Amstelveen


Amstelveen is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 89,918. It is a suburban part of the metropolitan area of Amsterdam.
The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villages of Bovenkerk and Nes aan de Amstel. In addition, as well as Downtown Amstelveen, the following neighbourhoods have been recently built, : Westwijk, Bankras-Kostverloren, Groenelaan, Waardhuizen, Middenhoven, Randwijk, Elsrijk and Keizer Karelpark. The name Amstelveen comes from the Amstel, a local river and veen, meaning fen, peat, or moor. KLM, the Dutch national airline, has its headquarters office in Amstelveen; in addition the municipality has the international headquarters of one of the Big Four accounting firms, KPMG. Nowadays Amstelveen is best known for its Museum of Modern Art.

History

During the French occupation between 1810 and 1814, Amstelveen was the capital of a canton in the French department Zuyderzée, and until 1964 the municipality of Amstelveen was called Nieuwer-Amstel. It is technically a large dorp, because it was never walled. The symbol adopted for Amstelveen was not based on the Amsterdam symbol of three crosses, with one additional cross for distinction, but rather Amsterdam has one cross fewer, to indicate Amstelveen's and Ouder-Amstel's seniority. The Thijssepark, was the first heempark in the Netherlands, and is one of sixteen heemparks or heemgroen in Amstelveen. Designed by landscape architect C. P. Broerse, following the ideas of the great Dutch naturalist and conservationist Jac. P. Thijsse, it was developed between 1940 and 1972 and covers an area of 5 hectares, and is situated just south of the Amsterdamse Bos. Amstelveen was chosen as an unlikely host of a match in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, for which the Netherlands had not qualified. South Africa played Kenya in the match. Former Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende started his political career as member of the council for Amstelveen. As a result of the vicinity of Schiphol, and its links to Amsterdam, Amstelveen has grown and become a cosmopolitan mix of many cultures.
In the early 20th century Amstelveen was a small rural village. The turf industry had collapsed, so the village had lost its revenues from it. The village was somewhat isolated, because it had no major railway or waterway. The main source of income was livestock farming, with some arable, but horticulture and floriculture were already emerging.
In 1852 the Haarlemmermeer polder was reclaimed and the "Fort at the Schiphol" was created as a defense for Amsterdam. Forts were in those days more often named after rivers. "Fort at the Schiphol" was a ditch separating Aalsmeer and Amstelveen, and named after a piece of land from Amstelveen. Fort Schiphol became a military airport in 1916. Four years later Schiphol became a civilian airport. Schiphol Fort was demolished in 1934 to build a provincial road from Amstelveen to Schiphol, with a swing bridge over the circular canal of the Haarlemmermeer. The development of Schiphol Airport attracted many people, many of whom settled in Amstelveen. The headquarters of KLM was established there. Amstelveen once was the fastest growing city in the Netherlands and has now grown to 81,003 inhabitants.
After World War II Amstelveen caught a portion of Amsterdam's housing shortage, and was also a member of the municipality of Schiphol. Amsterdam's plan was to introduce Amstelveen as a metropolitan area, with its urban and green areas. Amstelveen remained an independent and self-conscious municipality and adopted a policy that reflected many attractive new residential areas. Amstelveen's landscaping and added art attracted much international attention.
In 2003 Amstelveen was voted the most attractive city in the Netherlands in which to live. Currently Amstelveen is in the top three on the national list of best cities to live in. Amstelveen city center also received the number one award for the Netherlands' best shopping center in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
In 2018 the in Bovenkerk caught fire. The tower remained standing but the rest of the church suffered severe damage.
The city's close proximity to Schiphol Airport makes it a prime location for people working in the aviation industry.

Economy

Netherlands has in Amstelveen. Air France-KLM is represented by the KLM head office.
In addition Amstelveen has the international headquarters of KPMG auditing firm. Large international corporations such as Canon and HP also have corporate offices in Amstelveen.

Transport

line 51 once served Amstelveen, but the Amstelveen portion of that line closed so that it could be converted to a tram line. Line 51 was a light rail line that used to run via Amsterdam Zuid station to Westwijk, a district within Amstelveen. Tram line 5 currently runs via Amsterdam Zuid to Stadshart in Amstelveen; it partly shared tracks with the former line 51. A new tram line 25 is currently under construction to replace metro line 51, and is expected to open to Westwijk in early 2021 and to Uithoorn in 2024.
Amstelveen has a point to point bus connection to other villages and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as well as a local network. There is also an extensive bus system.

Tourism and attractions

The municipal council of Amstelveen consists of 37 seats, which were in 2010 divided as follows:

Notable people

Public Thinking & Public Service

Sister cities

Amstelveen is twinned with:

  • Villa El Salvador, Peru
  • Woking, United Kingdom

    • Gallery