Sneek (; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

southwest of

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

and the seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. As of 2011 it is the seat of the municipality of

Súdwest-Fryslân Southwest Friesland ( ) is a municipality in the northern Netherlands, located in the province of Friesland. It had a population of 89,999 in January 2021. Sneek is the municipal seat. With a total area of 841.56 km2, Southwest-Friesland is ...

(Southwest Friesland). The city had approximately 33,855 inhabitants in January 2017. Sneek is situated in Southwest Friesland, close to the Sneekermeer, and is well known for its canals, the

Waterpoort The Waterpoort or Hoogendster Pijp is a water gate, a gate in a defensive wall that connects a city to a waterway. It is situated in Sneek, the Netherlands. In the 15th and 16th century, a defensive wall had been built around Sneek. The city la ...

(''Watergate'', the symbol of the city), and

watersports Water sports or aquatic sports are sports activities conducted on waterbodies and can be categorized according to the degree of immersion by the participants. On the water * Boat racing, the use of powerboats to participate in races * Boatin ...

(hosting the annual Sneekweek, the largest sailing event on inland European waterways). Sneek is one of the '' Friese elf steden'' ("Eleven cities of Friesland"). The city is very important in the southwestern part of Friesland (called the Zuidwesthoek, or ''Southwest Corner'').

History

Sneek was founded in the 10th century as ''Chud'' on a sandy peninsula at the crossing site of a dike with an important waterway (called the ''Magna Fossa'' in old documents). This waterway was dug when the former

Middelzee The Middelzee (Dutch language, Dutch for "middle sea"; ), also called Bordine, was the estuary mouth of the River Boorne (West Frisian: ''Boarn'') now in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Friesland. It ran from as far south as Sneek northward to ...

silted up. The dike can still be traced in the current street pattern and street names like ''Hemdijk'', ''Oude Dijk'', and ''Oosterdijk''. Sneek received several city rights in the 13th century, which became official in 1456. Sneek then became one of the eleven Frisian cities. This was also the beginning of a period of blooming trade for the city that would last until about 1550. In 1492 construction of a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

and wall around the city began. In those days Sneek was the only walled city in Friesland. The

and the Bolwerk remain today. Before 2011, the city was an independent municipality.

Sister city Kurobe

Since September 10, 1970, Sneek and the Japanese city of Kurobe have been

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

. In 1970, Mayor L. Rasterhoff of Sneek visited the city of Kurobe and was named an honorary citizen. Mayor H. Terade of Kurobe made a visit to Sneek in 1972. In 2000 delegations of both cities visited each other again. The Japanese showed the citizens of Sneek a "Sneekplein", which was built in Kurobe.

Language

Sneek has its own

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

(called ''Snekers'') that dates back to the

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speak ...

before 1600. Snekers is part of the

Stadsfries dialects Stadsfries or Town Frisian (Dutch: , ; , ) is a set of dialects spoken in certain cities in the province of Friesland in the northern Netherlands, namely Leeuwarden, Sneek, Bolsward, Franeker, Dokkum, Harlingen, Stavoren, and to some ext ...

Trade and industry

The clothing store C&A started in 1841 with a store in Sneek. The Candyfactory Leaf produces

Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a Hybrid (biology), hybrid species of Mentha, mint, a cross between Mentha aquatica, watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in m ...

under the name as well as chewing gum (Sportlife) and various other sweets. The name "KING" has nothing to do with the English word 'king'; it stands for ("Quality equaled by nothing"). Sneek also has steel, machinery and rope factories. Since 1964 there is a factory of Yoshida YKK from Kurobe. Besides that, the supermarket branch Poiesz, clothing brand Gaastra and Frisian gin called beerenburg from Weduwe Joustra are products that have their roots in Sneek.

Places of interest

Sneek is well known as the center of watersports with over 130 watersport companies and 13

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

s. It also has a historic inner city replete with houses of old upper-class families. *

(1613) * Sneek Town Hall (1550) * Grote of Martinikerk (

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, 1498), with a

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

of 50 bells * St. Martin's Church (Catholic, 1872)
Tonnema Candy Factory
(1955) * Dúvelsrak and Krúsrak, wooden bridges across the A7 motorway.

Transport

By road, Sneek is connected to the A7 motorway and N354 Buses and trains in the town are operated by Qbuzz. Sneek is connected to other cities by four main waterways: Houkesloot, leading to the Prinses Margriet Canal; River de Geeuw, leading to IJlst; de Zwette, leading to Leeuwarden; Franekervaart, leading to Franeker.

Art and Culture

Museums

* Fries Scheepvaart Museum Frisian Maritime Museum * Nationaal Modelspoor Museum National Model Train Museum

Podia

* Het Bolwerk, very first poppodium of Friesland, since 1975. Member of the Fries Popnet.

