View source for Oudewater

{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
<!-- Name and transliteration -->
| name                    = Oudewater
| settlement_type         = [[List of municipalities of the Netherlands|Municipality]]
<!-- Images, nickname, motto -->
| image_skyline           = Oudewater 13052012C.JPG
| image_alt               = 
| image_caption           = Oudewater town centre
| image_flag              = Flag of Oudewater.svg
| flag_size               = 100x67px
| flag_alt                = 
| image_shield            = Oudewater wapen.svg
| shield_size             = 100x80px
| shield_alt              = 
<!-- Maps, coordinates -->
| image_map               = Map - NL - Municipality code 0589 (2009).svg
| map_alt                 = Highlighted position of Oudewater in a municipal map of Utrecht
| map_caption             = Location in Utrecht
| coordinates             = {{coord|52|1|N|4|52|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       = [[Utrecht (province)|Utrecht]]
| government_footnotes    = <ref name="mayor_now">{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.oudewater.nl/bestuur-organisatie/burgemeester-en-wethouders_3917/item/samenstelling-en-portefeuilleverdeling_8943.html
 |title       = Samenstelling en portefeuilleverdeling
 |trans-title = Members and tasks
 |language    = nl
 |publisher   = Gemeente Oudewater
 |access-date  = 8 April 2014
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140408213006/http://www.oudewater.nl/bestuur-organisatie/burgemeester-en-wethouders_3917/item/samenstelling-en-portefeuilleverdeling_8943.html
 |archive-date = 8 April 2014
}}</ref>
| governing_body          = [[Municipal council (Netherlands)|Municipal council]]
| leader_party            = [[Christian Democratic Appeal|CDA]]
| leader_title            = [[Burgemeester|Mayor]]
| leader_name             = [[Danny de Vries]]
<!-- 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|Oudewater}}
| area_land_km2           = {{Dutch municipality land area|Oudewater}}
| area_water_km2          = {{Dutch municipality water area|Oudewater}}
| elevation_footnotes     = <ref name="AHN">{{cite web 
 |url = http://www.ahn.nl/postcodetool
 |title = Postcodetool for 3421AH
 |language = nl
 |author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> 
 |work = Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland
 |publisher = Het Waterschapshuis
 |access-date = 8 April 2014}}</ref>
| elevation_m             = 2
| 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|Oudewater}}
| population_as_of        = {{MONTHNAME|{{Dutch municipality population|popbasemonth}}}} {{Dutch municipality population|popbaseyear}}
| population_density_km2  = {{Dutch municipality population density|Oudewater}} <!-- 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             = 3420–3425
| area_code_type          = [[Telephone numbers in the Netherlands|Area code]]
| area_code               = 0348
| website                 = {{URL|1=http://www.oudewater.nl}}
| footnotes               =
}}
[[File:Gem-Oudewater-OpenTopo.jpg|265px|thumb|''Map of the municipality of Oudewater, June 2015'']]

'''Oudewater''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈʌudəˌʋaːtər|-|Nl-Oudewater.ogg}}) is a municipality and a city in the [[Netherlands]].

== History ==
The origin of the town of Oudewater is obscure and no information has been found concerning the first settlement of citizens. It is also difficult to recover the name of Oudewater. One explanation is that the name is a corruption of ''old [[water-meadow]]''. Oudewater was an important border city between [[Holland]] and [[Utrecht (province)|Utrecht]]. Oudewater (lit. "Old water") was of great strategic importance.

The town was granted [[City rights in the Netherlands|city rights]] in 1265 by [[Hendrik van Vianden]], the [[Archdiocese of Utrecht (695–1580)|bishop of Utrecht]].

Oudewater took its place in the First Free States council in Dordrecht on 19 July 1572, Oudewater was one of the twelve cities taking part in the first free convention of the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]] in [[Dordrecht]]. This was a meeting that laid down the origin of the State of the Netherlands, as we know it now, under the leadership of the House of Orange. This happened at the beginning of the [[Eighty Years' War]] (1568–1648) when the Netherlands were still part of the [[Spanish Empire]]. After a [[Siege of Oudewater (1575)|Siege of Oudewater]], the city was conquered by the Spanish on 7 August 1575, and most of its inhabitants were killed, including the family of famous Oudewater native and Protestant theologian [[Jacobus Arminius]] (1560-1609).

In the 16th and 17th century, Oudewater was an important producer of [[rope]]. In the surrounding area, [[hemp]] was cultivated. There still is a rope manufacturing plant and a rope museum in the town.

In 1970 the municipality of Oudewater moved from the province of South Holland to the province of Utrecht.

== Geography ==
Oudewater is located at {{coords|52|1|N|4|52|E}} in the southwest of the province of [[Utrecht (province)|Utrecht]] in the center of the [[Netherlands]]. It is situated where the Linschoten river flows out in the [[Hollandse IJssel]].

Oudewater is bordered by the municipalities of [[Montfoort]] (in the northeast), [[Lopik]] (southeast), [[Krimpenerwaard]] (southwest), and [[Bodegraven-Reeuwijk]] (northwest).

