Franeker
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Franeker
Frjentsjer | |
|---|---|
 The former city hall (left) and the Eise Eisinga Planetarium (right) | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 | |
 Location in the former municipality of Franekeradeel | |
  Franeker Location within the Netherlands  Franeker Location within Europe  Franeker Franeker (Europe) | |
| Coordinates: 53°11′N 5°32′E / 53.183°N 5.533°E | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Province | Friesland |
| Municipality | Waadhoeke |
| Area | |
| • Total | 18.17 km2 (7.02 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1.1 m (3.6 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
| • Total | 13,015 |
| • Density | 720/km2 (1,900/sq mi) |
| Postal code | 8801, 8802[1] |
| Dialing code | 0517 |
Franeker (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈfraːnəkər] ; West Frisian: Frjentsjer [ˈfrjɛntsjər]) is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Waadhoeke. It is located north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about 20 km west of Leeuwarden. As of 2023, it had 13,015 inhabitants.[1] World Heritage Site the Eise Eisinga Planetarium, established in 1781, is located in the city.
History
[edit]
Franeker was founded around 800 as a Carolingian stronghold. The name probably derives from Froon-acker, meaning "land of the lord/king"; the oldest street in the city is still called Froonacker. Beginning around the 11th century, Franeker developed into the administrative center of northern Westergoa.[3]
Franeker received city rights in 1417,[4] when it was recognised as an independent city and, through the Buurbrief ("Citizen's letter"), formally separated from the grietenij Franekeradeel.[5]
At the end of the 15th century, Albert, Duke of Saxony established himself in Franeker, when he, with the help of the Schieringers had taken over Friesland. On 12 May 1500, the city was besieged by an army of 16,000 dissatisfied Frisians during the Siege of Franeker, as a result of the high rents and taxes levied by Albert and his sons Henry and George of Saxony. Henry established his seat in the city of Franeker. The Frisians achieved nothing with the siege of the city because they were poorly trained and organised. Duke Albert of Saxony hastily assembled a large army to relieve Henry and the city of Franeker. Finally, the Frisians were defeated on 16 July 1500 and the city was relieved. On 26 March 1501, Henry IV of Saxony gave the city of Franeker a considerable (200 morgen) piece of salt marshland outside the dike, called the Franekerlanden. Three years later, Henry handed over the government of Friesland to his brother George.[6]
The city appeared for a time to be growing into the primary city of Friesland, but was eventually overshadowed in this role by Leeuwarden.
During the period of the Dutch Revolt, the town sided early on with William I.
From 1585 to 1811, the city housed the University of Franeker, which was the second Protestant university in the Netherlands. It was closed shortly after the incorporation of the Kingdom of Holland into the French Empire. A successor institution, the Rijksatheneum, was founded in 1815, but in 1847 it, too, closed.
Before 2018, the city was part of the Franekeradeel municipality and before 1984 the city was a municipality of its own.
Geography
[edit]Franeker is located in the municipality of Waadhoeke in the northwest of the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands. It is east of the city of Harlingen, north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about 20 km (12 mi) west of the provincial capital Leeuwarden.
Demographics
[edit]As of 1 January 2014, the city of Franeker had a population of 12,781.
Culture
[edit]
Museums
[edit]The Eise Eisinga Planetarium and the Museum Martena are museums located in the city. The Planetarium is an orrery built by a local wool carder to explain a conjunction of the planets and to help mitigate local fears of what would happen during the planets' alignment. Built in Eisinga's own living room, it is one of the oldest operating orreries in the world.[7] The Museum Martena, opened in 2006, is housed in a manor house built in 1498 and is devoted to the history of the city and the region.
Windmill
[edit]The windmill Arkens is a hollow post mill which has been restored. It originally stood in Arkens and was moved in 1972. It is the only windmill in the Netherlands equipped with Vlinderwieken (English: Butterfly sails).[8]
Sports
[edit]
Since 1852 Franeker is the home of the PC. the most important tournament in Frisian handball.
Franeker is a regular host of the Frisian draughts competitions.[9]
Being one of the Frisian cities, Franeker is also on the route of the 200 kilometres (120 mi) Elfstedentocht (Eleven-cities Tour), an endurance skating event held at irregular intervals depending on weather conditions.
In August 2014, Jeffrey Peereboom, a student from Franeker, introduced an idea of the speed limits for bicycles in order to make biking in the city safer.[10]
Infrastructure
[edit]
Franeker railway station is a station on the NS line between Leeuwarden and Harlingen. It also had a station on the North Friesland Railway which was the terminus of a branch from Tzummarum. The line opened in October 1903 and closed in October 1933. The station building survives.
Notable people
[edit]- Johan Sems (1572–1635), a Dutch cartographer, engineer and land surveyor.
- Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–1678), a Dutch painter, engraver, poet, classical scholar, philosopher, and feminist
- Ulrik Huber (1636–1694 in Franeker), a professor of law at the University of Franeker and a political philosopher.
- François Hemsterhuis (1721–1790), a Dutch writer on aesthetics and moral philosophy.
- Eise Eisinga (1744–1828), a Frisian amateur astronomer who built the Eise Eisinga Planetarium in his house
- Sebald Justinus Brugmans (1763–1819), a Dutch botanist and physician.
- Jan Hendrik Oort (1900–1992), a Dutch astronomer, studied the Milky Way
- Rolf Bremmer (born 1950), scholar of Old Frisian, and of Old and Medieval English
- Pia Dijkstra (born 1954), a Dutch politician and former news presenter
- Dennis Wiersma (born 1986), former Dutch politician
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2023" [Key figures for districts and neighbourhoods 2023]. Statistics Netherlands. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ "AHN Viewer". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ "Geschiedenis van Franeker" [History of Franeker]. Franeker.frl (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ Broekhoven, Sabine; Ginkel-Meester, Saskia; Kolman van, Chris; Kuiper, Yme; Stenvert, Ronald (2000). Monumenten in Nederland. Fryslân [Monuments in the Netherlands. Friesland.] (in Dutch). Zwolle: Waanders Uitgevers. p. 131. ISBN 90-400-9476-4.
- ^ Telting, A. (1883). De Friesche stadrechten [The Frisian city rights]. Werken der Vereeniging tot Uitgaaf der Bronnen van het Oud- Vaderlandsche Recht (in Dutch). Vol. 5. The Hague: M. Nijhoff.
- ^ "Friese vrijheid bij Franeker begraven" [Frisian freedom buried near Franeker]. Tresoar (in Dutch). 5 July 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ "Planetarium Friesland". planetarium-friesland.nl. Archived from the original on 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
- ^ "Franeker, Friesland" (in Dutch). Molendatabase. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
- ^ Frisian Draughts
- ^ "Dutch city introduces speed limits for bicycles". Dailymotion.
External links
[edit]
- . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
- . The American Cyclopædia. 1879.
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See also: Elfstedentocht | ||
