The Beemster municipality located in the green, rural heart of North Holland, near Amsterdam, Purmerend, Alkmaar and Hoorn. The Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted out of the lake by windmills.In 1999 appointed to UNESCO World Beemster. The area owes this status to the special 17-century polder which has remained almost entirely intact. The past is rich in Beemster still a major role and forms the basis of various economic and tourist activities. Also, the Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted out of the lake by windmills.
The municipality of Beemster consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Middenbeemster, Noordbeemster, Westbeemster, Zuidoostbeemster.
World Heritage Site
Because of its historical relevance, and because the original structure of the area is still largely intact, the Beemster was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1999. Justification for Inscription is as follows:
* Criterion (i): The Beemster Polder is a masterpiece of creative planning, in which the ideals of antiquity and the Renaissance were applied to the design of a reclaimed landscape.
* Criterion (ii): The innovative and intellectually imaginative landscape of the Beemster Polder had a profound and lasting impact on reclamation projects in Europe and beyond.
* Criterion (iv): The creation of the Beemster Polder marks a major step forward in the interrelationship between humankind and water at a crucial period of social and economic expansion.