The municipality of Oudewater consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: [[Diemerbroek]], [[Hekendorp]], [[Hoenkoop]], [[Lange Linschoten]], Oudewater, [[Papekop]], [[Ruigeweide]], and [[Snelrewaard]].

== Buildings ==
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2024}}
[[File:Oudewater-Waag.jpg|thumb|left|The [[weigh house]] in 2012]]

Oudewater is famous for the ''Heksen[[waag]]'' ([[Witchcraft|Witch]]es' [[Weighing scale|scales]]). The weighing house, an official town building, became famous at the height of the [[Witch trials in the early modern period#Peak of the trials: 1560–1630|European witch trials]] of the 16th century because people accused of [[witchcraft]] were offered a fair chance to prove their innocence, unlike in many other places, where the scales were rigged. 

From all over Europe, people made the journey to Oudewater to avoid prosecution. After the weighing, they received an official certificate proclaiming them not a witch. Nobody was ever found to be an actual witch in Oudewater, though the weighings were still a public spectacle. Certificates would state that "the body weight is in proportion to its build". The reasoning behind this is the old belief that a witch has no soul and therefore weighs significantly less than an ordinary person; this distinction would supposedly allow the witch to fly on a broomstick. 
[[File:Oudewater, stadszicht met kerk2 2009-04-13 16.53.JPG|thumb|left|View to the town]]
The weighings can be seen as a sign of the growing power of the citizenry as a third force next to that of the church and nobility. In giving out these certificates, the citizens of Oudewater, therefore, were defying the church.

The Waag is still open as a tourist attraction, and official certificates are available. 

The town hall dates from 1588 and features a stork's nest. Oudewater has a monumental protected city centre with more than 250 protected houses. The church, now [[Protestant]], dates from the 15th century. Its tower is from about 1300. During the religious wars, until the sacking of Oudewater, both [[Roman Catholic]]s and Protestants used this church. Thereafter Catholics were still tolerated (the Spanish occupiers being Catholic) but more in low profile.

== In fiction ==

Oudewater is the setting for the 1975 novel ''Das Geheimnis des Baron Oudewater'' set in the 16th century, when the Netherlands was fighting for its independence from Spain. Written by the German author Alberta Rommel, it has been described as a romantic historical novel.

The 2014 film ''[[Reckless (2014 film)|Reckless]]'' was filmed in Oudewater.

== Notable people ==
[[File:Gerard David selfportrait in The Virgin among the Virgins.jpg|155px|thumb|Gerard David, self-portrait, 1509]]
* [[Albert van Ouwater]] (ca.1410/1415 – 1475) an early artist of [[Early Netherlandish painting]] working in the Northern Netherlands
* [[Gerard David]] (ca.1460–1523) an [[Early Netherlandish painting|Early Netherlandish painter]] and manuscript illuminator, used brilliant colour
* [[Rudolph Snellius]] (1546–1613) a Dutch linguist and mathematician, a political and intellectual force of the [[Dutch Golden Age]]
* [[Jacobus Arminius]] (1560–1609) a Dutch theologian, formed [[Arminianism]] and the Dutch [[Remonstrant]] movement
* [[Hendrikus Albertus Lorentz]] (1871–1944) a Dutch explorer in [[New Guinea]] and diplomat in [[South Africa]]
* [[Jan Montyn]] (1924–2015) a Dutch artist, specialized in [[etching]]
* [[Wim Klever]] (born 1930 in Snelrewaard) a Dutch scholar of the Jewish Dutch philosopher [[Baruch Spinoza]]
* [[Dirk de Ridder (sailor)|Dirk de Ridder]] (born 1972) a sailor, competed at the [[2000 Summer Olympics]]

==Image gallery==
<gallery mode=packed>
Image:Oudewater, stadszicht met kerk1 2009-04-13 16.41.JPG|Church near a canal
File:Oudewater, de Sint-Franciskuskerk RM517464 vanaf de Waardsedijk IMG 9275 2019-04-20 13.21.jpg|Church: the Sint-Franciskuskerk from Waardsedijk
File:Oudewater, zicht op gracht en brug vanaf West IJsselkade IMG 9276 2019-04-20 13.41.jpg|View to the canal and the bridge from IJsselkade
File:KerkOudewater.JPG|St.-Michaëls kerk, Oudewater
File:Oudewater, straatzicht met voormalig stadhuis RM32083 foto2 2013-07-07 11.39.jpg|Former townhall in 2013
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website|http://www.oudewater.nl/}}
* [http://www.visit-oudewater.nl/ Tourist information]
* [http://www.heksenwaag.nl/ Museum de Heksenwaag]
* {{Wikivoyage-inline|Oudewater}}

{{Geographic location
 | Centre    = Oudewater
 | North     = [[Montfoort]]
 | East      = [[Montfoort]]
 | South     = [[Lopik]]
 | Southwest = [[Krimpenerwaard]] ([[South Holland|ZH]])
 | Northwest = [[Bodegraven-Reeuwijk]] ([[South Holland|ZH]])
}}
{{Dutch municipality Oudewater}}
{{Utrecht Province}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Oudewater| ]]
[[Category:Populated places in Utrecht (province)]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Utrecht (province)]]
[[Category:Former municipalities of South Holland]]
[[Category:Cities in the Netherlands]]