Spaarne

Spaarne
River
Mouth of the Spaarne
Country	Netherlands
State	North Holland
Tributaries
- right	De Liede
Source	Ringvaart
- location	Cruquius
- coordinates	52°20′20″N 4°38′23″E
Mouth	North Sea Canal
- location	Spaarndam
- coordinates	52°24′55″N 4°40′50″E
Length	10.5 km (7 mi)
Location of the Spaarne in dark blue.

The Spaarne is a river, in North Holland, Netherlands. This partially canalized river connects the Ringvaart to a side branch of the North Sea Canal. It runs through Haarlem, Heemstede, and Spaarndam.

The historic canals of Haarlem's moats are connected to the Spaarne. A lock at Spaarndam separates it from the North Sea Canal.

According to Sterck-Proot, a historian, the name Spaarne probably comes from Spier, which means reed in old Dutch.

History

The river formerly flowed from the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem Lake) to the IJ Bay, which used to extend from the Zuiderzee all the way to Velsen. In the 13th century, a dam with locks was constructed at the mouth of the Spaarne where the village of Spaarndam then formed.

After a century of planning, Haarlem's Lake was pumped dry in 3 years from 1850–1853 and made into a polder. The Spaarne became a branch of the Ringvaart, lost much of its flow, and became shallower.

The construction of the North Sea Canal (completed in 1876) reduced most of the IJ Bay into polders but a small canalized section of the IJ remained at Spaarndam to connect the Spaarne to the new canal.

The river was deepened for the benefit of industries along its shores.

Places of interest along the riverbanks

• At the juncture of the river and the Ringvaart is the Cruquius Museum, a museum that resides in one of the three original pumping stations from 1850. Steam engines were used to pump the water out from the Haarlemmermeer polder.
• Castle Heemstede
• Many historic buildings in the centre of Haarlem, including:
  • The Weigh House of Haarlem
  • Teylers Museum
  • Teylers Hofje
  • Windmills "De Hommel", and "De Adriaan".

• 

  View of Damstraat in Haarlem on the Spaarne

• 

  Teyler's Museum in Haarlem on the Spaarne

• 

  Houses along the Spaarne River

• 

  Modern and traditional houses along the Spaarne River

References

• J.M Sterck-Proot, Tjeenk Willink, Haarlems oudste tijden: een vroeg-middeleeuwsch stadsbeeld, Haarlem, 1930.
• Bert Sliggers a.o., De loop van het Spaarne; de geschiedenis van een rivier, Haarlem, Schuyt, 1987.