Hoorn

Hoorn is an old city in the Dutch province of North-Holland. Hoorn is well known in the Netherlands for its rich history. Many of the houses in the historical city centre date back to the 17th and 18th centuries, especially in the area north of the harbour.

Understand
According to the Frisian legend, Hoorn was founded as early as 716 AD, only to burn down eight years later and rebuilt some time after that. It's assumed that the 'original' settlement was located in what is now the Markermeer. The oldest remnants of Hoorn to have been found date from around 1200 AD. The town gained its city rights in 1356 or 1357, which gave Hoorn the ability to observe its own laws, and to collect taxes. This made Hoorn into an appealing city for trade, and before long, the city had surpassed every other trade city on the Zuiderzee barring Amsterdam. A lively cloth industry developed in the 15th century, putting cloth on the market that was rivalled by that of cities the like of Leiden, The Hague and Haarlem. The cloth trade, however, stagnated after the Hook and Cod wars (1350 - 1490) and the Guelders Wars (1502 - 1543). This made the city look elsewhere for its income, which was found in the East Sea trade, where grains from Poland and Lithuania was transported and sold in Italy.

During the Dutch Revolt, Hoorn chose the side of the reformation and Prince of Orange in 1572, making it an early supporter of that side against the King of Spain, Philips II. In the following year, Hoorn was site to the Battle on the Zuiderzee, in which the Dutch revolters and Geuzen took superiority over the inland sea after destroying the Army of Flanders. This battle and the victory is depicted on the façade of the Bossuhuizen.

Hoorn flourished in the 16th and 17th century, being one of the cities to hold a seat in the Dutch East India Company. The West India Company and Northern Company were also (partly) based out of Hoorn, and the city shared its minting rights with Enkhuizen. Hoorn additionally was the seat of power for the Noorderkwartier en West-Friesland, making it the formal capital north of the river IJ. Hoorn additionally gave rise to some household names when it comes to sea-faring, albeit some that are controversial figures in the modern-day. Hoorn's role in the so-called Dutch Empire is still evident in the places and ships named for it, first and foremost Cape Horn (Dutch: Kaap Hoorn).

The 18th century brought stagnation to Hoorn once more. The harbours had filled with sediment, and ships instead docked in Amsterdam or Zaandam, which was where the ships were typically built as well. This all came to a head at the start of the French period of the Netherlands. The old town hall was torn down, and Hoorn lost its position as a capital, as the Noorderkwartier was merged into a singular province by the name of Holland. When in 1810 Holland was split into two, the new capital of North Holland instead became Haarlem. Hoorn however, persevered and found some new riches in the cheese market, growing itself out to host the largest cheese market of North Holland. Hoorn also saw itself become a garrisoned city and an important railway junction. Informally, Hoorn came to function as a capital city again, though it shared many of those tasks with Alkmaar. In 2021, Hoorn is home to almost 74,000 people, a fair share of which commute to their work in mostly Alkmaar and Amsterdam.

By car
From Amsterdam or Schiphol Airport, Hoorn can be reached by taking the A10, the A8 and then the A7.

By train
Hoorn has two train stations, both of which are serviced by NS. The main train station, serving the city centre, is. The other station,, serves mostly the east of the city, which is mostly suburban in nature.

Intercity services from NS between Hoorn and Amsterdam Centraal run every half hour, taking just over half an hour to connect the two, and only stopping at Amsterdam Sloterdijk along the way. From Schiphol, your journey will take you to Amsterdam Centraal to use the aforementioned service, or directly via a Sprinter (stopping train) service to Hoorn Kersenboogerd. The first option takes about 50 minutes, the later three quarters of an hour.

By boat
Most of the year, river boats visit the city's harbour. The harbour is at the city center, which makes the museums and old city accessible by foot.

Get around
Overal and EBS operate local buses throughout the area.

Landmarks
Hoorn's compact medieval centre is home to too many beautiful late medieval buildings to mention. Within walking distance of each other you can find:

Go next
About 15 km east of Hoorn lies the equally picturesque city of Enkhuizen. A little further to the north is Medemblik.