The town of Amsterdam was first mentioned in 1275. It became a city in 1353 and
replaced The Hague as the seat of the central Netherlands administrations in 1806,
while the Netherlands where under (indirect) French rule. In 1813 the seat of the
central administrations returned to The Hague, but in reward for its leading part
in the struggle against the French, Amsterdam was formally proclaimed the capital
of the Netherlands. It lost this title in 1848, remaining however the Netherlands
only city.
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CHIEF EXECUTIVES
Mayors
Burgemeesters
1868 - 1879 Jonkheer Cornelis Jacob Arnold den Tex 1824 - 1882
1880 - 1891 Gijsbert van Tienhoven 1841 - 1914
1891 - 1901 Sjoerd Anne Vening Meinesz 1833 - 1909
1901 - 1910 Wilhelmus Frederik van Leeuwen 1860 - 1930
1910 - 1915 Jonkheer Antonie Röell 1864 - 1940
1915 - 1921 Jan Willem Cornelis Tellegen 1859 - 1921
1921 - 1941 Willem de Vlugt
1941 - 1945 Edward John Voûte 1887 - 1950
The town of The Hague (s'Gravenshage or Den Haag) was founded ca 1250, becoming the
administrative center of the County of Holland ca 1353. In 1577 it replaced Delft
as the seat of the central Netherlands aministrations.
It remained so ever since, except for the period 1806 - 1813 when Amsterdam was the
center. (1)
(1) The Hague only was a city from 1806 to 1848, when all towns - except
Amsterdam - lost their statute of city.
From 1815 to 1830 - as stipulated in the Treaty of Vienna - Brussels
(Brussel/Bruxelles) also was the seat of the Netherlands administration,
jointly with The Hague. This resulted in a yearly "migration" of the
King, of his ministers, of most of the civil servants, of some foreign
envoys from one town to the other.
(During this journey of five days in october, the whole adminiustration
actually ceased to function)
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Mayors
Burgemeesters
1858 - 1882 Jonkheer F. G. A. Gevers Deynoot
1882 - 1887 Jacob Gerard Patijn 1836 - 1911
1887 - 1897 A. J. Roest
1897 - 1898 Jonkheer B. Th. de Beaufort
1898 - 1904 Johan Sippo Baron van Harinxma thoe
Slooten 1848 - 1904
1904 - 1911 E. C. Baron Sweerts de Landas Wyborgh
1911 - 1918 Jonkheer Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek 1874 - 1942
1918 - 1930 Jacob Adriaan Nicolaas Patijn 1873 - 1961
1930 - 1934 Jonkheer Lodewijk Hendrik Nicolaas Bosch,
Ridder van Rosenthal 1884 -
1934 - 1940 Salomon Jean René de Monchy 1880 - 1961
1940 - 1942 ...
1942 - 1944 H. Westra
1944 - 1947 Salomon Jean René de Monchy (2x)
Chronology
On the eve of the French intervention in 1794, the United Provinces included :
- the Provinces represented in the "Staten-Generaal" :
- Friesland - Overijssel
- Gelderland - Utrecht
- Groningen - Zeeland
- Holland
- the Province of Drenthe, not represented in the Staten-Generaal, but enjoying
internal selfgovernment
- the so-called Generaliteitslanden, under the direct authority of the Staten-
Generaal, without selfgovernment :
- Staats-Brabant - Staats-Vlaanderen
- Staats-Limburg - Westerwolde
- Staats-Opper-Gelderland
1796 : The provinces and some of the Generaliteitslanden (most of Staats-Brabant,
Staats-Vlaanderen and Westerwolde) were merged into departments, retaining
some selfgovernment
1798 : The departments were deprived of the last remnants of selfgovernment.
1814 : The departments were reorganised into 9 provinces :
- Brabant - Holland
- Drenthe - Overijssel
- Friesland - Utrecht
- Gelderland - Zeeland
- Groningen
1815 : Brabant renamed Noord Brabant
Creation of the province of Limburg
1839 : Limburg divided between Belgium and the Netherlands.
