On September 27, 1525, Emperor Charles V proclaimed the light -colored area on the map above as the Amstelland region. The Amstelland Water Board was immediately born. In the century before, it was constant bonje between the areas that wanted to drain their surplus water via Amsterdam to the sea.
“If it got too much, a dam was raised, so that that water had to go in a different direction,” Let Maarten Ouboter from the water board. “The people who sat there and suffered from it, then stopped that dam.” That regularly led to violence between residents.
Ending the fighting
Jan Benningh wanted to put an end to the fighting and forced clarity to the emperor: “This is Amstelland and the water from outside Amstelland has to go to the Oude Rijn or the Vecht and this is allowed to go to the Doedwateringen of Amsterdam.”
The lock at Weesp was of vital importance at that time: it stopped the water from the Vecht. Nowadays the lock is hardly in use. By closing the Zuiderzee and the construction of the North Sea Canal, the water situation has changed strongly and the eastern border of Amstelland shifted. Muiden and Weesp no longer fall within the area.
Gemaal Zeeburg
Amstelland still drains its surplus water via Amsterdam. From there it flows to IJmuiden and is discharged into the North Sea. If something goes wrong in IJmuiden, the region still has a secret weapon in Amsterdam: Gemaal Zeeburg.
“Then we close Amsterdam and Amstelland from the IJ and Gemaal Zeeburg does the work to get the water to the sea,” explains Ouboter. “The four pumps lift the water over the dike, under the canal to the IJsselmeer and via the Afsluitdijk to the North Sea.”
In honor of 500 years of Amstelland, the pumping station opens During Open Monument Day For the first time the doors for visitors.
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