Marken

MARKEN HISTORY Marken has a fascinating topographical history. Today, the former island is surrounded by the ‘Gouwzee’ and the ‘Markermeer’. In the old days, Marken was a part of Waterland, a peatery in North Holland. It was located on the border of water and land, and was therefore called Marken, which means ‘borderland’. Around 1200, a violent storm separated Marken from the mainland, and turned the town into an island in the South Sea. It wasn’t until 1957 that the island was connected to province North Holland again, by means of a dike.

The first residents of Marken were monks from the Frisian Mariëngaarde monastery.

They gained possession of the island around 1235 and they lived on agriculture and cattle-breeding which they had developed there. In order to defend themselves against the water, which was rising frequently, the monks built dikes around the island.

In the 14th century, Marken fell into the hands of count William IV. He dispelled the monks from the island, and after their departure, the dikes fell into disrepair.

As a result of this poor maintenance, Marken frequently suffered floods. The new island residents protected themselves against the seawater by building homes on artificial platforms, the so-called yard. The homes were built so close together that in no time there was hardly any room left on the yards. In the 19th century, they ran out of room, which is why new homes were built on the yard slopes. These houses were built in pikes. In the Marken streetscape, both the yards and the pile homes can still be seen. The majority is located in their original condition; made of wood and painted in the characteristic green color. However, the pile homes have changed over the course of time. With the construction of the ‘Afsluitdijk’ in 1932, the threat of floods was overcome. The room between the piles was included in the homes, which led to bigger houses. Currently, Marken has fifteen yards left, twelve of which are still occupied.

Street names such as ‘Grotewerf’, ‘Moeniswerf’ and ’Wittewerf’ refer to these yards.

The nuisance of the water ended the agricultural and cattle-breeding possibilities on the island and the population switched to fishery. On Botters, the fishermen departed to sea to catch fish. However, the result on the ‘Zuiderzee’ wasn’t always sufficient to feed the population, which is why the Marker fisherman departed to the North Pole area to join whaling crews. Closer to home they fished along with the drifters, ships that sailed on the North Sea. The fleet of Marken grew rapidly and in 1837, a new port was constructed for the fleet.

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