Zutphen (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈzʏtfə(n)]ⓘ) is a city and municipality located in theprovince ofGelderland,Netherlands. It lies some 30 km (18.6 mi) northeast ofArnhem, on the eastern bank of the riverIJssel at the point where it is joined by theBerkel. First mentioned in the 11th century, the place-name appears to mean "southfen" (zuid-veen in modernDutch). In 2005, the municipality of Zutphen was merged with the municipality ofWarnsveld, retaining its name. In 2021, the municipality had a population of 48,111.
In about300 AD, aGermanic settlement was the first permanent town on a complex of the low river dunes. While many such settlements were abandoned in the earlyMiddle Ages, Zutphen, on the strategic confluence ofIJssel andBerkel, stayed. After the incorporation of the IJssel lands inCharlemagne'sFrancia, Zutphen became a local centre ofgovernance under theCount of Zutphen. TheNormans raided and ravaged it in882. Afterwards, acircular fortress was built to protect the budding town againstViking attacks.
In the eleventh century, Zutphen was a royal residence for a number of years; apfalz was built, together with a largechapter church, the predecessor of the present St. Walburgis. The counts of Zutphen acquired a lot of power until the line of counts became extinct in the twelfth century. After the death of her father and her brother,Ermengarde, the heiress of Zutphen married the count ofGuelders; her sonHenry I, Count of Guelders was the first to have both titles.
The settlement receivedtown rights between 1191 and 1196, allowing it to self govern and have a judicial court. One of the oldest towns in the country, onlyUtrecht andDeventer preceded it in receiving town rights. Zutphen, in turn, became the mother town of several other towns in Guelders, such asArnhem,Doetinchem,Doesburg,Lochem,Harderwijk,Venlo andEmmerich. It also became part of theHanseatic League, a group of towns with great wealth; this league was the economic centre in that part ofEurope.
During the 12th century, coins were minted in Zutphen by the Counts of Guelders and Zutphen:Henry I (c. 1150–1181) andOtto I (1182–1207). Although the city hadminting rights for a few centuries, this was only actively used during four periods: 1478–1480, 1582–1583, 1604–1605 and 1687–1692.
The largest and oldest church of the city is the St. Walburgis (Saint Walpurga) church, which originally dates from the eleventh century. The presentGothic building contains monuments of the former counts of Zutphen, a fourteenth-centurycandelabrum, an elaborate copperfont (1527), and a monument to theVan Heeckeren family (1700). Thechapter-house's library (Librije [nl]) contains a pre-Reformation collection, including some valuablemanuscripts andincunabula. It is considered one of only five remaining medieval libraries in Europe (in England and Italy). Thischained library's books are still chained to their ancient wooden desk – a custom from centuries ago, when the "public library" used chains to prevent theft.
Having been fortified, the town withstood several sieges, especially during theEighty Years' War, the most celebrated fight under its walls being theBattle of Zutphen in September 1586 whenSir Philip Sidney was mortally wounded. Surrendered over the Spanish in 1587 by English defectorRowland York, Zutphen was recovered byMaurice, Prince of Orange, inthe 1591 siege, and except for two short periods, one in 1672 and the other during theFrench Revolutionary Wars, it has since remained a part of the Netherlands. Its fortifications were dismantled in 1874. InWorld War II, the town was bombed several times by the allied forces because the bridge over the IJssel was vital to support the German troops at Arnhem after theOperation Market Garden. After two weeks of battle, the town was liberated on 14 April 1945. After the war, a renovation program started. Nowadays, Zutphen has one of the best-preserved medieval town centres of northwestern Europe, including the remains of the medieval town wall and a few hundred buildings dating from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries.
Map of the city of Zutphen, 2014The IJssel river in ZutphenZutphen's old city centre
The old center survived theSecond World War almost in its entirety despite thebombing of Zutphen. However, some parts of the city were lost, especially the area around therailway station, in the northern part of the city centre, known as theNieuwstad (English: New City). The city center includes many monumental buildings dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries, and some even date back to the 13th century, such as a retirement home area. There are also remains of the old town walls in several places.
Today, Zutphen is a modern small city. The urban area, which includes the village of Warnsveld, has about 51,000 inhabitants. Food shops are open from 8:30; Other stores are open from 9:30 to 18:00 on weekdays, on Friday evenings until 21:00 and on Saturdays until 17:00. Some stores open earlier, and the larger supermarkets usually stay open until 22:00.
Because Zutphen contains many historical buildings with atower, Zutphen is often called the tower city. As there are almost no modern high-rise buildings in thecity centre, the historical towerspires are very visible and form theskyline. The title of 'tower city' is often used in advertising to draw tourists.
TheSt Walburgis' Church [nl] was built as a Romancollegiate church around 1050 and initiated by theBishop Burchard of Utrecht in 1105. After that, between 1200 and 1270, the church was rebuilt to aRomano-Gothicbasilica. Later in the 14th century additional parts were added. After a fire in the belfry in 1446, the stone tower was remodelled between 1482–1484 where a large needle spire was added, resulting in a total height of 107.5 meters. Higher than theDom Tower of Utrecht which was 104 meters at the time, though, after a lightning strike in 1600 which resulted in a destructive fire, the current tower is 76 meters tall after restorations in 1633. There are sixbells in the tower, which are still rung by hand.
