Hardinxveld-Giessendam () is a municipality in the western

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 South Holland. It is located about 10 km east of

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

, on the river Beneden-Merwede. The municipality had a population of in and covers an area of of which is water. The municipality of Hardinxveld-Giessendam consists of the two population centres Giessendam/Neder-Hardinxveld and Boven-Hardinxveld. Until they were merged in 1957, Giessendam and Hardinxveld were two municipalities, consisting of only a few streets and dykes and only a few thousand inhabitants. The town's economy is for a large part dependent on ship building (e.g. Damen Shipyards Group) and general contracting. Several industry parks are present.

History

The village Hardinxveld is one of the oldest settlements of the

Alblasserwaard The Alblasserwaard () is a polder in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is mainly known for the windmills of Kinderdijk, located near the village of Kinderdijk in the polder's northwestern part. History The first human inhabita ...

. It is known that in 1105 a priest was present here, and therefore a church as well. Since 1282, Hardinxveld became a grand

fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...

. Through the centuries it suffered from warfare such as the Gelder Wars and the Eighty Years' War The name Giessendam first appeared in 1231 and is most likely derived from the dam on the little peat river Giessen. This dam was the boundary between Hardinxveld and Giessendam for a long time. The municipality was formed in 1957 by the merger of the former municipalities Hardinxveld and half of Giessendam. The rest of Giessendam's territory went to the new municipality of Giessenburg which in turn was merged with

Giessenlanden Giessenlanden () is a former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covered an area of of which is water, and had a population of as of . The municipality included communities of Arkel, Giess ...

in 1986. Since the 1960s, the municipality has grown significantly through the development of new neighbourhoods such as De Peulen, de Wielwijk, de Westwijk, and Tienmorgen. In recent years, the municipality had serious fiscal problems, resulting in direct oversight by the Province for a period of time. Considerable savings had to be made, necessitating significant increases to the relative low taxation in the town.

Archeology

Before the construction of the

Betuweroute The Betuweroute is a double track freight railway between Rotterdam and Germany. is the official name, after the Betuwe area through which the route passes. The line is popularly called Betuwelijn, after an older track in the same region. Th ...

Highspeed Railway, thorough soil research was performed in 1997. During that research in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, some archeological items were found, including a 7500-year-old skeleton of a woman, now named "Trijntje". It is the oldest skeleton found in the Netherlands up to this time. Since December 2003, the reconstructed corpse has been added to the collection of the

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden The (English: National Museum of Antiquities) is the national archaeological museum of the Netherlands, located in Leiden. It grew out of the collection of Leiden University and still closely co-operates with its Faculty of Archaeology. The ...

(National Museum of Antiquities) in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

. In April 1998, a

dugout canoe A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek – ''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' ( ...

was found.

Transportation

The Hardinxveld-Giessendam railway station, on the Elst–Dordrecht railway, is situated in the municipality.

Notable people

* Job de Ruiter (1930 in Giessendam – 2015) a Dutch politician, diplomat and jurist * Kommer Damen (born 1944) a Dutch billionaire, and the chairman of

Damen Shipyards The Damen Group is a Dutch defence, shipbuilding, and engineering conglomerate company based in Gorinchem, Netherlands. Though it is a major international group doing business in 120 countries, it remains a private family-owned company. Dame ...

* Bert de Ruijter (born 1952 in Hardinxveld) known as Leigh Blond, is a Dutch composer, singer and songwriter. * Erik de Bruin (born 1963 in Hardinxveld-Giessendam) a record-holding retired Dutch discus thrower and shot putter * Jai Wowor (born 1997 in Hardinxveld-Giessendam) a member of boy band B-Brave founded in 2013

Gallery

Image:Boven-Hardinxveld, kerk foto4 2010-06-27 14.14.JPG, Boven-Hardinxveld, church Image:Hardinxveld-Giesendam, kerk2 foto7 2010-06-27 14.38.JPG, Hardinxveld-Giesendam, church Image:Hardinxveld-Giesendam, kerk1 foto1 2010-06-27 14.48.JPG, Hardinxveld-Giesendam, church Image:Boven-Hardinxveld, sluis of gemaal foto2 2010-06-27 14.29.JPG, Boven-Hardinxveld, pumping-engine

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of South Holland Alblasserwaard