1840 : Holland divided into the provinces of Noord Holland and Zuid Holland
The provinces were ruled by Governors (Gouverneurs) until 1850, when the style was
changed into Commissioners of the King/Queen (Commissarissen van de Koning/Koningin.
During WWII this was briefly replaced by Provincial Commissioers (Commissarissen
van de Provincie). Also in this period, the commissioners were supervised by German
Plenipotentiaries (Beauftragter)
The Mayors (Burgemeesters) of the provincial capitals (and of Amsterdam) were not -
like in most other countries - elected political officials, but simply magistrates
appointed by the crown.
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Commissioners of the King/Queen
1868 - 1875 Joan Lodewijk Gerhard Gregory 1808 - 1891
1875 - 1885 J. van Kuijk
1885 - 1888 Cornelis Pijnacker Hordijk 1847 - 1908
1888 - 1903 Jonkheer P. J. van Swinderen
1904 - 1917 J. Linthorst Homan
1917 - 1931 Jan Tijmens Linthorst Homan 1873 - 1932
1931 - 1943 Reint Hendrik Baron de Vos van
Steenwijk (1) 1885 -
1943 - 194. J. L. Bouma
1945 - 1951 Reint Hendrik Baron de Vos van
Steenwijk (2x)
(1) German Plenipotentiaries during WWII :
1940 Kurt Hartong
1940 - 1941 Robert Thiel
1941 - 1944 Heinrich Sellmer
1944 - 1945 Adolf Brandes
Mayors of Assen
1857 - 187. Jonkheer W. A. Van der Feltz
187. - 1920 M. A. D. Jolles
1920 - 1941 J. Bothenius Lohman
1941 - 1942 H. W. Bloemers 1908 - 2001
1942 - 1945 H. Boelems
1945 J. 0. Elema
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Commissioners of the King/Queen
(unofficial style in Frisian : Kommissarissen fan de Kening/Keninginne)
1850 - 1878 Jan Ernst Jonkheer (since 1874 : Baron)
van Panhuys, before Governor of the province
since 1848
1878 - 1909 Binnert Philip Baron van Harinxma thoe
Slooten 1839 - 1923
1909 - 1945 Pieter Albert Vincent Baron van Harinxma
thoe Slooten (2) 1870 -
(2) German Plenipotentiaries during WWII :
1940 Hermann Conring, Beauftragter for the
province of Groningen*
1940 - 1945 Werner Friedrich Ross
Mayors of Leeuwarden (Fris .: Ljouwert)
1865 - 1871 Dirk Zeper 1803 - 1881
1871 - 1877 Johannes Bieruma Oosting 1816 - 1885
1877 - 1883 Wilco Julius van Welderen Baron Rengers 1835 - 1916
1883 - 1891 Petrus Lycklama à Nijeholt 1842 - 1913
1892 - 1898 Johan Sippo Baron van Harinxma thoe
Slooten 1848 - 1904
1898 - 1904 Jonkheer Antonie Röell 1864 - 1940
1904 - 1911 August Eduard Zimmerman 1861 - 1926
1911 - 1918 Jacob Adriaan Nicolaas Patijn 1873 - 1961
1918 - 1943 Jonkheer Julius Matthijs van Beyma 1877 - 1944
1943 - 1945 Wilhelm Johannes Schönhart 1896 - 1967
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Commissioners of the King/Queen
1852 - 1880 Louis Gaspard Adrien Graaf van
Limburg-Stirum 1802 - 1884
1880 - 1909 Johan Hendrik Mello Baron Mollerus
van Westkerke 1840 -
1909 - 1925 Jonkheer Schelto van Citters 1865 - 1942
1925 - 1945 Schelte Baron van Heemstra (3) 1879 - 1960
(3) German Plenipotentiary during WWII :
1940 - 1945 Emil Schneider
Mayors of Arnhem
1841 - 1872 J. Weerts
1872 - 1884 J. J. A. A. Baron van Pallandt
1884 - 1899 Frans Marinus Christiaan Pels
Rijcken
1899 - 1904 Jonkheer D. J. A. A. van Lawick
van Pabst van Nijevelt
1904 - 1910 E. C. Baron Sweerts de Landas
Wijborch
1904 - 1910 Jonkheer Antonie Röell s.a.
