Terneuzen () 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 go ...

in the southwestern

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

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

, in the middle of

Zeelandic Flanders Zeelandic Flanders ( ; zea, Zeêuws-Vlaonderen; vls, Zêeuws-Vloandern)''Vlaanderen'' in isolation: . is the southernmost region of the province of Zeeland in the south-western Netherlands. It lies south of the Western Scheldt that separates t ...

. With almost 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland.

History

First mentioned in 1325, Terneuzen was a strategically located port on the waterways to

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

, in present-day

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. 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 tradition ...

in 1584. Tradition has it that Terneuzen was once the home of the legendary

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Du ...

, Van der Decken, a captain who cursed God and was condemned to sail the seas forever, as described in the

Frederick Marryat Captain Frederick Marryat (10 July 1792 – 9 August 1848) was a Royal Navy officer, a novelist, and an acquaintance of Charles Dickens. He is noted today as an early pioneer of nautical fiction, particularly for his semi-autobiographical novel ...

novel ''

The Phantom Ship ''The Phantom Ship'' (1839) is a Gothic novel by Frederick Marryat which explores the legend of the ''Flying Dutchman''. Plot introduction The plot concerns the quest of Philip Vanderdecken of Terneuzen in the Netherlands to save his father ...

'' and the

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

opera ''

The Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dut ...

''. Before 1877, the city was often called Neuzen.

Geography

The city of Terneuzen is located on the southern shore of the

Western Scheldt The Western Scheldt ( nl, Westerschelde) in the province of Zeeland in the southwestern Netherlands, is the estuary of the Scheldt river. This river once had several estuaries, but the others are now disconnected from the Scheldt, leaving the W ...

estuary. The municipality of Terneuzen consists of the following population centres:

Economy

The

Ghent–Terneuzen Canal The Ghent–Terneuzen Canal (Dutch: Kanaal van Gent naar Terneuzen), also known as the "Sea Canal" (Zeekanaal) is a canal linking Ghent in Belgium to the port of Terneuzen on the Westerschelde (Scheldt) Estuary in the Netherlands, thereby providin ...

is still an important shipping route connecting the

Port of Ghent The Port of Ghent is the third busiest seaport in Belgium, located in Ghent, East Flanders in the Flemish Region. The first port of Ghent was situated at the river Scheldt and later on at the Leie. Since the Middle Ages Ghent has sought for a con ...

. The port of Terneuzen is the third-largest in the Netherlands, after those of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. The largest plant of

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastic ...

outside of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

is located at Terneuzen, on the west side of the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal.

Transport

Terneuzen can be reached from the rest of the Netherlands via the

Western Scheldt Tunnel Western Scheldt Tunnel ( nl, Westerscheldetunnel, Westerscheldetunnel) is a tunnel in the Netherlands that carries highway N62 under the Western Scheldt estuary between Ellewoutsdijk and Terneuzen. It is the longest tunnel for highway traffic in ...

, which opened in March 2003. Terneuzen is not linked to the rest of the Netherlands by rail, although the Dow Chemical plant is served by a freight-only line to Ghent in Belgium (Terneuzen's passenger rail service was withdrawn in 1951).

Notable residents

* Lupus Hellinck (1493 or 1494 – 1541) a Flemish composer of the Renaissance * Sir

Bernard de Gomme Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

(1620–1685) a Dutch military engineer *

Pieter Paulus Pieter Paulus (9 April 1753 – 17 March 1796) was a Dutch jurist, fiscal (prosecutor) of the Admiralty of the Maze and politician. He was one of the ideologues of the Dutch Patriot movement and is considered by many Dutch as the founder of their ...

(1753–1796) a Dutch jurist, fiscal (prosecutor) of the

Admiralty of the Maze The Admiralty of Rotterdam, also called the Admiralty of de Maze, was one of the five Dutch admiralties in the Dutch Republic. History The Admiralty of Rotterdam was founded in 1574 during the Dutch Revolt, when (after the Capture of Brielle) W ...

and politician *

Francien de Zeeuw Luitenant ter zee der 2de klasse Francien de Zeeuw (Terneuzen, 19 May 1922 – Middenbeemster, 8 September 2015) was a Dutch resistance fighter during the Second World War and the first female member of the Dutch armed forces. Life De Zeeu ...

(1922–2015) a Dutch resistance fighter during WWII and the first female member of the

Dutch armed forces The Netherlands Armed Forces ( nl, Nederlandse krijgsmacht) are the military services of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The core of the armed forces consists of the four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy (), the Royal Netherlands Ar ...

Lodewijk van den Berg Lodewijk van den Berg (; March 24, 1932 – October 16, 2022) was a Dutch-born American chemical engineer. He studied crystal growth and flew on a 1985 Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' mission as a payload specialist. Van den Berg was born in t ...

(1932–2022) astronaut on a Challenger Space Shuttle mission *

Jacques Hamelink Jacobus Marinus Hamelink (12 January 1939 – 17 November 2021), better known as Jacques Hamelink, was a Dutch poet, novelist, and literary critic, who is best known for his early short story collections such as ''Het plantaardig bewind'' ("''The ...

(born 1939 in Driewegen) a Dutch poet, novelist and literary critic * Klaas de Vries (born 1944) a Dutch composer, co-founded the Rotterdam School of music *

Eric van Damme Eric Eleterius Coralie van Damme (born 27 July 1956CURRICULUM VITAE E ...

(born 1956) a Dutch economist *

Jos de Putter Jos de Putter ( Terneuzen, 1959) is a Dutch film director, film critic and screenwriter who primarily makes Dutch documentary films. He studied political science and literature at the University of Leiden, and was a member of the editorial staff ...

(born 1959) a Dutch film director, film critic and screenwriter *

Mark Janse Mark Janse (born 31 August 1959 in Sas van Gent, The Netherlands) is BOF-ZAP research professor in Asia Minor and Ancient Greek at Ghent University, where he studied Classics, Hebrew and Linguistics. Before coming to Ghent, Janse has been editor o ...

(born 1959 in Sas van Gent) research professor in Asia Minor and Ancient Greek at

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

Erik de Bruyn Erik de Bruyn (born 27 October 1962) is a Dutch film director and actor. His 2000 film '' Wild Mussels'' was entered into the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival. Selected filmography * ''Mates Mates is an English surname, and may refer ...

(born 1962) film director and actor IMDb Database
retrieved 3 August 2019 * Peter van Dommelen (born 1966) a Dutch archaeologist and academic * Sandra Roelofs (born 1968) former first lady of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

References

External links

Port of Terneuzen

Official Website (in Dutch)
{{Authority control Municipalities of Zeeland Populated places in Zeeland Cities in the Netherlands Port cities and towns in the Netherlands Port cities and towns of the North Sea Zeelandic Flanders