Alphen aan den Rijn is the capital of the eponymous municipality Alphen aan den Rijn, located in the Dutch province of South Holland, on the rivers Oude Rijn and Gouwe in the peat meadow area Groene Hart between the major cities of Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam, The Hague and Lead. A resident of Alphen aan den Rijn is called Alphenaar.
Roman time
In Roman times, the course of the Rhine
in the Low Countries was for decades a hard-fought border area where
many army units were stationed. In the year 12 AD. General Tiberius,
later Emperor, accepted the southern bank of the Rhine as the
northern border of the Roman Empire (Limes) and from the reign of
the Roman Emperor Caligula (37-41 AD), fortified encampments with
civilian settlements were built along the Rhine to consolidate this
boundary. The first citizens were partly from tribes defeated by the
Romans, partly they were Germans who saw their advantage in
cooperation with the new rulers.
On the spot where now the
newly built center of Alphen aan den Rijn is Hoge Zijde, opposite
the mouth of the Aar river in the Rhine, was a defensive fortress
(Latin: castellum) Albaniana, with labor barracks, workshops
(fabrication), hearth places, granary, bath house , streets, wells,
canals, watchtowers, defensive walls, river protection and quays.
Construction must have started in AD 40, making it one of the oldest
Roman fortresses on the Rhine.
In smaller archaeological
excavations in the period 1953 to 1998 under the direction of
archaeologists and in large-scale excavations in 2001 and 2002 by
Radboud University, funded by the municipality, province and the
state, thousands of ground traces and tens of thousands, often
small, objects from that time have been found. which together tell
the archaeological story of Albaniana. One of the most important are
the fragments of a limestone slab with inscription from the main
stone gate. The Romans probably built the first bridge over the Oude
Rijn and they constructed the Canal of Corbula between Maas and Oude
Rijn (between Alphen and Leiden).
In the village of
Zwammerdam, belonging to the municipality of Alphen, extensive
remains of the Roman settlement of Nigrum Pullum were found during
archaeological excavations by the University of Amsterdam between
1968-1971. Excavations between 1971-1974 show partly intact remains
of six different types of ships from the 2nd century AD. uncovered,
a unique archaeological find.
The new inhabitants had new
needs and so agriculture, trade and industry developed in and around
the Roman settlements. Roman techniques to build buildings on
mounds, to protect themselves with dams from the water of rivers, to
bake roof tiles and stones in ovens, to build large ships of wood,
and so on were adopted. Albaniana slowly grew into a trading center
in the region. Germanic attacks made there around 270 AD. an end to.
After many struggles and problems with flooding, especially in
Utrecht and Leiden, the Oude Rijn was dammed in 1122 near Wijk bij
Duurstede. The branch that first started as 'Lek' became the main
stream of the river. Since then, the Oude Rijn has not burst its
banks.
Middle Ages
In 1250, the Hof van Alfen is mentioned
on the southern bank of the Molenvliet near where it flows into the
Rhine. A country estate with a castle. This is in the possession of
the Counts of Holland, acquired from the Bishop of Utrecht. The
current Hoflaan is a reminder of this. In 1273 a parish priest is
appointed and a small church is built on the remains of the
castellum, dedicated to Boniface. In 1474, the first water mills
appear in the large polder or Kerkpolder (now Kerk en Zanen). In
1494 Jacob Coppier van Kalslagen received the right from
Ambachtsheer over the manors of Hof van Alfen and Rietveld with the
right to levy taxes and to appoint offices on behalf of the count as
administrator.
In 1514 Alphen had about 400 inhabitants,
livelihoods are cutting reeds, peat cutting and farming. A century
later, the first roof tile and brick factory appears in the Hoorn
aan de Rijn.
Alphen flourished in the 17th century. On
September 16, 1589, Schout en Ambachtsbewaarders van Alphen and
Oudshoorn ordered the construction of a bridge over the Oude Rijn.
The Oude Rijn is deepened, the Aarkanaal is dug and in 1664 the
towpath between Utrecht and Leiden along the north bank of the Oude
Rijn is completed, along which barges can be pulled with people or
horses for the transport of goods and people. Livelihoods include
shipyards, brick and tile bakeries, pipe bakeries, lime roasters,
hemp cultivation, peat cutting, line jobs, saw mills and trade in
livestock and dairy products.
From the 18th century it has
been reported that several country estates were built along the
Rhine, luxurious homesteads for wealthy citizens from Rotterdam,
Amsterdam and The Hague, mostly self-catering with a nursery and
small animal husbandry, including Brittenrust, Buitenstein and Rust
van Onrust.
In the 18th century, the manor became a stopping place for postal
drivers and trade by land and water. There will be a post office.
Around 1900 Alphen, Oudshoorn and Aarlanderveen have approximately
6000 inhabitants.
In 1918 the municipality of Alphen aan den
Rijn is formed. Then the smaller municipalities of Alphen,
Aarlanderveen and Oudshoorn were merged. In 1964 the municipality
was expanded with a part of Zwammerdam, in 2014 with Boskoop.
The Alphen aan den Rijn coat of arms was awarded on May 8, 1918.
It consists of a black eight-pointed star on a white coat of arms.
On top of the shield is a golden crown. The shield is held by two
golden lions. The coat of arms originally belonged to the Van Alphen
family, a branch of the Van Kralingen family. One Dirk van Cralingen
(born before 1189) had goods near Alphen and afterwards called
himself Van Alphen.
The striking Alphense lift bridge at the
Gouwesluis over the Gouwe was built in the late 1930s. The Gouwe was
widened to improve the shipping connection between Amsterdam and
Rotterdam. Similar bridges were built in Boskoop and Waddinxveen.
During the Second World War, explosive charges were placed near the
bridge to blow it up if necessary, which turned out not to be
necessary. However, one of the charges exploded due to lightning. In
the 1970s, the bridge was again severely damaged in a collision by a
crane truck that was 1.5 meters too high. Parallel to the lift
bridge (for road traffic) is a swing bridge for the train.
Post-war boom
Within the national post-war policy that Alphen had
to develop as an industrial municipality and play a key role in the
Heart of Holland, the village began to grow strongly from the
mid-1950s. On the west side, chocolate factory De Baronie was built
in the polder as a start for a new industrial area. A connection to
the Rotterdam - Amsterdam road route was established via a new
high-altitude road bridge over the Oude Rijn, the Koningin Juliana
Bridge. Along the Oude Rijn, companies and industry were producing
at high speed. A snapshot from that period: Zijerveld's Lemonade
Industrie, from 1946 bottler of Coca-Cola, publisher and printing
company Samsom (now Wolters Kluwer), engine factory De Industrie,
shipyard Boot and De Vries Lentsch, animal feed factory De
Leerhoeve, tile factory Het Tegelhuis, varnish factory Varossieau (
now Sigma Coatings, roof tile factory Van Oordt and Oosthoek, fruit
juice factory Stockhuijzen, wood trade Sprey, concrete factory
Spanbeton (now part of Consolis). The workers (now employees) lived
at the factories in small terraced houses in streets next to the
factories or across the street at right angles to the Rhine and on
the Lage Zijde One of the neighborhoods is still popularly called
the Red Village, red was the color of political parties that stood
up for the rights of workers.
In the 1960s, the village was
expanded on the north side to meet the post-war housing shortage.
For this Plan North, sand was pumped from the Zegerplas for
reclamation. It was a mixed residential area, with housing law
houses, terraced houses (including split-level houses), more
luxurious houses and flats. Shopping centers and shopping streets
were created in the center and the new districts.
From the
nineties, large residential areas south of the railway line, Kerk en
Zanen, and business parks were also completed. Alphen initially
developed into a commuter city, but more and more jobs were also
created within its borders, so that today it is a lively city with a
balanced population composition and good employment opportunities.
The latest planning developments in the Low Side Center give the old
village of the Aar an urban boost.
Alphen aan den Rijn in the
news
At the end of the eighties, Alphen aan den Rijn was in the
national news. In the period 1977-1982 a lot of poison was found to
have been deposited at the rubbish tip in the Coupépolder. A golf
course was constructed on the Coupépolder. Many measures had to be
taken to prevent the toxins from entering the groundwater. In that
period, Alphen was also popularly called "Waste on the Rhine". When
investigating the role of the municipality in the waste dumping, the
investigation committee, led by Maarten Engwirda, concluded that the
entire municipal administration, but especially the Municipal
Executive, had been negligent in supervising the waste dump.
Criminal proceedings were also brought against the waste processor
and the waste transporter.
On April 9, 2011, Alphen was again in the news nationally, as
well as internationally, due to the shooting in the De Ridderhof
shopping center. Seven people were killed, including the perpetrator
who committed suicide.
On 3 August 2015, there was a notable
accident in which two cranes with a new bridge deck for the Queen
Juliana Bridge fell from pontoons on the Oude Rijn and ended up on
four houses and shops on the Hooftstraat. There were no fatalities
because the residents were not at home and shopkeepers were able to
leave on time. Afterwards there were many bystanders and residents
who thought the pontoon and crane setup was risky and would have
stayed away. In the accident, one man was taken from under the
rubble alive. A dog was injured and later put to sleep.
Topography
The town of Alphen aan den Rijn is located at the
junction of the small river Aar and the Oude Rijn, which flows from
Utrecht to Leiden and cuts through the city. Alphen is bordered on
the east by the Gouwe and the Aarkanaal, and on the west by the
Heimanswetering. Alphen is bisected by the Oude Rijn. The city is
located in the relatively little built-up peat meadow area Groene
Hart between Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam, The Hague and Leiden,
characterized by meadows, dikes, ditches, rivers and lakes. The
built-up area consists of an urban area with the center (Hoge and
Lage Zijde), residential areas, shopping centers, the station area,
the Park Zegersloot (including polder Oudshoorn), business parks,
industrial ports, marinas and container transhipment.
There
are seven bridges over the Oude Rijn: the Zwammerdam Bridge,
Crossing Bridge, Swaenswijk Bridge, Alphense Bridge, Queen Juliana
Bridge, Albert Schweitzer Bridge and the Queen Maximabrug, which
opened in 2016, in the far west of the city. One is for pedestrians
and cyclists and one for pedestrians, cyclists, buses and emergency
services. A public discussion is started to make the Juliana Bridge
free of trucks. The other bridges are the 's Molenaar bridge over
the Heimanswetering, the Zeger bridge over the Aarkanaal, the
Rijnhaven bridge, the Lift bridge Gouwesluis over the Gouwe and the
Oranje Nassau bridge over the Aarkanaal.
Art and culture
Monuments
Alphen aan den Rijn (municipality) has 74 national
monuments and a number of war monuments.
Oudshoornse kerk: A
reformed church on the banks of the Oude Rijn, founded in 1665 by
Cornelis de Vlaming
Remonstrant Church: This used to be a
synagogue.
Korenmolen de Eendracht: This 11-meter-wide tower mill
dates from 1752 and was originally built at the north end of the
Gouw in Oostzaandam. The mill was transferred to Alphen aan den Rijn
in 1898 to replace another mill. The mill was in commercial service
until 1955, and is open to the public every Saturday.
Former Town
Hall: The music school is currently located in this building on the
Burgemeester Visserpark. Villa Sonnehoeck from 1920, which is a
municipal monument, is located on the same park.
City Hall: In
January 2003 a new city hall was opened, which is of a revolutionary
design, following the trends of the time, with a lot of openness and
glass. Architect: Erick van Egeraat associated architects,
Rotterdam.
Catholic Saint Boniface Church: neo-Gothic church from
1884 designed by Evert Margry.
Burial chapel of the De Smeth
family: in this burial chapel many members of the noble De Smeth
family were interred in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. This
one is behind the Advent Church.
Advent Church: this was the
first Boniface church, but destroyed during the iconoclasm and
rebuilt as a Protestant church. The church was built to a design by
architect W.Ch. Kuijper in the 1920s - 1922. The church was built on
the site of the old village church that burned down on April 7,
1916. In 1962 a carillon of 45 bells was placed in the 40 meter high
tower; the church's bells weigh 1162 and 864 kilos respectively. The
organ is a unique Steinmeyer organ that was restored and expanded in
1982.
Huize Overpost: This mansion was built in 1722 on the
Wilhelminalaan and was inhabited by, among others, doctor Post and
Antoni Lemzon Pijnacker, who was mayor of Alphen aan den Rijn from
1834 to 1849. Huize Overpost later housed a wholesaler in freshwater
fish and a municipal stamp room where unemployed people had to get a
stamp. The building was restored after WWII. A law firm is currently
located there.
Monument de Ridderhof: this memorial is placed in
commemoration of the shooting in Alphen aan den Rijn on April 9,
2011. It concerns a tree and a bench, bearing the names of the
victims of the shooting drama.