Dokkum is a town in the municipality of Noardeast-Fryslân
(Northeast Friesland in Dutch), in the Dutch province of Friesland.
In 2020 the place had 12,675 inhabitants.
Dokkum is located
south of the Wadden Sea and (south) west of the Lauwersmeer between
Damwoude (Damwâld) and Aalsum, located on the border between the
Kleistreek and the Friese Wouden. The city center is located around
the place where the Dokkumer Ee and the Dokkumergrootdiep meet.
The place is one of the Frisian eleven cities and has a regional
service function for Northeast Friesland. Dokkum is the fifth
shopping city in Friesland (56,688 m2 sales floor space). The
Frisian dialect Noordhoeks is spoken around Dokkum. Since 2016,
Dokkum has been connected to a renewed road network towards
Leeuwarden, Drachten and Groningen thanks to the Central Axis.
Dokkum is internationally known because in 754
Boniface was murdered in the vicinity of Dokkum.
There are
several explanations about the origin of the name Dokkum. Some think
of a combination and contraction of the Frisian husband's name
'Docko', which would have owned a yard or 'heim / hiem' here. Others
associate Dokkum with 'Tockingen', which is a 'settlement on a draft
or stream'. Spellings for the place name included 'Dockinga' and
'Dockynchirica'. Since the Middle Ages, Dokkum has been a monastery
that housed monks of the Norbertine order from the 13th century. In
1214 Olivier van Keulen preached the crusade in Dokkum, in which
Dokkumers also participated. This history is remembered by means of
a crescent moon on the Dokkum coat of arms.
In 1298, after
Stavoren, Harlingen and IJlst, Dokkum was granted city rights as the
fourth city in Friesland.
In the Great Frisian War, the
Allied army led by Focko Ukena attacked Dokkum (1418). After a few
skirmishes with the Schieringer defenders, they surrendered and the
city was overpowered. Dokkum is burned and the city defused
militarily.
In the Eighty Years' War against Spain, Dokkum
was an important pawn in the battle. In 1572 the city was in the
hands of the Geuzen for several hours. Dokkum was severely punished
for this with the Walloon Fury in Dokkum. After 1579, when Dokkum
joined the Union of Utrecht, an era of peace began. The Roman
monastery and monastery church were demolished in 1589, the tower of
the church continued to determine the townscape until 1832.
In earlier years the city was in open connection with the sea, the
Dokkumergrootdiep. In 1597 the Frisian Admiralty settled in Dokkum.
From here, all kinds of matters for the security of trade and
warfare with Spain were arranged at sea. Dokkum was of great
strategic importance, which is also evident from the construction of
the city walls in the years 1581-1582.
Yet the Admiralty did not stay long in Dokkum. Due to the
silting up of the shipping routes, she moved the office to Harlingen
in 1644. In 1729 the open connection with the Lauwerszee was finally
closed by the construction of the Dokkumer Nieuwe Zijlen. This also
replaced the old 16th-century sea lock under the Zijl. Dokkum
increasingly developed into a country-oriented city.
Dokkum
went bankrupt due to the construction of the Stroobossertrekvaart in
the years 1654 - 1656. Dokkum was and is known in the local
tradition as "Arm Dokkum".
The municipality remained within
the boundaries of the strongholds until 1925, after which parts of
East and West Dongeradeel and Dantumadeel were added to the
municipality of Dokkum.
Until 1984 Dokkum was also an
independent municipality. By merging with the municipalities of
West- and Oostdongeradeel, the municipality of Dongeradeel was
created, of which Dokkum became the main town.
South of
Dokkum is a well, which is associated by tradition with (the death
of) the Anglo-Saxon missionary Boniface in 754 and has therefore
become a Catholic pilgrimage site.
Fedde Sonnema started his
distillery and liqueur distillery in Dokkum, still known from
Sonnema Berenburg. The old factory is still in Dokkum. The square in
front of the former factory is named after Sonnema Sonnemapleintje.
The berenburg is now fired in Bolsward.
In the nineteenth
century there was an increasing lack of space in Dokkum. This was
due to the ramparts, which hindered growth to the outside, because
it was not allowed to build within the firing range of the cannons
on the bastions. All new construction was crammed into the city
center, which led to the loss of many old historic buildings.
Fortunately, the city center of Dokkum - one of the first places in
the Netherlands - was declared a protected cityscape in 1974, making
it one of the protected city and village views in Friesland.
In the past, a train stopped in Dokkum, the Dokkumer classroom.
Passenger service was discontinued before the war, freight transport
was not until the mid-1970s, but many Dokkumer still know the
Dokkumer room. There was a pub in Dokkum with the name "Dokkumer
lokaaltje", and every Dokkumer knows the well-known song of the
train.
On November 18, 2017, the national arrival of
Sinterklaas took place in Dokkum.
In 2019, the municipality
of Dongeradeel, together with the municipalities of Ferwerderadiel
and Kollumerland ca, merged into the municipality of
Noardeast-Fryslân.