is a hamlet in the municipalities of Doetinchem and Bronckhorst in the province of Gelderland in the east part of the Netherlands. Overview It was first mentioned in 1235 as Ysenuort and means fordable place through the IJze. The p ...

* Langerak * * Nieuw-Wehl Wehl was a separate municipality (with about 6,750 inhabitants, including Nieuw-Wehl) until 31 December 2004, when it merged with the municipality of Doetinchem.

History

It is known from archaeological finds of skulls, pottery shards, and flint arrowheads that the area was inhabited more than 11,000 years ago. These prehistoric hunters were followed by

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

ic and

Germanic tribes The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and e ...

like the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

and

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

Roman 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 lett ...

coins have been found and there is also archaeological evidence of the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

having plundered the area. The first reference to the name of Doetinchem comes in a document from the year 838 which mentions a 'villa Duetinghem', a settlement with a small church. In 887, there is another mention of 'Deutinkem', a fortress with a church which had been given to the then

Bishop of Utrecht List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht. Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580 Founders of the Utrecht diocese * * * * * Bishops * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

. The spelling has varied over the centuries, with 'Duttichem', 'Duichingen' and 'Deutekom' being just some examples. For a long time, Doetinchem remained a small place but around 1100 it started to grow and, after suffering several attempts by plunderers, a town wall was built. In 1236, Doetinchem was granted city rights ('stadsrechten') by Count Otto II of Gelre and Zutphen, and in return, the town provided taxes and soldiers for the Count's army. Also, the new city council published rules for the city, codified in the 'Keurboek van Doetinchem' (Rulebook of Doetinchem), which laid down severe punishments for infringements. In 1226, Doetinchem faced increasing danger from plunderers, and so the city wall was raised by a metre. There were four barriers in the wall which, being weak points, were replaced over time by four large city-gates known as the Hamburgerpoort (built 1302), the Waterpoort, the Gruitpoort, and the Hezenpoort. Later a moat was dug around the wall and a rampart was built in front; the city's central windmill, the 'walmolen' (Dutch 'wal'=rampart, 'molen'=mill), stands on the remains of this rampart. Despite these defences, Doetinchem was besieged many times and during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Ref ...

(1568–1648). It was besieged and conquered twice. However, eventually the walls became seen as redundant (or perhaps ineffective) and in 1672, they were torn down. However, it was not until the second half of the 19th century that the city gates and most of the rampart were removed. From its early years, Doetinchem had been an important marketplace for farmers to sell their wares; the market was held in the central square called the Simonsplein right up until the Second World War. Doetinchem has had its fair share of disasters. Apart from the sieges mentioned above, in 1527 a large fire destroyed most of the city including the city archives (which means that many earlier dates in the history of Doetinchem are somewhat unreliable), and in 1580 most of the city was killed by a plague. There was also occasional flooding. However, despite the fact that Doetinchem is only from the German border, because the Netherlands was not involved in the First World War, Doetinchem saw nothing more than the posting of a few border guards during that time. Even during the Second World War, Doetinchem came off fairly lightly at first; there was only a small German occupying force and the city even escaped the worst effects of the

Hunger Winter In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In the ...

. However, some prisoners were executed after being implicated in the shooting death in

Putten Putten () is a municipality and town in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It had a population of in . It is located in the coastal area of the old Zuiderzee (Southern Sea). To the east of Putten lies the Veluwe, the biggest national par ...

of an important German officer by the Dutch Resistance and disastrously, in March and April 1945, the centre of Doetinchem was largely destroyed by Allied bombing which was either intended for nearby German towns or, as some say, was to destroy the German defences in Doetinchem. Which of the two is true has never really been clarified and there is still some discussion about the true intentions of the bombardment. The city itself was liberated by

The Calgary Highlanders The Calgary Highlanders is a Canadian Army Primary Reserve infantry regiment, headquartered at Mewata Armouries in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The regiment is a part-time reserve unit, under the command of 41 Canadian Brigade Group, itself part o ...

in 1945 after a brief battle there. In 2018 a writer called Karel Berkhuysen researched the Allied bombing. He found that the Germans were researching nuclear fission in a converted school. This information was then passed to the Allies. In the decades after the war, Doetinchem grew and in a few years had outgrown its "competitors" in the Achterhoek, namely

Doesburg Doesburg () is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Gelderland. Doesburg received city rights in 1237 and had a population of in . The city is situated on the right bank of river IJssel, at the confluence of ...

