Elburg

The old Elburg stood closer to the Zuiderzee and was being eaten by it, so in the 1390s Arent toe Boecop, the town's leading citizen, had the whole settlement moved inland and laid out again from scratch on a rectangular grid inside a rampart and moat - four streets one way, four the other, with the church, market and gate in fixed positions. That makes it one of the earliest deliberately planned towns in northern Europe, and the plan is still exactly legible because Elburg then stopped growing. The Vischpoort, a fifteenth-century gate tower on the wall, holds a small museum and is climbable; the Sint-Nicolaaskerk lost its spire in a storm in 1693 and never got it back. The town lost its sea when the Zuiderzee was closed in 1932, and the fishing history and the smokehouse tradition are documented in the museum.

History

Neolithic tools and pottery have been found here, and the earliest written record of Elburg dates from 796. It probably gained town status in the 13th century, received fishing rights in 1313 and was a member of the Hanseatic League by 1367, and between 1392 and 1396 it was rebuilt with a moat, a city wall and a grid of streets (Wikipedia, Elburg).

Highlights

• A planned grid of the 1390s - the whole town moved and laid out again from scratch.
• The plan still legible - four streets each way, unchanged because the town stopped growing.
• The Vischpoort - a fifteenth-century gate tower, climbable, with a museum.
• A lost sea - the Zuiderzee fishing trade ended by the closure of 1932.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Things to know

The town is very small - half a day is enough. Museums close on Mondays. It is busy with day-trippers in summer. The Veluwemeer beside it is a recreation lake, not the sea.

Nearby

Harderwijk is south-west; the Veluwe forests are south.

Key facts