Schagen () is a city and municipality in the northwestern

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 located between

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

and

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO ...

, in the region of West Friesland and 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 ...

. It received

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1415. In 2013, Schagen merged with Zijpe and

Harenkarspel Harenkarspel () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. The main town of Harenkarspel was Tuitjenhorn. In 2013, Harenkarspel merged with Schagen and Zijpe into a new municipal ...

. Together they have formed a new municipality, which is also called Schagen. The townhall is located in the main town of Schagen. Before the merger in 2013 the municipality of Schagen only consisted of the town of Schagen. In 2013 the municipality was extended with neighbouring municipalities. It had a population of in and covers an area of .

History

10th through 15th century

Schagen has been mentioned in various texts from around 975. One of them was a population count that found that 43 people were living there. Schagen was also mentioned in documents as Scagha from around 989. At this time Schagen was a center of artificial dwelling hills. Perhaps the name refers to Scagha to its location above land water: it could mean "elevated point". Some time later, there is a coastline near Schagen. When the sea retreated again at the end of the 13th century the places in the region grew. The land around Schagen was especially fertile, so it grew and remained the main town in the area. William VI granted in 1415

to the town. In 1427

Philip the Good Philip III (french: Philippe le Bon; nl, Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonge ...

of Burgundy loaned Schagen to his uncle William of Bronckhorst, one of the seven illegal children of Albrecht of Bavaria, and to Maria van Bronckhorst. Schagen became a

fief 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 ...

with some regional rights in addition to its city rights, including some control over the small towns around Schagen. William ordered the castle in which he lived from 1440. In 1460 the church of Schagen, dedicated to St. Christopher, was consecrated. In 1463 Schagen received the right to hold a cattle market and became a trading town for a wider region.

16th through 19th century

From 1603 an annual horse market was held in Schagen, upon authorization by the States of Holland and Westfriesland. At the beginning of the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

Schagen underwent very little growth, unlike other cities in the region:

, Enkhuizen,

Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Medemblik was a prosperous ...

, and

Hoorn Hoorn () is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers ...

. Later in the Golden Age the city benefited from the increased prosperity, but never to the degree these other cities enjoyed. Even after the Golden Age growth was limited. Partly due to the reclamation of the surrounding area, Schagen could flourish economically again in the 19th century. In particular, the cattle market played an important role. When in 1865 the railroad between Alkmaar and

came into use, the market and home industries flourished. Schagen had about 2060 inhabitants at this time. In 1894 Schagen was schocked by a double murder, when 17-year-old Klaas Boes murdered his 55-year-old neighbor and her 17-year-old niece. The murder attracted wide national media attention and caused the murderer's mother to commit suicide. Newly appointed mayor

Simon Berman Simon Berman (April 24, 1861 – October 19, 1934) was the mayor of Kwadijk, Middelie, Warder, Schagen, Bedum, and Alblasserdam in the Netherlands. He was the first mayor of Kwadijk, Middelie, and Warder to actually live in one of those villages ...

headed a committee that would pay 750 guilders, donated by the residents, for the golden tip. In 1895 Klaas Boes was sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

, but this was later changed to 25 years. Klaas Boes was released from prison in 1922 and died in 1956. For years, "Klaas Boes" remained a stereotypical name in the Netherlands for youngsters who were up to no good.

20th through 21st century

During the 20th century prosperity decreased slowly. Especially after the

Second World The Second World is a term originating during the Cold War for the industrial socialist states that were under the influence of the Soviet Union. In the first two decades following World War II, 19 communist states emerged; all of these were at ...

there was a sharp decline in the agricultural sector. As Schagen did not only depended on agriculture, the decline was less than in surrounding rural communities. Around 1960 Schagen started to flourish again, though population was still below 5,000. The seventies were a large boom for Schagen. In the early nineties, the growth gradually diminished but Schagen remained relatively strong compared to neighboring nuclei and municipalities. ArkVanJohan

From 2005 to 2007, Schagen resident Johan Huibers built a ship modeled after the biblical description of

Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in ...

in Schagen.

Johan's Ark Johan's Ark is a Noah's Ark-themed barge in Dordrecht, Netherlands, which was built by the Dutch people, Dutch building contractor, carpenter and creationist Johan Huibers. It is a full-scale interpretation of the biblical Ark, featuring anima ...

was opened to the public in April 2007 and later towed between various port cities in the Netherlands.

Transportation

At Schagen railway station Intercity trains stop, providing good connectivity with

to the North as well as

and

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 ...

to the South. All south-bound trains pass through

Amsterdam Centraal Amsterdam Centraal Station ( nl, italic=no, Station Amsterdam Centraal ; abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passengers a da ...