Since 1561 a library called the Librije was added to the church. It was founded as apublic library for the rich citizens of Zutphen. The library contains an important collection of 15th to 17th century books.
The Broederen (brothers) church is a largely early 14th-centurymonastery church of theDominican order. Since 1983 the church has been used as the city's public library, and it has recently been extensively restored. On top of the church, a roof turret from 1771 contains the porter's bell. This bell is still rung every day between 9:50 and 22:00 the time at which, until 1853, thecity gates would be closed.
The Nieuwstadt (new city) church houses theCatholic community. It was founded as aparish church around 1250. Since then, it has been expanded, remodelled and restored many times. It has four original medieval bells.
The Drogenaps tower was built between 1444 and 1446 as a city gate. In 1465 the entrance was bricked up, after which it became known as a tower instead of a gate. City musicianTonis Drogenap lived there around 1555, and the tower's current name is derived from him. From 1888 to 1927, the tower was used as awater tower.
The Wijnhuis (Winery) Tower was built between 1618 and 1642 by the city master builder Emond Hellenraet, influenced byHendrick de Keyser. In 1644 the brothersPieter and François Hemony made the world's first correctly tunedcarillon for this tower. During the summer months, carillon concerts are regularly held.
The Berkel gate is part of the city wall on the east side of the medieval city. This gate over theriver Berkel connected the old and new cities. It was built in 1320. It also had a western counterpart, but that gate was demolished in 1772.
The city of Zutphen had almost 400 nationalmonuments and over 500 local monuments. It is one of the most important and well-preserved historical city centers in the Netherlands.[citation needed] Zutphen has a great many medieval, especially 14th-century, houses. These houses, often with ornamental facades, can be seen throughout the city center. There are several large 18th and 19th century buildings near the old city market that used to belong to well-to-do citizens and merchants.
Zutphen, although relatively small, is a center for Dutch legal institutions. Zutphen houses one of the 13 Dutch courts, as well as the national training institution for judges and public prosecutors (SSR), the national police academy for senior police investigators, three prisons, and a large number of lawyers. The early emergence of Zutphen in the Middle Ages as the main town of a county explains its prominent position in the juridical system.
Besides a 'normal' prison, theJPC de Sprengen penitentiary facility for boys is also located in Zutphen. There are several buildings: new institutions replacing the old facilities, but the old prisons remained open after the completion of the new facilities. Only the old prison called Lunette did not meet today's standards and closed in 2008.[5]
Located in Zutphen is the "Spittal", location of theGelre Ziekenhuizen (Gelre Hospitals) group. This regular hospital offers all common specialties (no cardio-thoracic or neurosurgery) and a 24/7 emergency department. It is located in the southeastern part of the town, in the district of Leesten. A sizable number of practitioners of alternative medicine are located in Zutphen.
Zutphen is home to several well-known schools for secondary education on all levels. These include the "Het Stedelijk" (Dalton plan education and bilingual education), "Baudartius College", "Vrije School Zutphen", (a "Vrije School" being aWaldorf School), and "Isendoorn College" (with bilingual education, located inWarnsveld). Students from a wide area around Zutphen learn at these schools.
Zutphen railway station is an important regional railway centre. The main electrified lines, toDeventer andZwolle in the north, and toArnhem andNijmegen in the south, are run by the national railway companyNederlandse Spoorwegen (NS). The secondary lines toWinterswijk andApeldoorn are operated byArriva. The secondary line toHengelo is operated by Blauwnet (a division ofSyntus). The regional rail service is run by a special subsidiary of the NS. All secondary lines run diesel trains. Zutphen's old station building (1863), upgraded in 1875, was partly destroyed duringWorld War II. In the early 1950s a modern new station was built, a typical post-war building with concrete as its main material.[6]However, in October 2007, the station building was designated as a State Monument. In 2006 and 2007, the railway station area was completely renovated: a new bus terminal and an underground bicycle parking lot were constructed, and the main road leading from the railway station to the town centre was turned into a road for pedestrians and cyclists only.
Zutphen lies 10 kilometers south of the A1 motorway, which can be entered where it passesDeventer. From there the A1 leads East toHengelo and West pastApeldoorn toAmsterdam. Main roads are the N348 (Arnhem to Zutphen, Deventer and Ommen), N314 (Zutphen to Doetinchem), N319 (Zutphen to Vorden and Winterswijk), N345 (Zutphen to Lochem and Hengelo), N826 (Zutphen to Almen and Laren).
Almost all buses in and around Zutphen areArriva. There are three internal city bus lines, and regional lines toDoetinchem,Deventer,Almen-Laren andVorden. The bus lines towardsApeldoorn andDieren were canceled in the past; these towns and the destinations in between can now only be reached by car or by train.
Delegations including the mayors of the cities visited each other, and developmental aid programs were in place with Satu Mare, Tartu and Villa Sandino. However, Zutphen's authority decided in 2018 to sever official links with all of its sister cities on the grounds of cost.[8]
Pieter and François Hemony (c. 1609–1667 and 1619–1680) bell founders, who built the world's first tuned carillon, installed in Zutphen's Wijnhuistoren tower in 1644
^"Postcodetool for 7201DN".Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Archived fromthe original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved24 July 2014.
.svg)
.jpg)
