Leeuwarden

History

Leeuwarden arose from three hills (terpen in Dutch) on the bank of the Middelzee. Before the year 1000 people lived here already. From the 10th century these agriculture inhabitants started to trade. The positioning on the Middelzee was perfect for trading. The contacts streched out till the country of Russia. Thats how Leeuwarden started to developed as a city. But in the 13th century the Middelzee closed itself with sand and mud and trading activities concentrated from that point in the own region.

Leeuwarden got city rights in 1435 and became capital city of the shire in 1504, when the central administration and jurisdiction settled here. Besides that Leeuwarden became the residence of the Frisian govenors. In these centuries the city came to hughe prosperity. The number of inhabitants increased spectacular: from five thousend around the year 1500 to sixteen thousend in 1650. Leeuwarden was in those days one of the ten aristocratic cities of The Netherlands. Several monumental buildings are a witnes from that time. Like the Kanselarij, where justice was spoken, the Governamental court(yard), the Waag as the center of trade, and the slanting tower the Oldehove.

The prosporus Leeuwarden had to be protected against enemies. Thats why the city was accomodated with canals and ramparts. These works of defense were later, when no longer needed, demolished or they made a park of it. Almost all the canals in the inner city were preserved. In the nineteenth century the first quarters outside the city borders and canals were developed.

Because of the big social developments in the second half of the ninteenth century, Leeuwarden became particularly important as the city with a center function for the region. While nationally seen the position of Leeuwarden reduced strongly in significance. Nowadays this situation is still the same. Whitin the relatively thin populated province of Friesland Leeuwarden fulfills, with almost 100.000 inhabitants, the function of center city with a broad scale of resources.

Through the centuries Leeuwarden has afforded many celebrities and famous people in the area of art, literature, science and politics. Well known are for exeample Mata Hari and M.C. Escher. So Leeuwarden has a rich history. There is a lot of historical documentation and materail left behind. This is being kept in the City archives of Leeuwarden.