1910 - 1920 Aarnoud Jan Anne Aleid Baron
van Heemstra 1871 - 1957
1920 - 1921 Dirk Jan de Geer 1870 - 1960
1921 - 1934 Salomon Jean René de Monchy s.a.
1934 - 1944 H. P. J. Bloemers
1944 E. E. A. Liera*
1944 - 1945 A. Schermer*
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Commissioners of the King/Queen
1867 - 1882 Louis Graaf van Heiden Reinestein 1811 - 1882
1883 - 1893 Jonkheer Johan Aemelius Abraham
van Panhuys 1836 - 1907
1893 - 1917 Carel Coenraad Geertsema 1843 -
1917 - 1925 Jonkheer Edzard Tjarda van Starkenborgh
Stachouwer 1859 - 1936
1925 - 1933 Jonkheer Alidius Warmoldus Lambertus
Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer 1888 - 1978
1933 - 1937 Joachimus Pieter Fockema Andreae 1879 - 1949
1937 - 1941 Johannes Linthorst Homan (4) 1903 - 1986
1942 - 1945 C. F. Staargaard
(4) German Plenipotentiary during WWII :
1940 - 1945 Hermann Conring s.a.
Mayors of Groningen
1868 - 1872 W. de Sitter
1872 - 1880 B. van Royen
1880 - 1883 Jonkheer Johan Aemelius Abraham
van Panhuys s.a.
1883 - 1893 J. N. A. Bucaille
1893 - 1900 S. M. S. Modderman
1900 - 1917 Jonkheer Edzard Tjarda van Starkenborgh
Stachouwer s.a.
1917 - 1924 E. van Ketwich Verschuur
1924 - 1930 Jonkheer Lodewijk Hendrik Nicolaas Bosch,
Ridder van Rosenthal s.a.
1930 - 1935 Henri Petrus Johan Bloemers 1880 - 1947
1936 - 1942 Pieter Willem Jacob Henri Cort
van der Linden 1893 - 1969
1943 - 1945 P. F. Tammens
1945 – 1951 Pieter Willem Jacob Henri Cort
van der Linden (2x)
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In 1794 a French department of the Lower Meuse (Meuse Inférieure) was formed by the
merger of :
- territories part of the United Provinces :
- part of Staats-Brabant (the so-called Villages of Redemption)
- Staats-Limburg (the so-called Lands beyond the Meuse/Landen van Overmaze :
Dalhem, 's-Hertogenrade and Valkenburg)
- Staats-Opper-Gelderland
- the City of Maastricht, a Netherlands/Liège condominiiom.
- possessions of the Principality of Liège, such as the County of Horn, the County
of Loon, the Abbaye of Munsterbilzen, etc.
- a multitude of minor Free Imperial territories, the most important of which was
the Abbaye of Thorn,
In 1815 the Treaty of Vienna assigned the department to the Netherlands and a new
province of Limburg covering most of its territory was formed out of it. (5)
In 1830 the whole province - except Maastricht - came under Belgian administration.
This situation lasted until 1839 when Limburg was divided between Belgium and the
Netherlands.
Soon after this the Netherlands part - except the strategical important cities of
Venlo and Maastricht - was created a Duchy, united to the Netherlands in a personal
union and part of the German Confederation. In 1867, after the dissolution of the
confederation, Limburg again became a simple province of the Netherlands, although
the Duchy was only formally abolished by the Staten-Generaal in 1907.
(5) The delimitation of the frontiers of the new province in the East caused
some problems with Prussia. The matter was settled when :
- some parts of Prussian Jülich (Dutch: Gulik) and Cleves (Dutch: Kleef)
became part of Limburg.
- some parts of the former "Lands beyond the Meuse" were transferred to
Prussia.
- part of Dalhem (a "Land beyond the Meuse") - claimed by both states -
was neutralized to become so-called Neutral Moresnet.
