View source for Beemster

{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
<!-- Name and transliteration -->
| name                    = Beemster
| settlement_type         = Former municipality
<!-- Images, nickname, motto -->
| image_skyline           = Midden beemster.jpg
| image_alt               = 
| image_caption           = [[Middenbeemster]] town centre
| image_flag              = Beemster flag.svg
| flag_size               = 100x67px
| flag_alt                = 
| image_shield            = Beemster wapen.svg
| shield_size             = 100x80px
| shield_alt              = 
<!-- Maps, coordinates -->
| image_map               = Map - NL - Municipality code 0370 (2009).svg
| map_alt                 = Highlighted position of Beemster in a municipal map of North Holland
| map_caption             = Location of the former municipality of Beemster in North Holland
| coordinates             = {{coord|52|33|N|4|55|E|region:NL|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes   = 
| subdivision_type        = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name        = [[Netherlands]]
| subdivision_type1       = [[Provinces of the Netherlands|Province]]
| subdivision_name1       = [[North Holland]]
| subdivision_type2       = [[Municipalities of the Netherlands|Municipality]]
| subdivision_name2       = [[Purmerend]]
<!-- Geographic information -->
| unit_pref               = Metric
<!-- ALL fields with measurements have automatic unit conversion -->
<!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| area_footnotes          = <ref>{{Dutch municipality total area|dataref}}</ref>
<!-- square kilometers -->
| area_total_km2          = {{Dutch municipality total area|Beemster}}
| area_land_km2           = {{Dutch municipality land area|Beemster}}
| area_water_km2          = {{Dutch municipality water area|Beemster}}
| elevation_footnotes     = <ref name="AHN">{{cite web 
 |url = http://www.ahn.nl/postcodetool
 |title = Postcodetool for 1462NV
 |language = nl
 |author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> 
 |work = Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland
 |publisher = Het Waterschapshuis
 |access-date = 20 February 2014}}</ref>
| elevation_m             = &minus;4
| elevation_max_footnotes = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| elevation_max_m         =
| elevation_min_footnotes = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| elevation_min_m         =
<!-- Population, demographics -->
| population_footnotes    = <ref>{{Dutch municipality population|dataref}}</ref>
| population_total        = {{Dutch municipality population|Beemster}}
| population_as_of        = {{MONTHNAME|{{Dutch municipality population|popbasemonth}}}} {{Dutch municipality population|popbaseyear}}
| population_density_km2  = {{Dutch municipality population density|Beemster}} <!-- For automatic calculation: auto-->
| population_demonym      = 
<!-- Other information -->
| timezone               = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset             = +1
| timezone_DST           = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset_DST         = +2
| postal_code_type        = [[Postal codes in the Netherlands|Postcode]]
| postal_code             = 1460–1464
| area_code_type          = [[Telephone numbers in the Netherlands|Area code]]
| area_code               = 0299
| website                 = {{URL|1=http://www.beemster.net}}
| footnotes               = 
  {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
  |child         = yes
  |Official_name = Droogmakerij de Beemster (Beemster Polder)
  |ID            = 899
  |Year          = 1999
  |Criteria      = Cultural: i, ii, iv
  }}
}}
'''Beemster''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈbeːmstər|-|Nl-Beemster.ogg}}) is a former [[Municipalities of the Netherlands|municipality]] in the [[Netherlands]], in the province of [[North Holland]]. The Beemster is the first [[polder]] in the Netherlands [[land reclamation|reclaimed]] from a lake, the water extracted by [[windmills]] between 1609 and 1612. The original well-ordered landscape of fields, roads, canals, and dykes has been preserved intact. A grid of canals parallels the grid of roads in the Beemster. The larger feeder canals are offset by approximately one kilometer from the larger roads.

Beemster merged into the existing municipality of [[Purmerend]] on 1 January 2022. 

== Population centres == 
The former municipality of Beemster contained the following small towns and villages: 
{{columns-list|colwidth=12em|
* [[Middenbeemster]]
* [[Noordbeemster]]
* [[Westbeemster]]
* [[Zuidoostbeemster]].
}}
[[File:Gem-Beemster-OpenTopo.jpg|thumb|''Map of the former municipality of Beemster, 2015.'']]

== History ==
Around 800 AD the area of the modern municipality of Beemster was covered in [[peat]]. The name "Beemster" was derived from "Bamestra",{{sfn|Groenedijk|2000}} the name of a small river in the area. In the period 1150–1250 peat-digging and storm floods enlarged that small river into an inland sea, a lake connected with the [[Zuiderzee]]. Around 1605 private investors started to drain the Beemster lake. In 1610, this was almost complete, but the lake re-filled because of a breach in the Zuiderzee [[Dike (construction)|dike]]s. It was decided to make the ring-dike a meter high above the surrounding country. In 1612 the polder was dry and the land was divided among the investors. In the earlier days of the polder, farmers occupied its lands for growing the crops necessary for long sea journeys by the [[Dutch East India Company|VOC]] to the East Indies. The farmland was so good that the project was considered an economic success, in contrast to, e.g., the [[Heerhugowaard]]. Since 1999 the entire Beemster [[polder]] has been on the UNESCO world heritage list.

