Dordrecht is with 119,342 inhabitants (1 August 2020, source:
CBS) the fifth municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland.
Dordrecht is part of the metropolitan agglomeration Drechtsteden,
which has about 280,000 inhabitants. The city is located where the
Merwede splits into the North and the Oude Maas. The municipality of
Dordrecht encompasses the entire Eiland van Dordrecht. The residents
of Dordrecht often call their city Dordt. Dordrecht has four police
stations, two fire stations, a hospital (Albert Schweitzer Hospital)
and a prison (Dordrecht Prison).
Dordrecht was first
mentioned in a text from the twelfth century, when the city was
still referred to as Thuredrech, and was granted city rights in
1220. In the Middle Ages the city developed as an important trading
city and warehouse and was one of the six major cities in Holland.
Later the importance of the city declined, but the city center still
reminds of this rich past.
The city of Dordrecht originated on the river Thure in
the middle of peat bogs. The Thure was a tributary of the river
Dubbel and ran approximately at the height of the current Bagijnhof.
The original name of Dordrecht is Thuredrith. This means "ford in
the river Thure". Thuredrith would change over time in Dordrecht, is
one of several name statements. The oldest mention of the city dates
from around 1120. About that year, in part of the Annals van Egmond
mention was made of the murder of Count Dirk IV in 1049 'near
Dordrecht' (apud Thuredrech).
The Dutch count Willem I
confirmed the city rights of Dordrecht in 1220. After
Geertruidenberg (1213), Dordrecht is the second city that is known
to have been given liberties by the Dutch count. However, the
question is whether the city rights of Geertruidenberg were as
complete as those of Dordrecht. After all, it was only about
obtaining market rights, but did not include the right to
jurisdiction. It cannot be ruled out that other Dutch towns
previously also received city rights (not all charters have been
preserved as original or as copies). However, on the basis of its
old papers, Dordrecht has long claimed to be the oldest city in
Holland. Due to its strategic location and the acquisition of staple
rights in 1299, the city developed into an important depot.
Dordrecht mainly traded wine, wood and grain. Around 1400 the city
had over 8000 inhabitants, making it the largest city in Holland.
However, this only applies to the States of Holland
(approximately North and South Holland). Of the cities in the
current Netherlands, there are more that are older, including
Nijmegen (around the year 100 market rights), Maastricht (inhabited
continuously for two thousand years) and Utrecht (1122). See List of
Dutch places with city rights.
In 1421 Dordrecht came to lie
on an island as a result of the St. Elisabeth flood, in which large
parts of the hinterland (Grote Waard) drowned for good.
In
1572 the First Free States Assembly was convened in Dordrecht.
Representatives of all Dutch cities recognized Stadtholder William
I, Prince of Orange, and supported the revolt against the Spaniards.
In 1618-1619 in Dordrecht, stronghold of the Reformation, the Synod
of Dordrecht took place, where the Remonstrants stood against the
counter-protesters and where the decision was made to produce the
Bible translation that would produce the Statenbijbel in 1637, the
first official translation into the Dutch language .
During
the First Stadtholderless Period (1650-1672) Johan de Witt, son of
mr. Jacob de Witt, was put forward as council pensionary. Under his
leadership, peace was made with England in 1654, including the Act
of Seclusion. This deed was to prevent the son of Willem II from
becoming stadtholder. However, on August 20, 1672, Johan and his
brother Cornelis de Witt were lynched in The Hague. William III,
suspected of the plot, became stadtholder that same year.
Dordrecht pursued a sharply anti-stadtholder course. On July 26,
1783 the drill society "De Vrijheid" was founded. The Patriots
wanted to reclaim the old freedom from the House of Orange. After
all, the Netherlands had been a republic for more than two hundred
years, succession had no place in that. Several cities soon
followed. Stadtholder Willem V fled from Holland. On September 18,
1787, however, Dordrecht capitulated to the troops of the Prussian
King Frederik Willem, William V's brother-in-law. The Orange
Restoration was launched with vigor and the democratic movement
wiped out. William V was restored to his position. In 1815 his son
Willem I, formerly Willem VI, assumed the title of King of the
Netherlands.
