Maassluis

Maassluis (population: 32,847 in 2004) is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 10.11 km² (of which 1.51 km² water).

It received city rights in 1811. It was also the setting for the Dutch cult classic, Spetters, filmed by noted director Paul Verhoeven there in 1980.

1 History
2 Economy
3 Image gallery
4 External links

Maassluis was founded circa 1340, as a settlement next to a lock (in Dutch: sluis) in the sea barrier between the North Sea and Rotterdam. Originally called Maeslandsluys, it was part of Maesland. In 1489 the settlement was sacked. During the Eighty Years' War, Philips of Marnix, lord of Sint-Aldegonde, started to build a defense wall but before its completion, it was captured by the Spanish in 1573 and Philips of Marnix was taken prisoner. A year later Maeslandsluys was looted by mutinous Spanish troops.

On 16 May 1614, Maeslandsluys was separated from Maesland by the counts of Holland and renamed to Maassluis. This separation may have been religiously motivated: Maassluis was predominantly protestant whereas Maasland catholic. In 1624 the defense wall was demolished to make way for the Great Church, for which construction started in 1629. The construction was stopped for 5 years because privateers from Dunkirk raided many fishing boats from Maassluis and would throw the crew overboard. In 1639 the Great Church was completed. On 4 December 1732, the famous Garrels Organ was inaugurated. Built from 1730 to 1732 by Rudolf Garrels, it was a gift by Govert van Wijn, ship-owner from Maassluis.

Maassluis in 1867.

In 1811 Napoleon Bonaparte granted it city rights.

During World War II, like many other towns in the Netherlands, the active working population of Maassluis was transferred to Germany for working in the war industry. Maassluis' ancient church suffered a lot in the second world war when it was bombed by allied bombers.

Maassluis was historically dependant on the fishing industry. Its fishermen would fish mainly near the coast of the North Sea and the coast of Iceland. But in the 19th century the town became home to the tugboat company L. Smit & Co. and the marine salvage company W.A. van den Tak, which fused and became known as Smit-Tak, now a division of the world's largest salvage company Smit International. Also, there is still a large shipping agency called Royal Dirkzwager. These days it is mainly a commuter town for Rotterdam.