thumb|right|266px|Apeldoorn in the 17th century by [[Jacob van Ruisdael]]

thumb|right|266px|Omnisport Velodrome Apeldoorn

Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the villages of Beekbergen, Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo, had a population of 165,525 on 1 December 2021. The western half of the municipality lies on the Veluwe ridge, with the eastern half in the IJssel valley.

The city of Apeldoorn

thumb|left|216px|Paleis Het Loo, spring 2012

thumb|right|216px|Apenheul ape zoo, male Bonobo

thumb|right|216px|Apartment buildings along the canal

thumb|right|216px|City hall

The oldest known reference to Apeldoorn, then called Appoldro, dates from the 8th century. The settlement came into being at the point where the old road from Amersfoort to Deventer crossed that from Arnhem to Zwolle. A 1740 map refers to it as Appeldoorn.

Close by is the favourite country-seat of the royal family of the Netherlands called the palace het Nieuwe Loo (now Het Loo). It was originally a hunting lodge of the dukes of Gelderland, but in its present form dates chiefly from the time of the then Stadtholder William III of England (1685–1686).

The younger sister of Princess Beatrix, Princess Margriet, lives nearby the palace Het Loo, with her husband Pieter van Vollenhoven.

Apeldoorn was a relatively insignificant place until the major building projects of the 19th century and those of the period following World War II.

Inhabitants by origin

{| class="wikitable"

!2020 The present rugby club, Rams RFC, was founded in December 1971.

The most successful club in Apeldoorn is the SV Dynamo volleyball team, who are the 15-fold champion in the Dutch A-League, most recently in 2023. Another successful volleyball club in Apeldoorn, and a big competitor to Dynamo, is Alterno.

Because of the growth of Apeldoorn, and the population's interest in sports, Apeldoorn has built a new stadium for volleyball, indoor athletics and track cycling. The stadium, Omnisport Apeldoorn, opened in 2008 and has hosted the 2011 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and the European Track Championships in 2011 and 2013. In 2016 the city hosted the opening time-trial stage of the Giro d'Italia.

Apeldoorn houses the following football clubs:

  • AGOVV
  • Alexandria
  • Apeldoornse Boys
  • Columbia
  • CSV Apeldoorn
  • Groen−Wit '62
  • Orderbos
  • Robur et Velocitas
  • Turkse Kracht Apeldoorn
  • Victoria Boys
  • WSV
  • ZVV '56

Notable people

140px|thumb|Piet de Jong, 1970

140px|thumb|Thom Karremans, 1995

140px|thumb|Waylon, 2014

140px|thumb|Ans Schut, 1968

Public servants

  • Piet de Jong (1915–2016) a politician and Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1967/1971
  • Willem van Zeist (1924–2016) an archaeobotanist and palynologist
  • Arend Lijphart (born 1936) a political scientist
  • Pieter van Vollenhoven Jr. (born 1939) the husband of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
  • Hanja Maij-Weggen (born 1943) a retired politician
  • Jacques Wallage (born 1946) a retired politician
  • Colonel Thom Karremans (born 1948) the commander of Dutchbat troops in Srebrenica
  • Fred de Graaf (born 1950) a retired politician, Mayor of Apeldoorn 1999/2011
  • Mart de Kruif (born 1958) a three-star general in the Royal Netherlands Army and its executive commander.
  • Marit Maij (born 1972) a politician, former management consultant, diplomat and civil servant

Arts

  • Patrick Bakker (1910–1932) an artist in oil paintings, pen and pastel drawings
  • Berend Hendriks (1918–1997) an artist, co-founded the Arnhem school of environmental art
  • Edgar Burcksen (1947–2024) a film editor
  • Jeroen Jongeleen (born 1967) an artist
  • Willem Bijkerk (born 1980), known professionally as Waylon, a singer
  • Julian Jordan (born 1995) a DJ, record producer and musician

Sport

  • Nico de Wolf (1887–1967) a amateur footballer, bronze medallist in the 1912 Summer Olympics
  • Ans Schut (1944–2025) a ice speed skater, gold medallist at the 1968 Winter Olympics
  • Edward Sturing (born 1963) a former footballer with 452 caps
  • Peter Bosz (born 1963) a former footballer, current manager of PSV Eindhoven
  • Mark Schenning (born 1970) a former professional footballer with 436 caps
  • Corine Dorland (born 1973) a amateur BMX racer from 1981 to 1996
  • Demy de Zeeuw (born 1983) a retired footballer with 306 caps
  • Steven Berghuis (born 1991) a professional footballer
  • Kevin Diks (born 1996) a Dutch-born Indonesian professional footballer

Business

  • Marc Bolland (born 1959) a businessman, who was the CEO of Marks & Spencer and CEO of Morrisons

2009 car attack

On 30 April 2009, the Dutch national holiday Koninginnedag (Queen's Day), a man drove his car at high speed into a parade which included Queen Beatrix and other members of the royal family.

The driver hit members of the public lining the street leaving twenty-two injured and eight dead, including the driver himself, who died the following day. Although the royal family was unharmed, it is believed to be the first attack on the Dutch royal family in modern times.

Twin towns – sister cities

Apeldoorn is twinned with:

  • Burlington, Ontario, Canada
  • Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (Berlin), Germany
  • Gagny, France

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References

Citations

Sources

  • CBC Archives – CBC Radio (22 April 1945) reporting on the famine in Apeldoorn and the inflation of food prices.
  • Official website

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