Bussum

Bussum

Bussum

Town and former municipality in North Holland, Netherlands

Bussum (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbʏsʏm] ⓘ) is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the province of North Holland in the Netherlands near Hilversum. Since 2016, Bussum has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren.

Quick Facts Country, Province ...
Map of the former municipality of Bussum, June 2015

Bussum had a population of 33,595 in 2019 and covered an area of 8.15 km2 (3.15 sq mi).

History

For a long time Bussum was not more than a hamlet situated amongst the heathlands of the Gooi and was first mentioned in 1306. In this time, Bussum was a large heathland with many small farms, sheep pens and forests as is shown on old maps. Since Bussum is situated near the fortified town Naarden it was governed by Naarden from 1369 onward. In 1470 Bussum was inhabited by about 250 people, which made it the smallest village in the Gooi.

Bussum became independent from Naarden in 1817, yet it was not until the arrival of a railway line in 1874 that Bussum began to flourish. Two train stations were built in the town, that still exist today: Naarden-Bussum and Bussum Zuid (Dutch for Bussum South), both on the connection between Amsterdam and Hilversum. The stations and the road network fostered the town's status as a satellite town of Amsterdam, allowing for reverse commute also to Hilversum. From 1898 until 1907, Bussum housed the first Dutch socialist colony after the example of Thoreau's Walden, set up by the writer and psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden. In 1951, Bussum hosted the first Dutch national TV broadcast and the national TV studios were located there until 1964.

Bussum was set to merge with the local municipalities of Naarden, Muiden and Muiderberg on 1 January 2016. In October 2014, the combined town councils chose the name Gooise Meren for the new municipality, the other options being Naarden-Bussum and Naardingerland.[4]

Local government

The last municipal council of Bussum consisted of 23 seats, which were divided as follows (2015):

  • VVD - 5 seats
  • Hart voor Bussum - 4 seats
  • PvdA - 3 seats
  • CDA - 2 seats
  • GroenLinks - 2 seats
  • D66 - 2 seats
  • Gooise Ouderen Partij - 2 seats
  • Partij voor Bussum (PVB) - 1 seat
  • Fractie Krabbendam - 1 seat
  • GooiDuursaam - 1 seat

Notable residents

See also: Gooise_Meren § Notable_people

Transport

The town of Bussum has two railway stations: Naarden-Bussum and Bussum Zuid.

References

  1. [1]
    "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2020" [Key figures for neighbourhoods 2020]. StatLine (in Dutch). CBS. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  2. [2]
    "Postcodetool for 1404EP". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  3. [3]
    "Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand" [Population growth; regions per month]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  4. [4]
    "Gooise Meren wordt de naam van de fusiegemeente Naarden-Muiden-Bussum'" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2014-12-24. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Bussum, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.