Witmarsum () is a village in the northern

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 ...

. It is located in

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 ...

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 ...

. Witmarsum had a population of around 1,735 in January 2017. Witmarsum was birthplace of

Menno Simons Menno Simons (; ; 1496 – 31 January 1561) was a Roman Catholic priest from the Friesland region of the Low Countries who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church and became an influential Anabaptist religious leader. Simons was a contempor ...

(1496–1561), the leader of what would become the

Mennonites Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

History

The village was first mentioned in the 13th century as Witmarsum, and means "settlement of Witmer (person)". Witmarsum is a ''

terp A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling mound found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides and ...

'' (artificial living hill) village which developed in the early middle ages. The village used to concentrate on the ''terp'', along the canal and along the road from

Bolsward Bolsward (, West Frisian: ''Boalsert'') is a city in Súdwest-Fryslân in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Bolsward has a population of just under 10,200. It is located 10 km W.N.W. of Sneek. History The town is founded on th ...

to Harlingen. The Dutch Reformed church was built in 1633 as a replacement of its medieval predecessor, because it was damaged by a lightning strike. The tower was again replaced in 1819. Witmarsum contains four churches: a Dutch Reformed church, a Catholic church, a former

Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

and a modest

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

church. Witmarsum was home to 659 people in 1840. In 1879, an

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

was erected as a memorial for Menno Simons. In 1880, Witmarsum became the capital of the municipality of

Wûnseradiel Wûnseradiel () is a former Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Friesland province of the northern Netherlands, at the eastern end of the ''Afsluitdijk''. The official (legal) name of the municipality is in the West Frisian lang ...

. In 1911, an electricity factory was opened by a local electricity company for the villages of Witmarsum, Pingjum,

Arum ''Arum'' is a genus of plants in the Araceae family; they are native to Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region. Frequently called arum lilies, they are not closely ...

en Achlum. In 1919, Witmarsum was connected to the provincial grid, and the building was turned into a

transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...

. There are two

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

s in the village, De Onderneming and De Pankoekstermolen. Before 2011, the village was part of the

municipality.

Notable people

(1496–1561), the leader of the

s * Hobbe Smith (1862–1942), painter, watercolorist

Gallery

File:20190821 Witmarsum.jpg, Canal view File:Menno simons Monument,Witmarsum.jpg, Menno Simons monument. File:Witmarsum - molen De Onderneming.jpg, Windmill ''De Onderneming'' in Witmarsum File:Achtkante grondzeiler schuin van achteren gefotografeerd - AMR Molenfoto - 20539324 - RCE.jpg, De Pankoekstermolen

References

{{Authority control Súdwest-Fryslân Populated places in Friesland