Marken

Marken
Village
Marken in 2015
Top: location of the municipality of Waterland in North Holland and the Netherlands. Bottom: location of Marken in Waterland.
Coordinates: 52°27′30″N 5°6′24″E / 52.45833°N 5.10667°ECoordinates: 52°27′30″N 5°6′24″E / 52.45833°N 5.10667°E
Country	Netherlands
Province	North Holland
Municipality	Waterland
Area (2012)[1]
• Total	270 ha (670 acres)
• Land	267 ha (660 acres)
• Water	3 ha (7 acres)
Population (2012)[1]
• Total	1,810
• Density	670/km^2 (1,700/sq mi)
Postal code	1156[2]
Area code	0299[3]

Marken (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑrkə(n)]; Marken's dialect: Mereke) is a village with a population of 1,810 in the municipality of Waterland in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. Marken forms a peninsula in the Markermeer and was formerly an island in the Zuiderzee. The characteristic wooden houses of Marken are a tourist attraction.

History

Marken was an island in the Zuiderzee.^[4]

For some time during the later 19th and early 20th centuries, Marken and its inhabitants were the focus of considerable attention by folklorists, ethnographers and physical anthropologists, who regarded the small fishing town as a relic of the traditional native culture that was destined to disappear as the modernization of the Netherlands gained pace.^[5] Among them was Johann Friedrich Blumenbach who examined a skull from the island of humans which he called Batavus genuinus; and was the Belgian painter Xavier Mellery who stayed in Marken at the request of Decoster. Mellery was asked to perform illustrative work and delivered several intimist works.

The projects of Cornelis Lely was to incorporated the island into the markerwaard. The dike, built in 1941 in the north, is the first phase of that project which was stopped by the war.

In 1983, the Marker Museum about the history of the island was opened.^[6]

Marken was a separate municipality until 1991, when it was merged into Waterland.^[7]

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  Girls in traditional costumes (c. 1900)

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  Fisherman in traditional costume (c. 1900)

Geography

Marken is located at 52°27′30″N 5°6′24″E / 52.45833°N 5.10667°E in the municipality of Waterland in the east of the province of North Holland in the west of the Netherlands. Marken is a peninsula in the Markermeer, of which is it is the namesake, and is connected to the mainland of North Holland by a causeway.

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  Satellite image

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  Aerial photograph

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  Street in 2009

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  Wooden house

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  Paard van Marken, the lighthouse

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  Marker Museum

A panorama of Marken showing the community of Grote Werf with the village of Marken in the background

Demography

In 2012, Marken had a population of 1,810 and a population density of 679/km² (1,760/sq mi).^[1]

References

1. (Dutch) Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2009-2012, Statline, Statistics Netherlands, 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
2. (Dutch) Zoekresultaten, Postcode.nl. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
3. (Dutch) Netnummer zoeken, Telefoonboek.nl. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
4. (Dutch) Geschiedenis van Marken, Marker Museum. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
5. H.W. Roodenburg, "Marken als relict: het samengaan van schilderkunst, toerisme, volkskunde en fysische antropologie rond 1900". Volkskundig Bulletin 25.2/3 (1999), 197-214.
6. (Dutch) Het Marker Museum, Marker Museum. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
7. Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, Repertorium van Nederlandse gemeenten, KNAW, 2006.

External links

• (Dutch) Marken at the website of the municipality of Waterland
• Marken travel guide from Wikivoyage
• J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, "Marken". Map of the former municipality, around 1868.