Giethoorn

Village in Overijssel, Netherlands

Flag

Coat of arms

Nicknames:

Venice of the North^[1]
Venice of the Netherlands^[2]

52°44′20″N 6°4′41″E / 52.73889°N 6.07806°E / 52.73889; 6.07806CountryNetherlandsProvince

OverijsselMunicipalitySteenwijkerlandArea

^[3]

• Total38.47 km² (14.85 sq mi)Elevation

^[4]

−0.3 m (−1.0 ft)Population

(2021)^[3]

• Total2,805 • Density73/km² (190/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+1 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Postal code

8355^[3]

Dialing code0521

Giethoorn (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣitɦoːr(ə)n]) is a village in the province of Overijssel, Netherlands, with a population of 2,795 in 2020. It is located in the municipality of Steenwijkerland, about 5 km (3.1 mi) southwest of Steenwijk. As a popular Dutch tourist destination both within the Netherlands and abroad, Giethoorn is often referred to as "Dutch Venice" (Dutch: Hollands Venetië) or the "Venice of the Netherlands".

History

Giethoorn used to be a pedestrian precinct, but nowadays exceptions are made. It became locally famous, especially after 1958, when the Dutch film maker Bert Haanstra made his famous comedy Fanfare there. In the old part of the village, there were no roads (though a cycling path was eventually added), and all transport was undertaken by water over one of the many canals. The lakes in Giethoorn were formed by peat digging.

Giethoorn was a separate municipality until 1973, when it became part of Brederwiede, which subsequently lost its municipality status in 2001 to merge with Steenwijk.^[5]

Tourism

Tourism has an influence on the old traditional town. The village, still only fully accessible by boat, is one of several places commonly known as the Venice of the North^[6] or Venice of the Netherlands.^[7] Giethoorn has 176 bridges.^[8]

The village in 1946
The village in 1955
The village in 2014

Monopoly edition

In 2015, the village of Giethoorn was chosen from 182 contenders across the world to achieve a place on the board of the new international edition of Monopoly.^[1] An online campaign led by local Village Marketeer Giethoorn.com resulted in enough votes to obtain spot number 21 on the special edition.

Notable people

Jonnie Boer (born 1965), Michelin star winning head chef^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b Dutch News article (in English): "Dutch village of Giethoorn wins place on new international Monopoly set".
^ Pradinuk, Ron (19 October 2019). "Oct 2019: 'Venice of the Netherlands' a scenic delight". Winnipeg Free Press.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2021". Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
^ "Postcodetool for 8355AA". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
^ Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, Repertorium van Nederlandse gemeenten, KNAW, 2011.
^ "Giethoorn travel guide". Retrieved 25 March 2019.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Photos from Giethoorn, Venice of the Netherlands". Archived from the original on 23 April 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
^ "Holland.com Giethoorn guide". 6 April 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
^ "Jonnie Boer". Cas Spijkers Academie (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 March 2022.