Cultural Quarter

In 2010 there will be a Cultural Quarter, The municipality has made plans to connect various Cultural areas into one big Cultural Quarter. The total costs of the plans are about €35,000,000 and include * The Noorderchurch will house a theatre and a Center of the Arts (CvdK - Centrum voor de Kunsten) * The Bolwerk will house another part of the CvdK * A new Theatre (Capacity of 600 people) at the location of the former postoffice-building * The connection between the Theatre and the Bolwerk with a walking bridge and a floating podium in the city canal. This part won't be constructed because of high costs. * The Public library and the Martinichurch will be linked to the Cultural Quarter

Silver Ball

The Culture Award of Sneek is called The Silver Ball and has been awarded 11 times. The award is given annually to a person that has done an improvement/good job on the areas of Music and Culture for Sneek and its surroundings. Some of the winners are: * Henk van der Veer, writer * 2005: Maaike Schuurmans, musical actress * 2006: Yede van Dijk, actor * 2007: Bennie Hoogstra, 25 years playing the Drum- & Showkorps Advendo

Events

* Sneekweek, Sailevent on the Sneekermeer * Swinging Sneek, live-music in cafés and on street

Education

Sneek has eleven primary schools and three high schools.

Sport

Sports centres

* Sportcentrum Schuttersveld * Sportpark Noorderhoek * Sportpark SWZ Sneek * Sportpark Leeuwarderweg * Swimming pool It Rak * Zuidersportpark

Sport Clubs

* Sneek Wit Zwart(SWZ), football club * LSC 1890, one of the oldest football clubs in the Netherlands * ONS Sneek, football club * Black Boys, football club * Waterpoort boys, football club * Sneeker MHC, hockey club * VC Sneek, volleyball club * Neptunia'24, water polo club * L.T.C. NOMI, tennis club * White Cats Sneek, baseball and softball club * FC Gescheurde Knieband, football club

Sportevents

Elfstedentocht The ''Elfstedentocht'' (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: ''Alvestêdetocht'' , English language, English: ''Eleven cities tour'') is a long-distance tour skating event on natural ice, almost long, which is held both as a speed skating com ...

Eleven city ice skating race and tour * Fietselfstedentocht Eleven city cycling tour

Notable people

* Rienck Bockema (ca. 1350–1436) * Pier Gerlofs Donia (ca. 1480–1520), Frisian freedom fighter, rebel and pirate 'Grutte Pier' * Joachim Hoppers (1523–1576), jurist and politician of the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands were the parts of the Low Countries that were ruled by sovereigns of the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. This rule began in 1482 and ended for the Northern Netherlands in 1581 and for the Southern Netherlands in 1797. ...

* Murk van Phelsum (1730–1799), physician * Nicolaas Molenaar (1850–1930), architect * Jakob van Schevichaven (1866–1935), detective writer * Geert Aeilco Wumkes (1869–1954), theologian and historian *

Willem de Sitter Willem de Sitter (6May 187220November 1934) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He is known for the de Sitter universe is a cosmological model, which was named after him. Life and work Born in Sneek, Netherlands, de Sitte ...

(1872–1934), mathematician, physicist and astronomer * Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (1885–1961), politician * Frits Wissel (1907–1999), pilot, discoverer of the Wissel Lakes in New-Guinea. * Klaas Dijkstra (1895–1969), advocate of pseudoscience (

Flat Earth Flat Earth is an archaic and scientifically disproven conception of the Figure of the Earth, Earth's shape as a Plane (geometry), plane or Disk (mathematics), disk. Many ancient cultures, notably in the cosmology in the ancient Near East, anci ...

) * Kees Deenik (1915–1993), singer, TV producer * Dieuwkje Nauta (1930–2008), teacher, politician * Bart Tromp (1944–2007), sociologist * Wiebe Nijenhuis (1955–2016), strongest man of Friesland 1982–1984 * Joke Tjalsma (1957), actress * Toon Gerbrands (1957), coach and manager * Pauline Krikke (1961), politician * Manon Thomas (1963),

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

presenter * Jan Posthuma (1963), international volleyball player * Ronald Zoodsma (1966), international volleyball player * Monique Sluyter (1967), model and television star * Olof van der Meulen (1968), volleyball player *

Sherida Spitse Sherida Spitse (; born 29 May 1990) is a Dutch Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for AFC Ajax (women), Ajax and the Netherlands women's national football team, Netherlands national team. Club career Spitse started her c ...

(1990), soccer player * Nyck de Vries (1995), Racing Driver

Living

Sneek has around 14,000 houses. Half of those houses are rental houses. There are new projects in different neighbourhoods.

Extra Information

In 1519–1520, the Frisian warlord and freedom fighter Pier Gerlofs Donia spent his last days in Sneek. Donia died peacefully in bed at 12Fries Scheepvaart Museum, Object number 1992-257 on 18 October 1520. Pier is buried in Sneek in the 15th-century Groote Kerk (also called the Martinikerk).Geldersche Volks-Almanak Published 1853 His tomb is located on the north side of the church. The city has a shopping center that is walker- and biker-friendly. There are high-end clothing stores, restaurants, bars, music stores, cafes, coffee shops, and an old-fashioned candy store. George Simenon's 1937 novel ''L'assassin'', about a doctor who murders his wife and her lover, is set in Sneek.

References

External links

*
Tourism Sneek

Official website of the Sneekweek sailing event
{{Authority control Súdwest-Fryslân Former municipalities of Friesland Populated places in Friesland Cities in Friesland Cities in the Netherlands Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2011