Within Holland, Dordrecht was overshadowed by
Rotterdam from the 18th century.
Over the centuries,
Dordrecht has occupied a key position in the defense of Holland,
until well into the 20th century Dordrecht was also a garrison town.
Pontonniers were stationed in the Benthien barracks at Buiten
Walevest along the Oude Maas. During the mobilization of August
1939, infantrymen and artillerymen were also sent to Dordrecht to
defend the island.
In May 1940, Lieutenant Colonel Josephus
Adrianus Mussert, a brother of NSB leader Anton Mussert, led the
defense of Dordrecht against the German army. After the Dutch army
gave up the fight against the Germans, Jo Mussert was arrested and
shot, as a result of which he died a few hours later. In the winter
of 1944-1945, Dordrecht and the surrounding area became the center
of the battle in the Second World War. The boundary between
liberated and occupied territory was then at the Hollandsch Diep.
In 1970, the municipality of Dubbeldam (then about 10,000 inhabitants) and the southern part of the municipality of Sliedrecht were added to the municipality of Dordrecht, so that the municipality covered the entire Eiland van Dordrecht.
In 1774 the Dordrecht Drawing Society Pictura was founded. This
society is a continuation of the 'Guild of Sint Lucas op der Vijf
Neringen' that was founded in 1736 by the painter Aart Schouman. In
the Middle Ages all painters from the city were united here. Pictura
has been located in an old building on the Voorstraat for years and
is an art institution with members from Dordrecht and the region as
well as beyond.
Just past Pictura, the Muntpoort provides
access to the former Mint of Holland, where besides the
Toonkunstschool, Loge La Flamboyante is also located, the oldest of
the two lodges for Freemasonry in Dordrecht. La Flamboyante was
founded in 1811. Much younger is Loge 'De Schakel' from 1968.
Koninklijke Rederykerskamer Inter Amicos is the oldest amateur
theater company from Dordrecht. This association was founded in 1896
and received the designation 'Koninklijke' in 1947. Inter Amicos has
its own theater where rehearsals and performances take place.
There are several museums, galleries, numerous music
associations and orchestras, a children's theater, puppet theater
and a number of discos. The Energiehuis is a multifunctional
cultural center, including a theater and a pop stage.
Dordrecht also has several war memorials.
Places of interest
in Dordrecht are in the first place the river quay at the
Groothoofdspoort, further the Grote Kerk with its unfinished tower
and - unusual in Holland - its stone vaulting. The inland ports, one
of which is covered by the town hall and the Scheffersplein, are
also an attraction. The city has about 900 national monuments, more
than 650 municipal monuments and two protected cityscapes:
Rijksbeschermd face 19th-century Schil Dordrecht and Rijksbermd face
Dordrecht. Historical merchant houses line the old harbors. The
approximately fifty houses with a Dordrecht façade, a unique façade
type that was developed in the 16th century as a masterpiece of the
bricklayers' guild, are remarkable. The Hof is an old Augustinian
monastery with an interesting history, for example, the First Free
States Meeting in 1572. The museum that is located there is part of
the Dordrechts Museum.
The Statenplein, designed in the
twentieth century, is the commercial center of the city. On the
nearby Scheffersplein there is a statue of Ary Scheffer, the painter
from Dordrecht, and on the Visbrug a statue of the brothers Johan
and Cornelis de Witt. The last remaining mill in Dordrecht is on the
Noordendijk: Molen Kyck over den Dyck. Dordrecht also has a few
courtyards: among others the Regentenhof and Lenghenhof 1755), the
Arend Maartenshof (1625), the Van Slingelandthof (1542), and the
Clara and Mariahof (1880). Over the centuries, various sculptures
and other works of art have been placed in the city.
Fish
used to be sold in the fish hall (national monument) on the
Vismarkt, which was supplied from the adjacent water of the
Knolhaven, including sturgeon and salmon from the then unpolluted
rivers.