Governors
(Despite the fact that the style of Commissaris van de Koning/Koningin was formally
also introduced in Limburg in 1850, the ancient style of Gouverneur continued - and
still continues - to be very commonly used, even in official documents, partly as
a consequence of the special position of Limburg in 1839-1867 and partly also as an
outing of Limburgian particularism)
1856 - 1874 Peter Joseph August van der Does de
Willebois 1816 - 1892
1874 - 1893 Jonkheer Eduard de Kuyper 1817 - 1893
1893 - 1918 Jonkheer Gustav Ruys de Beerenbrouck 1842 - 1926
1918 Jonkheer Charles Ruys de Beerenbrouck 1873 - 1936
1918 - 1941 Willem Georges Alphonse van Sonsbeeck (6) 1877 - 1869
1941 - 1944 Max V. E. J. M. Graaf de Marchant et
d'Asembourg 1894 - 1975
1944 - 1946 Willem Georges Alphonse van Sonsbeeck (2x)
(6) German Plenipotentiaries during WWII :
1940 Alfred Weber
1940 - 1944 Wilhelm Schmidt
Mayors of Maastricht
1867 - 1873 H. Wognum Raat 1815 -
1873 - 1900 W. H. Pijls (2x) 1819 - 1903
1900 - 1910 Petrus Christianus Hubertus Bauduin 1836 - 1910
1910 - 1937 L. B. J. van Oppen 1871 - 1941
1937 - 1941 Willem Baron Michiels van Kessenich 1902 - 1992
1941 - 1942 J. H. S. Peeters 1905 - 1976
1943 T. A. A. M. Copraij 1912 - 1944
1943 - 1944 J. H. S. Peeters (2x)
1944 A. C. de Leij 1909 - 1967
1944 - 1967 Willem Baron Michiels van Kessenich (2x)
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Commissioners of the King/Queen
1856 - 1894 Jonkheer P. J. Bosch van Drakestein
1894 L. A. N. Gerrits*
1894 - 1928 A. F. J. Baron van Voorst tot Voorst
1928 - 1944 Jonkheer Augustinus Bernardinus Gijbertus
Maria van Rijckevorsel (7) 1882 - 1957
1944 - 1946 Jonkheer J. T. M. Smits van Oijen*
(7) German Plenipotentiaries during WWII :
1940 Alfred Weber s.a.
1940 - 1941 Willy Ritterbusch
1941 - 1944 Robert Thiel
1944 Heinrich Sellmer
Mayors of 's Hertogenbosch
1857 - 1874 Jonkheer Eduard de Kuyper s.a.
1874 - 1880 Aloysius Franciscus Xaverius Luyben 1818 - 1902
1881 - 1883 Henricus Ferdinandus Maria van Lanschot
1883 - 1917 Jonkheer P. J. J. S. M. van der Does
de Willebois 1843 -
1917 - 1941 Frans Johan van Lanschot 1875 - 1949
1941 - 1943 Jonkheer C. A. F. W. B. van den
Clooster Baron Sloet tot Everloo 1898 - 1977
1943 - 1944 A. M. Thomassen 1887 - 1969
1944 - 1960 H. J. M. Leeff 1896 - 1977
(See also : Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-Nassau)
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Commissioners of the King/Queen
1860 - 1879 Herman Hendrik Baron (1874 ; before
Jonkheer) Röell
1879 - 1897 Jonkheer Johan Willem Meinard Schorer 1834 - 1903
1897 - 1911 Gijsbert van Tienhoven 1841 - 1914
1911 - 1914 Wilhelmus Frederik van Leeuwen s.a.
1915 - 1940 Antonie Baron (1937 ; before Jonkheer)
Röell s.a.