Winterswijk Winterswijk (; also known as ''Winterswiek'' or ''Wenters'') is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. It has a population of and is situated in the Achterhoek, which lies in the easternmost part of the province of Gelderland in th ...

and

Zutphen Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in th ...

. The Dutch company,

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...

, had a factory for some years in the city. From 2003 till 2005, the city grew enormously as new districts such as Dichteren were built, and as Doetinchem incorporates outlying villages such as Wehl into its municipality. In 2011, the city is still growing. By building a new district as ''het Loo'' and ''Isseldoks'', and the opening of a brand new theatre and cinema, Doetinchem is the biggest growing city in Gelderland.

Significant structures in Doetinchem

The main church in the central square, St Catherine's Church ('Catharinakerk') was virtually destroyed in the World War II bombing and restoration took from 1948 to 1963. Although originally a Roman Catholic church, it became

Dutch Reformed The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

in 1591. There are two castles, 'De Kelder' ('The Cellar') and Slangenburg. The city has three windmills. In the city centre, there is the already mentioned '' De Walmolen'', the bottom of which now houses the city's tourist office. In Dichteren, there is a mill called ''

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

'' (Latin for 'dawn') and to the east of the city a mill called '' Benninkmolen''. All these mills are open to visitors, usually open to all one weekday morning and at other times by appointment. A few other important buildings in the city are the ''Amphion-Theater'', the ''Gruitpoort'', a big cultural centre, the ''Rietveld Lyceum'', the biggest high school in Doetinchem and the Tax administration office.

Sport

Doetinchem has a professional football team,

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium ...

('The County'). The home of De Graafschap was completely revamped to transform it into an all-seater arena. The stands are fully covered, with the roof painted in the blue and white of the club. The city has an indoor swimming pool, Rozengaarde. In April or May, a local evening four-day marathon is organized. Since 2005 a four-day marathon is organised which starts and ends in Doetinchem and runs through the

. The marathon was held from 23 August to the 26th. Almost 15.000 people took part. In 2009 the city's volleyball team took part in the CEV cup playing against Haltbank Ankara from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

Festivals

Doetinchem has an annual street-theatre festival ''Buitengewoon'' (Extraordinary), and the City Festival, a big festival with music acts, theatre, a carnival and fireworks.

Notable residents

* Frederik Johan van Baer, Lord of Slangenburg (1645–1713) a Dutch military officer *

Carel Hendrik Ver Huell Carel Hendrik Ver Huell (4 February 1764 – 25 October 1845) was a Dutch naval officer and statesman. He married Maria Johanna de Bruyn on 22 February 1789 at Hummelo, and had three sons with her. Career Ver Huell had a checkered career in ...

(born 1764) a Dutch and later French admiral and statesman * Geert Dales, Dutch Wiki (born 1952) a Dutch politician with

50PLUS 50PLUS (; abbreviated 50+) is a political party in the Netherlands that advocates pensioners' interests. The party was founded in 2009 by Maurice Koopman, Alexander Münninghoff, and Jan Nagel. Henk Krol served as the party's leader from 2016 to ...

* Jan Rietman, Dutch Wiki (born 1952), a pianist and presenter on radio & TV IMDb Database
retrieved 6 March 2020 *

Maria Martens Maria Johanna Theodora Martens (born 8 January 1955 in Doetinchem, Gelderland) is a Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch politician. She is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal. From 2011 until 2019 she was a member of the Senate (Netherland ...

(born 1955), politician,

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) 1999 to 2009 *

Thomas Rosenboom Thomas Rosenboom (born 8 January 1956, in Doetinchem), is a Dutch author of novels and short stories. His novels ''Gewassen vlees'' and ''Publieke werken'' won him the Libris Prize in 1995 and 2000; he is the only author to have won it twice. Ca ...

(born 1956) a Dutch author of novels and short stories * Henriette de Swart (born 1961) a Dutch linguist and academic * John Hondorp (born 1964) jazz organist and teaches the Hammond organ as an academic * Wilke te Brummelstroete (born ca.1975) a Dutch mezzo-soprano * Rianne Letschert (born 1976) a Dutch law scholar, Rector of

Maastricht University Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; nl, Universiteit Maastricht) is a public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities. In 2021, 22,383 students studied at ...

