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 ferryboat service operates the transportation link between Den Helder and the nearby Dutch Wadden island of Texel to the north.

Etymology

Before the year 1928 the official name of Den Helder was Helder. The origin of the name Helder is not entirely clear. The name Helder may have come from ''Helle/Helde'', which means "hill" or "hilly grounds", or from ''Helre'', which means a sandy ridge. Another explanation is that the name derived from ''Helsdeur'' (Hell's Door), likely because in the water between Den Helder and Texel (called Marsdiep) the current was so strong that many ships were lost.

History

Huisduinen was the original older part of the city, whereas Helder itself was a nearby smaller hamlet. When a harbour was built near Helder the village began to grow and later became the seat of governance instead of Huisduinen. Due to its strategic location at the tip of the North Holland peninsula, multiple fortifications were built in the area.

Den Helder has played an important part in Dutch shipping. During the Dutch Golden Age, ships would be assembled near Den Helder and sail the world's oceans from there.

On 23January 1795, the French captured 14 Dutch ships and 850 guns in the town's deep-frozen harbour. In 1799 the city was the target of the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.

During the 1820s, the North Holland Canal was dug from Amsterdam to Den Helder. The lighthouse ''Lange Jaap'' was built in 1877 and is the tallest cast-iron lighthouse in Europe, at . In the Second World War most of the city was evacuated and the old city center was destroyed.

Geography

Climate

Den Helder is on the tip of a lowland peninsula jutting out into the North Sea Because of this, Den Helder's climate is heavily moderated by the maritime environment. Also, Den Helder is one of the sunniest cities in the Netherlands.

Population centres

The municipality of Den Helder consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Den Helder, Huisduinen, Julianadorp, and the hamlets Friese Buurt and De Kooy.

The major areas of Den Helder are the Stad binnen de Linie (city within the city's defence line), Nieuw-Den Helder, and De Schooten. Nieuw-Den Helder was built in the 1950s, following World War II, when there was a great need for additional housing. De Schooten was constructed in the 1960s.

Topography

''Dutch Topographic map of Den Helder (town), March 2014.''

Naval base

Den Helder was the site of a naval base as early as the 18th century. An Anglo-Russian invasion force landed at Den Helder in August 1799 and captured the Batavian navy there (see Battle of Castricum). French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, visiting Den Helder in 1811, was impressed with the town's strategic location and ordered the construction of a fort (Kijkduin) and naval dockyards (Willemsoord). The docks were built during the years 1813–1827. In 1947, it officially became the Royal Netherlands Navy's main centre of operations. Den Helder continues to be the navy's main base today. The Royal Netherlands Naval College is also located in the city, as is the Dutch Navy Museum.

The old naval dockyards of Willemsoord, located in the north of the city, now house restaurants, a cinema, and other recreational facilities. The naval docks and administration have been moved to a new location further east.

Transport

The town is served by two railway stations:

* Den Helder
* Den Helder Zuid (South Den Helder)

Den Helder can be reached by these main roads:
* N9
* N99
*N250
*N502

These roads all have only two lanes. There is no highway leading to Den Helder.

Local government

The municipal council of Den Helder consists of 31 seats, which are divided as follows as of the 2022 elections:

* Behoorlijk Bestuur - 7 seats
* Beter voor Den Helder - 4 seats
* VVD - 3 seats
* CDA - 3 seats
* D66 - 2 seats
* GroenLinks - 2 seats
* PVV - 2 seats
* Stadspartij Den Helder - 2 seats
* Seniorenpartij - 2 seats
* PvdA - 2 seats
* ChristenUnie - 1 seat
* Samen Actief Sr - 1 seat

Notable people

Public thinking & Public Service

* Frans van Anraat (born 1942), businessman, sold raw materials to produce chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein
* Marleen Barth (born 1964), politician, trade union leader and journalist
* Petrus Johannes Blok (1855–1929) a Dutch historian
* Edward W. Bok (1863-1930), Dutch-American editor, Pulitzer Prize winner
* Esther Welmoet Wijnaendts Francken-Dyserinck (1876-1956) a journalist, feminist and cofounder of Dutch Girl Guiding
* Cornelis Giles (1675-1722), a navigator and cartographer
* Rijkman Groenink (born 1949), banker, CEO of ABN-Amro
* Gerard 't Hooft (born 1946), physicist and academic, shared the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics
* William Lonsdale (1799-1864), soldier, colonialist, helped found Melbourne, Australia
* Theo de Meester (1851–1919) politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1905 to 1908
* Ed Nijpels (born 1950), former minister of Housing (1986–1989) and former mayor of Breda
* Dorus Rijkers (1847-1928), lifeboat captain and folk hero
* Paul Rosenmöller (born 1956), a TV presenter and former politician and trade unionist
* René Schoof

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