1940 - 1941 none (8)
1941 - 1945 Albert Johan Backer
(8) German Plenipotentiaries during WWII :
1940 Werner Ross
1940 - 1942 Martin Seidel
1942 Walter Unger
1942 - 1945 Werner Schröder
Mayors of Haarlem
1866 - 1893 Ernst Anton Jordens 1821 - 1894
1893 - 1912 Jonkheer Willem Gustaaf Boreel
van Hogelanden 1852 - 1937
1912 - 1917 Jonkheer Willem Bernardus Sandberg 1876 - 1918
1919 - 1937 Cornelis Maarschalk 1870 - 1954
1937 - 1941 Jacob Evert Baron De Vos van Steenwijk 1889 - 1978
1941 - 1944 Simon I. A. Plekker* 1883 -
1944 - 194. M. van Driel*
194. - 1945 M. A. Reinalda*
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Commissioners of the King/Queen
1869 - 1878 Petrus Cornelis Baron van Nahuys 1803 - 1882
1878 - 1893 Johan Herman Geertsema Cz. 1816 - 1908
1893 Jonkheer Johan Aemelius Abraham
van Panhuys s.a.
1893 - 1909 Petrus Lycklama à Nyeholt s.a.
1909 - 1925 Adolf Frederik Lodewijk Graaf van
Rechteren Limpurg 1865 - 1935
1925-1941 Alexander Eppo Baron van Voorst
tot Voorst (9) 1880 - 1965
1941-1942 Jonkheer Egon Lodewijk Maria
Theresia Joseph von Bönninghausen 1899 - 1943
1942-1943 Josephus Everhardus Vogt* 1882 - 1954
1942-1943 Johannes Caspar Wolthuis* 1886 - 1963
1943 Klaas Atema * 1878 - 1969
1943-1945 Wilhelmus de Rijke 1896 - 1971
1945-1946 Alexander Eppo Baron van Voorst
tot Voorst (2x)
(9) German Plenipotentiaries during WWII :
1940 Kurt Hartong
1940 - 1943 Werner Schröder
1943 - 1945 Karl Weidlich
Mayors of Zwolle
1867 - 1897 Jonkheer Willem Christiaan Theodoor
van Nahuys 1820 - 1901
1897 - 1933 I. A. van Roijen
1933 - 1937 Jacob Evert Baron De Vos van Steenwijk s.a.
1938 - 1940 A. van Walsum
1940 Jonkheer G . A. Strick van Linschoten*
1940 - 1944 M. P. M. van Karnebeek
1944 - 1945 A. Meerkamp van Embden
1945 Jonkheer M. P. M. van Karnebeek* (2x)
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Commissioners of the King/Queen
1860 - 1880 E. C. U. van Doorn
1880 - 1881 J. A. G. Baron de Vos van Steenwijk
1881 - 1888 E. H. s'Jacob
1888 - 1905 Alexander Baron Schimmelpenninck van
der Oije van de Poll en Nijenbeek
1905 - 1914 Francis David Graaf Schimmelpenninck 1854 -
1914 - 1924 Frederik Alexander Carel Graaf van
Lynden van Sandenburg 1873 -
1924 - 1934 Herman Theodoor s'Jacob 1869 - 1950
1934 - 1941 Jonkheer Lodewijk Hendrik Nicolaas Bosch
Ridder van Rosenthal (10) s.a.
1941 F. E. Müller
1941 - 1944 W. B. Engelbrecht
1944 - 1946 Jonkheer Lodewijk Hendrik Nicolaas Bosch,
Ridder van Rosenthal (2x)
(10) German Plenipotentiaries during WWII :
1940 - 194 ...
