Huizen


Huizen is a municipality and a village in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.
The name "Huizen" is Dutch for "houses" and this usage has been linked to the belief that the first stone houses, instead of the more common sod houses at the time, in the region appeared here. Huizen is part of the metropolitan area of Amsterdam.

History

Huizen was originally an agricultural village, about 2 kilometres from the sea. During wintertime the farmers went fishing, which started the development from an agricultural village to a coastal village with a thriving fishing industry, which was stimulated by building the harbour around 1850. After the damming of the Zuider Zee by the Afsluitdijk in 1932, the old sea was degraded to a mere freshwater lake, and economical activities shifted towards industry and commerce.
In the 1960s the town was designated to build substantially large residential areas, to overcome the housing shortage in the region. From then on, the village took on an influx of people and grew rapidly.
Where the Phohi-flat now stands in Huizen was, before World War II, the site of a large transmitter intended for contacting the Dutch East Indies, some 12.000 km away.
A post mill that stood in Huizen was dismantled in 1916. It was re-erected in 1919 at the Netherlands Open Air Museum, Arnhem, Gelderland.

Topography

Huizen is part of the area 'Het Gooi'. 'Het Gooi' is known in the Netherlands as the home of the rich and famous.
Dutch Topographic map of Huizen, March 2014.

Local government

The municipal council of Huizen consists of 27 seats, which are divided as follows:

Transport

With its population of close to 42,000, Huizen is one of the larger towns without railway connection in the Netherlands. On a national level, it's preceded by Drachten and Oosterhout.

Notable people