Wijk aan Zee
Encyclopedia
Wijk aan Zee is a small town on the coast of the North Sea
in the municipality of Beverwijk
in the province of North Holland
of the Netherlands
. The prestigious Tata Steel chess tournament formerly Corus chess tournament
and before that called Hoogovens tournament takes place there every year.
Due to its seaside location, Wijk aan Zee has become a popular destination among tourists. Although this is reflected in the village economy (which consists to a large extent of bars and hotels), Wijk aan Zee continues to function more or less traditionally. A sense of community is maintained that is hard to find in other seaside villages, and which manifests itself through a vibrant public life and a strong organisation potential.
had claimed such a title, but this time a large project was to ensue.
Wijk aan Zee came together with villages from England
, Estonia
, France
, Greece
, Italy
, Spain
, Germany
, Denmark
, The Czech Republic and Hungary
in an effort to determine the role and future of villages in Europe
, but also to help each other find ways to cope with difficulties that come to small communities nowadays. Each year, another one of these villages would bear the title of "Cultural Village of Europe".
During the last years, the Cultural Village project led to an increasingly refined picture of what villages have to offer and how to offer it. Simultaneously, this brought about a social critique that is relevant to urban areas as well. It has attracted the attention of the Dutch government, who asked one of the initiators of the project to write an essay about how to 'build' villages.
Recently, a Dutch journalist wrote a book about the project called 'Vital Villages', in which the thoughts and deeds of the 'village movement' are documented.
On the dunes behind Hotel de Wijk, a radar bunker was constructed by the Germans. This was aimed at intercepting enemy ships and planes. These radar screens had a height of twenty meters and for this reason had to deeply set in the concrete of the bunker. These radar installations were called Mammoths Teeth, (Mammutstanden in German). In total there were four places in the Netherlands where these "Mammoths Teeth" stood: Den Helder, Oostkapelle, The Hague and Wijk aan Zee.
In the summer of 1944, after the landings of the Allies, Velsen and some parts of Beverwijk were also evacuated. The occupants of Wijk aan Zee then had to move still further away from their village, generally to Haarlem or Amsterdam. After the liberation and as of 8 June 1945 the people could return to their mostly empty houses.
The German troops that remained were kept by Allied soldiers and Dutch citizen soldiers as Prisoners of War and were kept temporarily in still empty apartments. Before they would return to Germany, they were forced to clear the dams and mine fields. The manner in which this happened was indeed cruel; the soldiers had to clear an area of mines completely by walking arm in arm in wide rows. Some German soldiers lost their lives in this clearing of mines. Some rural occupants didn't like the idea of de-mining being finished so quickly and so it could be that the German soldiers searched a dune area for mines of which they knew for certain mines had been laid. However, the citizen population had personally removed the mines earlier in that area to be able to enter for poaching purposes.
When the village was safely cleared, the German soldiers were sent back to Germany.
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
in the municipality of Beverwijk
Beverwijk
Beverwijk is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast...
in the province of North Holland
North Holland
North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-Holland) is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...
of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The prestigious Tata Steel chess tournament formerly Corus chess tournament
Corus chess tournament
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament formerly called the Corus chess tournament takes place every year, usually in January, in a small town called Wijk aan Zee, part of the larger Beverwijk in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands...
and before that called Hoogovens tournament takes place there every year.
Due to its seaside location, Wijk aan Zee has become a popular destination among tourists. Although this is reflected in the village economy (which consists to a large extent of bars and hotels), Wijk aan Zee continues to function more or less traditionally. A sense of community is maintained that is hard to find in other seaside villages, and which manifests itself through a vibrant public life and a strong organisation potential.
Cultural Village of Europe 1999
In 1999, Wijk aan Zee named itself "Cultural Village of Europe", recognizing the special nature of village life in general. This was three years after the Danish village of TommerupTommerup
Tommerup is a town in central Denmark with a population of 1,618 , located in Assens municipality on the island of Funen.Near Tommerup there is the tallest construction in Denmark , the 321.3 metre tall guyed mast of Brylle transmitter.Although Tommerup was the municipal seat of the former Tommerup...
had claimed such a title, but this time a large project was to ensue.
Wijk aan Zee came together with villages from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, The Czech Republic and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
in an effort to determine the role and future of villages in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, but also to help each other find ways to cope with difficulties that come to small communities nowadays. Each year, another one of these villages would bear the title of "Cultural Village of Europe".
During the last years, the Cultural Village project led to an increasingly refined picture of what villages have to offer and how to offer it. Simultaneously, this brought about a social critique that is relevant to urban areas as well. It has attracted the attention of the Dutch government, who asked one of the initiators of the project to write an essay about how to 'build' villages.
Recently, a Dutch journalist wrote a book about the project called 'Vital Villages', in which the thoughts and deeds of the 'village movement' are documented.
Atlantic Wall
In the dune landscape around Wijk aan Zee some bunkers still remain of the Atlantic Wall, built by the German occupying forces between 1940 and 1944. These coastal defence works (kustverdedigingswerken in Dutch) formed part of the so-called “Fortress IJmuiden,” (Festung IJmuiden in German.) The purpose of the Fortess IJmuiden was to protect the port of IJmuiden and the nearby steel works against attacks from the Allies. All of these defences were protected by a combination of mine fields, tank ditches and dams, some which ran kilometres deep inland. In November 1942 it was decided there would be a complete evacuation of the inhabitants of Wijk aan Zee to the inland country. Many inhabitants withdrew to Beverwijk and Velsen. On 12 August 1943 the occupants could return at their own risk, but on 15 October 1943 the village was once again evacuated.On the dunes behind Hotel de Wijk, a radar bunker was constructed by the Germans. This was aimed at intercepting enemy ships and planes. These radar screens had a height of twenty meters and for this reason had to deeply set in the concrete of the bunker. These radar installations were called Mammoths Teeth, (Mammutstanden in German). In total there were four places in the Netherlands where these "Mammoths Teeth" stood: Den Helder, Oostkapelle, The Hague and Wijk aan Zee.
In the summer of 1944, after the landings of the Allies, Velsen and some parts of Beverwijk were also evacuated. The occupants of Wijk aan Zee then had to move still further away from their village, generally to Haarlem or Amsterdam. After the liberation and as of 8 June 1945 the people could return to their mostly empty houses.
The German troops that remained were kept by Allied soldiers and Dutch citizen soldiers as Prisoners of War and were kept temporarily in still empty apartments. Before they would return to Germany, they were forced to clear the dams and mine fields. The manner in which this happened was indeed cruel; the soldiers had to clear an area of mines completely by walking arm in arm in wide rows. Some German soldiers lost their lives in this clearing of mines. Some rural occupants didn't like the idea of de-mining being finished so quickly and so it could be that the German soldiers searched a dune area for mines of which they knew for certain mines had been laid. However, the citizen population had personally removed the mines earlier in that area to be able to enter for poaching purposes.
When the village was safely cleared, the German soldiers were sent back to Germany.