, and then continue through

Utrecht Centraal Utrecht Centraal, officially Station Utrecht Centraal (), is the transit hub that integrates three bicycle parkings, two bus stations, two tram stops and the central railway station for the city of Utrecht in the province of Utrecht, Nether ...

either to

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

or to

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The journey time to Amsterdam is 51 minutes (Sloterdijk) or 57 minutes (Centraal.) The railway station is Schagen's hub for local and regional bus services. , three of the five operational vlotbruggen ("float bridges") are in Schagen: at Burgervlotbrug, at Sint Maartensvlotbrug, and at 't Zand.

Politics

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Schagen consists of 29 seats, which are divided as follows:

Notable people

Adriaen van Cronenburg Adriaen van Cronenburg (also Cronenburgh, Cronenburch) (Schagen, – Bergum, after 1604) was a Northern Netherlandish painter. He produced mainly portraits. Cronenburg was active between about 1547 and 1590, working in the provinces of Friesla ...

(1525 in Schagen – after 1604) a painter, mainly of portraits. * Jan van Noordt (1623/24 in Schagen – after 1676) was a

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and art and ...

painter *

(1861 in Landsmeer – 1934) the Mayor of Schagen, 1894–1900 * Gerard Kuiper (1905 in Tuitjenhorn – 1973) a Dutch–American astronomer; eponymous namesake of the

Kuiper belt The Kuiper belt () is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30 astronomical units (AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is far larger—20 tim ...

Joop Klant Jacobus Johannes (Joop) Klant (1 March 1915 in Warmenhuizen – 26 December 1994 in Amsterdam), was a Dutch economist, novelist and professor of political economy at the University of Amsterdam. Biography His parents were Pieter Klant en Geert ...

(1915 in Warmenhuizen – 1994) a Dutch economist, novelist and academic * Ben Essing (1935 in Dirkshorn – 1994) a Dutch impresario *

Cees Geel Cornelis Pieter "Cees" Geel (born 13 March 1965 in Schagen) is a Dutch television, radio and film actor. His notable credits include in the TV miniseries ''Anne Frank: The Whole Story'' (2001) and in the film ''Simon'' (2004). He won the Go ...

(born 1965 in Schagen) a Dutch television, radio and film actor *

Bianca Krijgsman Bianca Krijgsman (born 3 October 1968) is a comedian and Dutch actress. She won the prize for best actress at the 42nd International Emmy The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards fo ...

(born 1968 in Oudesluis) a comedian and Dutch actress *

Daniella van Graas Daniella van Graas (born 1975) is a Dutch fashion model, cover girl, and actress. She has appeared in movies, on television, and between 1997 and 2003 on the cover of several magazines. In 2012 she was featured in the Dutch television show ''T ...

(born 1975 in Tuitjenhorn) a Dutch fashion model, cover girl, and actress IMDb Database
retrieved 16 August 2019 *

Femke Meines Femke Meines (born 11 May 2000) is a Dutch singer and actress. Meines began her career at age 12, when she represented the Netherlands in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the tenth edition ...

(born 2000 in Tuitjenhorn) a Dutch singer and actress

Sport

Rein Boomsma Reinder ("Rein") Boomsma (19 June 1879 – 27 May 1943) was a Dutch footballer, who played for Sparta and the Dutch national team. Club career Boomsma was born in Schagen, North Holland in 1879, and moved to Rotterdam in 1888. He started to ...

(1879 in Schagen – 1943 in Neuengamme concentration camp) a Dutch footballer * Richard Rozendaal (born 1972 in Warmenhuizen) a track cyclist, competed at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Ruben Houkes Ruben Houkes (born 8 June 1979 in Schagen, 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, an ...

(born 1979 in Schagen) a Dutch judoka, bronze medallist at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

Celeste Plak Celeste Elle Plak (born 26 October 1995) is a Dutch volleyball player, who plays as an outside hitter. She plays for Victorina Himeji, and is the first non-caucasian player to be a part of the Netherlands women's national volleyball team. Person ...

(born 1995 in Tuitjenhorn) a Dutch volleyball player

Gallery

File:Schagen City, Nord Holland.jpg, Schagen City, Nord Holland File:Schagerkoggekanaal.jpg, Schagerkoggekanaal File:Bebouwing Leihoek.jpg, Bebouwing Leihoek File:De Sporters, Warmenhuizen.jpg, De Sporters, Warmenhuizen

References

External links

*
Official website
* http://www.geheugenvanschagen.nl {{Authority control Cities in the Netherlands Municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland