Bunnik is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht and part of the
municipality of Bunnik with the same name. The core has
approximately 7,020 inhabitants.
Bunnik is located near a
railway junction and fast connections to the historic city of
Utrecht. The Kromme Rijn flows through the place. The village of
Bunnik is located on the N229, has an exit on the A12 and a train
station, Bunnik station.
Bunnik has various sports
associations, including a football association, VV Bunnik '73, and a
hockey club, HC Kromme Rijn and a korfball association KV Midlandia.
The clubs play at Tolhuislaan sports park.
There is a crater
on Mars named after the village.
The history of the Bunnik municipality goes back about
2000 years. Shortly after the beginning of our era, the Romans built
an important castellum near Fectio (Vechten) with a harbor on the
then course of the Rhine, their border river. At the time, the Lek
was less important. Most of the water flowed north from Wijk bij
Duurstede, through Bunnik via Utrecht to Katwijk aan den Rijn (see
Kromme Rijn, Leidse Rijn, Oude Rijn).
A trading place
developed at the castellum. This continued to exist, even when the
castellum was finally abandoned by the Romans in the fourth century.
The area was then successively occupied by the Frisians and the
Franks. In 723, the Frankish mayor Karel Martel donated, among other
things, the remains of Fectio to the Utrecht church. Under
ecclesiastical leadership, the area was completely reclaimed between
the 8th and 14th centuries. Important for the exploitation was the
dam that was laid in Wijk bij Duurstede in the Rhine in or shortly
after 1122, so that the Lek became the through route. Since then,
the water level in the Kromme Rijn can be regulated, but there is
hardly any shipping left. In the 8th and 9th centuries the three
church villages of Bunninchem (Bunnik), Iodichem (Odijk) and
Wercundia (Werkhoven) developed. Small village churches were built
in the 12th and 13th centuries.
At the end of the Middle
Ages, a number of courts (administrative organizations) developed
from the ecclesiastical division, which were replaced by
municipalities in the French period. From 1817 to 1856 there were
four municipalities on the territory of the current municipality of
Bunnik, each of which provided a quarter of an hour of the municipal
coat of arms: the red rooster of Bunnik; St. Nicolaas from Odijk;
the White Horse of Werkhoven; and the Fleur de lis (from the Van
Renesse coat of arms) from Rhijnauwen. The current municipality of
Bunnik has existed since 1964.
In August 1974, the city
council decided to establish a municipal flag. Three wavy bands of
green, white and green represent the Kromme Rijn, flowing through
the green fields.
The municipal logo, which has been used since the new town hall was opened in 1996, shows a symbolic representation of the municipality of Bunnik. The three green rings refer to the three villages Bunnik, Odijk and Werkhoven, which make up the municipality. The two blue, wavy lines refer to the Kromme Rijn as the connecting element between these three villages. The traditional coat of arms of Bunnik, in stylized form, has also been incorporated into the house style of the municipality. The flag consists of three wavy bands: green, white, green. These lanes symbolize the Kromme Rijn that flows through the green fields of the municipality of Bunnik.
The municipality of Bunnik is located near a railway junction and
fast connections with the historic city of Utrecht. The Kromme Rijn
flows through the three cores of the municipality. The village of Bunnik
is located on the N229, has a connection to the A12 and a train station,
station Bunnik. In the west of the municipality are the Amelisweerd
estate and the forts Rijnauwen and Vechten, both once part of the New
Dutch Waterline.
The oldest youth hostel in the Netherlands is
also located in Rhijnauwen.
The Royal BAM Group, BOVAG and soft drink manufacturer Vrumona are located in Bunnik, among others. The CNV Hout en Bouw had an office in Odijk. The CNV office will be demolished in 2021 to make room for homes.