The Water Wolf
Around 1500, North Holland was little more
than a series of large lakes, separated from one another by narrow
strips of land. In the early 16th century, four of these lakes
combined to form the Haarlemmermeer (which literally means
'Haarlem Lake' in Dutch). Locals called this new
expanse of water The Water Wolf, because it hungrily engulfed large
tracts of land during storms and floods, sometimes wiping entire
villages off the map. By 1840, the lake had grown to twice its
original size, measuring 18,000 hectares. During heavy storms, the
waves lapped at the walls of Amsterdam and Leiden. The first land
reclamation plans date from the 17th
century, but these were shelved for 200 years
before they were actually executed. Over a period of three years
and three months, three steam-driven pumping stations used 14
million pump strokes to drain 800 million cubic meters of water
into the Ringvaart, a special canal dug around the lake. By 1852,
the bottom of the
lake was in sight.
From poverty to prosperity
Large landowners appropriated 99% of the
reclaimed land, which was cultivated by leaseholders and tenant
farmers, the same men who dug the 62-kilometer Ringvaart and built
the surrounding Ringdijk. These laborers came from the
surrounding areas, but also from the provinces of Friesland and
North Brabant. They built their farms the way they were accustomed
to at home. That is why there are so many different types of farm
houses in the Haarlemmermeer polder. The pioneers led arduous
lives. The ground was swampy and hard to cultivate, and disease
took its toll. The harvests were not only meager, but also raised
little revenue, due to farming crises. It was not until 1900 that
things started to improve for the farmers. They not only got better
prices for their produce, but many also owned the land on which
they worked. Laborers settled in the little villages along the
Ringvaart, attracted by the high wages paid for seasonal labor.
This prosperity continued until the end
of the 1920s.
Modern times
The economic structure of Haarlemmermeer
changed after 1945. The booming civil aviation industry boosted the
importance of Schiphol. The airport gradually expanded, covering
15% of the municipal area in 2003. During the 1970s, Haarlemmermeer
became a haven for city dwellers seeking the spacious tranquility
of the
countryside. Owing to expansion of the airport,
in combination with the growth of villages and the development of
industrial estates and infrastructure, there was less and less room
for agriculture. Employment in this sector declined rapidly, but
the loss of jobs was more than compensated by employment in other
sectors.
This was helped along by the MeerBoeren
Foundation, which strove to develop a so-called '4th crop'
– alternative sources of revenue for farmers. The locals initially
found jobs at local businesses, but later began joining companies
that were drawn by the dynamism of Schiphol and the strategic
location of the municipality within the Randstad conurbation.
International corporations also began establishing offices in
Haarlemmermeer. In 2007, the municipality was home to 140,000
people living in 26 residential areas dotted across 18,500
hectares. The history of Haarlemmermeer shows how human hands can
tame and redesign a fickle natural environment. The municipality
continues to pursue this dynamic process of development to this
day.