Mayors of Utrecht
1839 - 1878 Nicolaas Petrus Jacobus Kien
1878 - 1891 Willem Richard Boer
1891 - 1908 Bernardus Reiger 1845 - 1908
1908 - 1914 Alexander Frederik Baron van Lynden 1856 - 1931
1914 - 1933 Joachim Pieter Fockema Andreae
1934 - 1942 Gerhard Abraham Willem Ter Pelkwijk 1882 - 1964
1942 - 1945 C. van Ravenswaay
1945 - 1948 Gerhard Abraham Willem Ter Pelkwijk (2x)
__________________________________________________________________________________
Commissioners of the King/Queen
1860 - 1876 Rudolf Willem Baron (1874 : Graaf)
van Lynden 1808 - 1876
1876 - 1879 Jonkheer Willem Six 1829 - 1908
1879 - 1884 Jonkheer Abraham Peter Cornelis van
Karnebeek 1836 - 1925
1884 - 1897 Jonkheer Willem Maurits de Brauw 1838 - 1898
1897 - 1905 Albert Johan Roest 1837 - 1920
1905 - 1921 Herman Jacob Dijckmeester 1847 - 1942
1921 - 1941 Jonkheer Johan Willem Quarles van
Ufford (11) 1882 - 1951
1941 - 1941 P. Dielman*
1944 A. F. C. de Casembroot* 1906 - 1965
1944 - 1948 Jonkheer Johan Willem Quarles van
Ufford (2x)
(11) German Plenipotentiaries during WW II :
1940 F. Linde
1940 - 1944 Willi Münzner
Mayors of Middelburg
1859 - 1871 Jean Francois Bijleveld 1794 - 1875
1871 - 1879 Jonkheer Johan Willem Meinard Schorer 1834 - 1903
1880 - 1887 Carolus Joannes Pické 1831 - 1887
1887 - 1907 Jonkheer Leonhard Schorer 1848 - 1907
1908 - 1915 Jonkheer Martinus van den Brandeler 1859 - 1924
1915 - 1932 Pieter Dumon Tak 1867 - 1943
1933 - 1939 Meine Fernhout 1884 - 1977
1939 - 1942 Jan van Walré de Bordes 1894 - 1947
1942 - 1944 Adriaan Meerkamp van Embden* 1882 - 1954
1944 - 1946 Adriaan Jacobus van der Weel* 1897 - 1980
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Commissioners of the King/Queen
1862 - 1871 James Loudon 1824 - 1911
1871 - 1900 Cornelis Fock 1828 - 1910
1900 - 1911 Jacob Gerard Patijn s.a.
1911 - 1928 E. C. Baron Sweerts de Landas Wyborgh
1928 - 1942 Jonkheer Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek (12) s.a.
1942 - 1943 ...
1943 - 194. R. van Genechten
194. - 1945 E. J. M. H. Bolsius*
1945 A. A. L. Rutgers*
(12) German Plenipotentiary during WWII :
1940 - 1945 Ernst Schwebel
Mayors of Den Haag
See here.
The Old Catholic Church is a break-away Church of the Roman Catholic Church in the
Netherlands.
It was founded in 1723 when part of the community no longer accepted the authority
of the Vicar Apostolic of the Netherlands and elected its own Archbishop, as it had
been done in the old times of the Church (hence the name).
In the course of the following years more "old" customs were reintroduced (the use
of Dutch as church language instead of Latin, ...) and by 1870 - when the Church
rejected the infallibility of the Pope as proclaimed by the first Vatican Concile -
the rupture was fully consumed.
The Archdiocese of Utrecht had only one suffragan : Haarlem
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HEADS OF THE COMMUNITY
(Considered themselves as rightfull successors of the Catholic bishops of before
the Reformation and of Vicar Apostolic Petrus Codde (1648-1710; VA: 1688-1705),
whose deposition by the Holy See in 1705 was the cause for the rupture)
Archbishops of Utrecht
1858 - 1873 Henricus Loos
1874 - 1892 Johannes Heykamp 1824 - 1892
1892 - 1920 Gerardus "Gerrit" Gul 1847 - 1920
1920 - 1937 Franciscus Kenninck 1859 - 1937
1937 - 1970 Andreas Rinkel
Bishops of Haarlem
1867 - 1906 Casparus Johannes Rinkel
1906 - 1912 Jacobus Johannes van Thiel 1843 - 1912
1912 - 1916 Nicolaas Prins
1916 - 1945 Henricus Theodoris Johannes van Vlijmen
Dutch Oversea Dependencies in the period 1871 - 1945 included :
The Netherlands Antilles since 1634
Netherlands East India/Indonesia since 1610
The Netherlands Gold Coast Possessions from 1609 to 1872
Netherlands Guiana/Suriname since 1667