* Jesse Mateman (born 1996) a Dutch man that attended

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

and notably survived terror attacks in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 2017 * Janouk Kelderman (born 1991) a Dutch actor, singer and television presenter

Sport

* Desi Reijers (born 1964), freestyle swimmer, competed at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

Paul Bosvelt Paul Bosvelt (, born 26 March 1970) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who is technical director of Go Ahead Eagles. As a player he midfielder he notably played in the Eredivisie for FC Twente and Feyenoord and in the P ...

(born 1970), a Dutch former professional footballer with 523 club caps * Chris Bruil (born 1970), badminton player, competed at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

* Rogier Meijer (born 1981) a Dutch former footballer, 253 club caps with

Glenn Loovens Glenn Loovens (born 22 September 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Club career Early career Loovens is the son of Hans Loovens, who played for FC Twente. He also has a brother called Ivo. He signed for ...

(born 1983), a Dutch professional footballer with nearly 400 club caps * Sanne Keizer (born 1985), a Dutch beach volleyball player * Marloes Wesselink (born 1987), a Dutch professional beach volleyball player *

Siem de Jong Siem Stefan de Jong (; born 28 January 1989) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays for Eerste Divisie club De Graafschap as an attacking midfielder or striker. Playing in the youth academies of De Graafschap and Ajax, he made his profe ...

(born 1989), a Dutch professional footballer with 250 club caps *

Luuk de Jong Luuk de Jong (; born 27 August 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands national team. De Jong previously played for DZC '68, De Graafschap, Twente, Borussia Mönc ...

(born 1990), a Dutch professional footballer with over 300 club caps *

Jelle van Gorkom Jelle van Gorkom (born 5 January 1991 in Doetinchem) is a Dutch racing cyclist and Olympic silver medalist who represents the Netherlands in BMX. He was selected to represent the Netherlands at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the men's B ...

(born 1991) a Dutch BMX racing cyclist, silver medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics *

Richèl Hogenkamp Richèl Hogenkamp (born 16 April 1992) is a Dutch professional tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 94, which she reached on 24 July 2017. On the ITF Circuit, she has won 16 singles and 14 doubles titles. Personal background Hog ...

(born 1992), a Dutch professional tennis player * Siri Worm (born 1992), a Dutch women's football defender

Local media

Newspapers available in Doetinchem include subscription paper "De Gelderlander" and free papers "Doetinchems Vizier" and "Zondag", all published by Koninklijke Wegener NV. Doetinchem has its own television station called 'Stadstv' which is received by cable in the municipalities of Doetinchem itself and the neighbouring

Hummelo en Keppel Hummelo en Keppel is a former municipality in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It was created in 1818, when the municipalities of Hummelo and Keppel merged, and existed until 2005, when the area became a part of the new municipality of Bronckhor ...

, and a television station called 'GraafschapTV' which is received in the entire

region.

Transport

Doetinchem has been connected to the Dutch national highway system since November 1974, when the Zevenaar-Doetinchem section of Highway 15 (

A15 A15 or A-15 may refer to: * A15 phases, a crystallographic structure type of certain intermetallic compounds * A15 road, in several countries * Antonov A-15, a Soviet glider * British NVC community A15 (Elodea canadensis community), a British Isles ...

) was opened. This section was extended to Varsseveld in 1984. Today the A15 is called the A18. Doetinchem is served by rail services from

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

by the regional train to

with two stations, one in the city centre – Doetinchem and Doetinchem De Huet lying to the west between the suburbs of De Huet and Dichteren. Doetinchem receives four trains per hour to Arnhem (Monday to Friday) and there are always 2 trains per hour between Arnhem and Winterswijk. In 2012,

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.NS and

Syntus Keolis Nederland is a public transport company operating bus and passenger train services in the Netherlands. Originally created as Syntus and owned by Connexxion, Keolis and Nederlandse Spoorwegen, since 2012 Keolis Nederland has been a 100% subs ...

Bus services are also operated by

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. Image:Havezathe Hagen.jpg, Doetinchem, castle Image:Doetinchem, Benninkmolen foto19 2011-03-02 14.15.jpg, Doetinchem, windmill: Benninkmolen File:Doetinchem, de Walmolen RM10388 IMG 4838 2020-04-19 15.27.jpg, Doetinchem, windmill: Image:Doetinchem, de D-toren foto4 2012-07-22 15.09.jpg, Doetinchem,

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graf ...

: de D-toren File:Doetinchem Joodse begraafplaats.jpg,

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot' ...

of Doetichem

References

External links

* * {{authority control Municipalities of Gelderland Populated places in Gelderland Cities in the Netherlands Achterhoek