The following museums are located in
Dordrecht:
Dordrechts Museum, popularly called the Paintings
Museum
Huis Van Gijn, museum about Simon van Gijn and part of the
Dordrechts Museum
Het Hof, part of the Dordrechts Museum
The
Dordts Patrician House
Landscape Science Museum
The collection
from the former Lips Slotenmuseum has been transferred on loan to
the Regional Archives
Museum 1940-1945, also known as the
Resistance Museum
National Education Museum
Inland shipping
museum in pusher René Siegfried
Carel Wüst car museum
Letterpress Museum Dordrecht
Dordrecht has the following events:
Dordt in Stoom: this event
attracts approximately a quarter of a million visitors. Dordt in
Stoom is organized every two years in the historic harbors of
Dordrecht.
Big Rivers Festival: the biggest party in Dordrecht.
Every year, this event, which is organized in the 2nd weekend of
July, attracts approximately 140,000 visitors.
Book market: the
Dordrecht book market attracts nearly a hundred thousand visitors
every year on the first Sunday in July.
Dordrecht Bach Festival:
biennial festival at various locations in the city center of
Dordrecht.
Dordrecht Christmas Market: event held in the city
center of Dordrecht, which was visited in December 2013 by around
435,000 visitors.
Wantive Festival: Since 1995, the Popprojects
Foundation has been organizing the Wantijpark every year in the
second weekend of June, on behalf of the Municipality of Dordrecht.
The festival consists of three parts: Wantijpop (Saturday),
Rainbowpark (Sunday) and the Wantijfestival Clubnights (pre- & after
parties). Since 2012, this festival has only taken place on
Saturdays.
Kunstrondje Dordt: every month on the first Sunday. 48 shops in
the historic city center of Dordrecht with, among other things,
antiques, curios, books have been opened.
Dwars Door Dordt run of
10 kilometers: held annually in April, usually one week before the
Rotterdam marathon. In 2005 the 58th edition of Dwars Door Dordt
attracted more than 1400 participants.
Dance tour, also known as
Boulevard of Dance. In 2012, this festival drew more than 50,000
music lovers to the Spuiboulevard.
Around From Dordrecht. Since
2013, organizes an annual four-day cycling tour with distances of
30, 50 and 80 km in the first week of June.
Cello festival: was
held for the first time in the historic Hofkwartier of Dordrecht on
the Ascension weekend of 1987.
Summer fair
Holiday Children's
parties: Since the beginning of the 20th century, the V.K.F. in the
summer months activities for the youth.
Dordt Monumenteel: is
held every year on the same weekend as the Heritage Days. The
monuments are central on Saturday and Sunday. This event attracts
approximately 100,000 visitors annually.
et-SKA-tera: an annual
skate festival organized by Mandy van der Rest
Wantij concerts:
every Monday evening in July and August in the Wantijpark.
In
2012 Dordrecht won the title 'Event City of the Year', in that year
Dordrecht also won the City Marketing Trophy. Dordrecht was also
named 'Event City of the Year' in 2019.
Topography and landscape
The city of Dordrecht is located in
the south of South Holland on the Eiland van Dordrecht, an area with
an area of approximately 9,000 ha that was created in its current
form by the Saint Elisabeth flood in 1421. The area has fallen since
the annexation of the former municipality of Dubbeldam in 1970
entirely within the boundaries of the municipality, which has a
total area of 99.45 km².
Three rivers converge near
Dordrecht: the Beneden-Merwede, the North and the Oude Maas. This
three-river point is the busiest waterway junction in Europe. The
Eiland van Dordrecht is surrounded by several large waterways: in
addition to the Beneden-Merwede and the Oude Maas, these are the
Nieuwe Merwede, Hollands Diep and Dordtsche Kil.
The water in
Dordrecht is generally slightly below NAP, for example −1.50 meters.
The highest natural point on the Eiland van Dordrecht is the Kop van
de Oude Wiel with a height of 2.60 meters above sea level.
To the east of the city is the Sliedrechtse Biesbosch, south the Dordtse Biesbosch. These areas, which are still located on the Eiland van Dordrecht, together form the Hollandse Biesbosch, one nature and recreation area. The rest of the De Biesbosch National Park is accessible via the ferry between the Kop van het Land and Werkendam. In the Hollandse Biesbosch is the Biesbosch Center Dordrecht of Nature and Recreation Board De Hollandse Biesbosch.