The Beemster polder is home to CONO Kaasmakers, maker of the Beemster brand of cheeses. This co-op was formed in 1901 to create cheese made from milk that comes from the Beemster polder. Today [[Beemster Cheese]]<ref>[http://www.beemstercheese.us www.beemstercheese.us]</ref> is sold in Europe, as well as the U.S., Canada, Japan, and China.

==World Heritage Site==
Because of its historical relevance, and as the original structure of the area is still largely intact, the Beemster was added to the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] list in 1999.<ref name="eye">{{cite book|title=DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: The Netherlands: The Netherlands|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HFFTqI5PoYsC|date=1 August 2011|publisher=DK Publishing|isbn=978-0-7566-8476-1|page=175}}</ref> Justification for inclusion is as follows:
* (i): The Beemster Polder is a masterpiece of creative planning, in which the ideals of antiquity and the Renaissance were applied to the design of a reclaimed landscape.
* (ii): The innovative and intellectually imaginative landscape of the Beemster Polder had a profound and lasting impact on reclamation projects in Europe and beyond.
* (iv): The creation of the Beemster Polder marks a major step forward in the interrelationship between humankind and water at a crucial period of social and economic expansion.

In addition, in the Beemster Polder, there are five fortresses as part of the [[Stelling van Amsterdam]], another [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]. The Beemster Polder combines two [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Sites]].

== Local government ==
The municipal council of Beemster consisted of 13 seats which at the last [[2018 Dutch municipal elections|elections in 2018]] divided as follows:<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 March 2018 |title=Beemster municipal election 2018 |url=https://www.verkiezingsuitslagen.nl/verkiezingen/detail/GR20180321/671664|access-date=9 June 2024|website=www.verkiezingsuitslagen.nl|language=nl}}</ref>
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|
* Beemster Polder Partij - 6 seats
* [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy|VVD]] - 3 seats 
* [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|PvdA]] - 2 seats
* [[Democrats 66|D66]] - 1 seat
* [[Christian Democratic Appeal|CDA]] - 1 seat
}}
The last mayor was [[Joyce van Beek]] (CDA).

Elections were held in November 2021 for a council for the new merged municipality of Purmerend, that included Beemster, which commenced work in January 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 November 2021 |title=Purmerend municipal election 2021 |url=https://www.verkiezingsuitslagen.nl/verkiezingen/detail/GR20211124/687328 |access-date=9 June 2024|website=verkiezingsuitslagen.nl|language=nl}}</ref>

== Notable people ==
[[File:Carel Fabritius - Self-Portrait - Google Art Project.jpg|120px|thumb|Carel Fabritius, ca.1645]]
* [[Carel Fabritius]] (1622 in Middenbeemster – 1654) a Dutch painter
* [[Barent Fabritius]] (1624 in Middenbeemster - 1673) a Dutch painter 
* [[Johannes Fabritius]] (1636 – ca.1693) a [[Dutch Golden Age]] painter
* The Reverend [[Nanne Zwiep]] (1894 in Beemster – 1942 in Dachau) a pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church
* [[Harry Droog]] (born 1944) a retired Dutch rower, competed at the [[1968 Summer Olympics]]
* [[Erik Postma]] (1953 – 2002 in Middenbeemster) a Dutch politician, Mayor of Beemster from 1998

==See also==
*[[Museum Betje Wolff]]

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode=packed>
File:Inlaatsluis nabij Zuiddijk 14 - Beemster - 20335089 - RCE.jpg|Inlet sluice near Zuiddijk 14 - Beemster
File:Tuinderswoning Beemster, NOM, 05.11.jpg|Beemster gardener's house, now in the [[Netherlands Open Air Museum|Dutch Open Air Museum]]
File:Say cheeeeese..... (34160805296).jpg|Beemster cheese
File:Inlaatsluis nabij Volgerweg 20 - Beemster - 20335090 - RCE.jpg|Inlet sluice near Volgerweg 20 - Beemster
</gallery>

==References==

===Footnotes===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book|editor=Van de Ven, G.|title=Leefbaar laagland|publisher=Matrijs|year=1996 |edition=4th, revised reprint}}
*{{cite book|last=Groenedijk|first=T.|title=Nederlandse plaatsnamen|publisher=Slingenberg Boekproducties|location=Hoogeveen, Netherlands |year=2000}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}
*[http://www.beemster.net/ Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612195140/http://www.beemster.net/ |date=2008-06-12 }}

{{Geographic location
 | Centre    = Beemster
 | North     = [[Koggenland]]
 | East      = [[Edam-Volendam]]
 | Southeast = [[Purmerend]]
 | South     = [[Wormerland]]
 | West      = [[Alkmaar]]
}}
{{World Heritage Sites in the Netherlands}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Former municipalities of North Holland]]
[[Category:Polders of North Holland]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Former lakes of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:1612 establishments in the Dutch Republic]]
[[Category:Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2022]]
[[Category:Geography of Purmerend|*]]

{{northHolland-geo-stub}}