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Hoorn

Hoorn
Municipality
Hoorn Skyline.jpg
'Halve Maen' Oostereiland Hoorn (17763807234).jpg
Hoorn - Westfries Museum.jpg Jan Pietersz. Coen.JPG
Hoorn Hoofdtoren 014.jpg Hoorn Station.jpg Hoorn - Korenmarkt.jpg
From top down, left to right: skyline of Hoorn;
Halve Maen; West-Frisian Museum, ;
, Hoorn Central Station, city canal
Flag of Hoorn
Flag
Coat of arms of Hoorn
Coat of arms
Highlighted position of Hoorn in a municipal map of North Holland
Location in North Holland
Coordinates: 52°39′N 5°4′E / 52.650°N 5.067°E / 52.650; 5.067Coordinates: 52°39′N 5°4′E / 52.650°N 5.067°E / 52.650; 5.067
Country Netherlands
Province North Holland
Government
 • Body Municipal council
 • Mayor Jan Nieuwenburg (PvdA)
Area
 • Total 53.25 km2 (20.56 sq mi)
 • Land 20.25 km2 (7.82 sq mi)
 • Water 33.00 km2 (12.74 sq mi)
Elevation −1 m (−3 ft)
Population (May 2014)
 • Total 71,888
 • Density 3,550/km2 (9,200/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postcode 1620–1628, 1689, 1695
Area code 0229
Website www.hoorn.nl

Hoorn [ˈɦoːr(ə)n] is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on the Markermeer, 35 kilometres north of Amsterdam, and acquired city rights in 1357. Hoorn had a population of 71,888 in 2014. The area of the municipality is 53.25 km2 (20.56 sq mi) of which 33.00 km2 (12.74 sq mi) consists of water, mainly the Markermeer. The municipality consists of the following villages and/or districts: Blokker, Hoorn, Zwaag, and parts of Bangert and De Hulk.

Cape Horn, the most southerly point of the Americas, was named after the town by Willem Schouten, who rounded it in 1616. The Hoorn Islands of the Oceanian nation of Wallis and Futuna are also named after this city.

The origin of the name Hoorn, even in old spelling Hoern(e) or Hoirne, is surrounded in myths. Hoorn's name, according to Old Frisian legends, is derived from the stepson of King Redbad (Radboud), called Hornus. Another story about the origin of the name is that it is derived from a sign depicting a post horn in an early 14th-century hanging outside one of the establishments situated on the Roode Steen Square. A third version says that the name was derived from the horn shape of one of its first ports. The author of the 'Origo Civitatis Hornensis' (see page. 256, 'Uit de schemer van Hoorns verleden') assumes that name Hoorn was derived from Damphoorn. Damphoorn is the medieval name for a weed that could be made into whistles, which grew in abundance in the area outside the dykes of Hoorn. Chronicler Velius rejects this statement because there are no old historical entries that Hoorn was called Damphoorn. He wrote: The name was from the start Hoorn: not (against better judgement) derived from the weed Damphoorn, as the current sentiment holds (De name was van eersten af Hoorn: niet (behoudens beter oordeel) van het kruyt Damphoorn, als t'ghemeyne ghevoelen van noch heden hout). Velius also rejects the assertion that the name's origin is Dampter Horn: a neighbourhood of the village Dampten, which flooded and had fallen into disuse.


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Wikipedia

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