Zaandam

This article is about the Dutch town. For the cruise ship, see MS Zaandam.

Zaandam
City
Windmills at the Zaanse Schans in 2007 Windmills at the Zaanse Schans in 2007
Zaandam is located in North Holland Zaandam
Coordinates:
Country	Netherlands
Province	North Holland
Municipality	Zaanstad
Population (2005)
• Total	72,597
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)

Zaandam (Dutch pronunciation: [zaːndɑm]) is a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811. It is located on the Zaan, close to the North Sea Canal, and is close to Amsterdam.

The statistical district Zaandam, which covers the city and the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 72,597.

Zaandam was a separate municipality until 1974, when it became a part of the new municipality of Zaanstad.

History

File:Monet Claude A Windmill at Zaandam.jpg

A windmill near Zaandam painted in 1871 by Claude Monet

Zaandam, c. 1889. Etching by James McNeill Whistler.

Zaandam (formerly called Saenredam) and the surrounding Zaan River region, called the Zaanstreek, have a history that is intimately connected with industry.

In the Golden Age, Zaandam served as a large milling center. Thousands of windmills powered saws that were processing Scandinavian wood for the shipbuilding and paper industries. A statue was commissioned from the Bosnian Serb sculptor Slavomir Miletić in honor of this era, and the statue, “The Woodworker” (“De Houtwerker”), was installed on 20 June 2004.

Zaandam was a leading city in the first Industrial Revolution. Into the second half of the 20th century, Zaandam was still an important lumber port.

Zaandam is also historically linked with the whaling industry.

In 1697 the czar Peter I of Russia spent some time in Zaandam, studying shipbuilding. The house where he stayed is preserved as a museum, the Czar Peter House.

In 1871 the impressionist painter Claude Monet lived for half a year in Zaandam and made 25 paintings of the area, including Bateaux en Hollande pres de Zaandam and A windmill at Zaandam.

The first European McDonald's restaurant opened in 1971 in Zaandam. The Albert Heijn supermarket chain is also headquartered in Zaandam, but did not originate there (it was founded in the neighboring municipality of Oostzaan in 1887).

Also the Dutch soccer club AZ (Alkmaar Zaanstreek-combinatie) was founded in Zaandam. May the 10th, 1967.

Transport

• Zaandam railway station
• Zaandam Kogerveld railway station

Gallery

• Zaandam, kerk1 in straatzicht foto1 2011-04-17 16.02.JPG

  Zaandam, church (Oostzijderkerk) in the street

• Zaandam, sluis foto3 2011-04-17 16.05.JPG

  Zaandam, sluice

• Zaandam, de Sint Bonifactuskerk foto6 2011-*04-17 16.14.JPG

  Zaandam, church: de Sint Bonifatiuskerk

Albert Heijn headquarters in Zaandam, the Netherlands.
Photo: Niels Kim

File:River Zaan.jpg

The river Zaan

Notable people born in Zaandam

• Jan Saenredam (1565–1607), copperplate engraver
• Anton Mauve (1838–1888), painter
• Jan Verkade (1868–1946), painter
• Kees Bruynzeel (1900–1980), wood merchant, yachtsman and t builder
• Arie Smit (born 1916), painter
• Piet Kee (born 1927), organist and composer
• Han Bennink (born 1942), jazz musician
• Johnny Rep (born 1951), football player
• Kathinka Pasveer (born 1959), flautist
• Erwin Koeman (born 1961), football player and football coach
• Ronald Koeman (born 1963), football player and football coach
• Robert Molenaar (born 1969), football player
• Ali Bouali (born 1981), rapper
• Patricia van der Vliet (born 1989), model
• Harm van den Dorpel (born 1981), conceptual artist
• Melissa Venema (born 1995), musician
• Oğuzhan Özyakup (born 1992), football player

External links

• J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, "Zaandam". Map of the former municipality, around 1868.