City member

ALKMAAR IS A HISTORIC TOWN.

In the year 1254 our town received its municipal rights. These days in many places the town centre still breaths the atmosphere of days gone by. A permanent exhibition in the Municipal Museum Alkmaar clearly shows how Alkmaar developed itself into a town of nearly 100,000 inhabitants during the past centuries.

Centrally situated in the northern part of the province of North Holland, Alkmaar fulfils a mayor central function. A wide region with nearly 600,000 inhabitants depends on the facilities of this town. In a cultural way Alkmaar may call itself the beating heart of North Holland North.

 In the year 2000 the culture square was opened. This ambitious project provides housing for the public library Alkmaar, Theatre De Vest, Artiance, the centre for the arts and the Municipal Museum Alkmaar.

The Great Saint Lawrence Church is also situated at the culture square. This church, dating back to the 16th century, has two historic organs: the Van Covelens- organ of 1511 and the Van-Hagerbeer-/Schnitgerorgan of 1646/1725. A surplus value is the fact that the organs complement one another and are, for the most part, in the original state. Both the Van Covelens-organ and the Van-Hagerbeer-/Schnitger-organ lend themselves especially to the interpretation of the fifteenth to eighteenth-century repertoire.

In all respects a visit to Alkmaar is worthwhile. Yearly 400,000 tourists from all over the world visit Alkmaar.

I heartily invite you to visit our magnificent town and enjoy its diversities, the cultural history and the sounds of our beautiful organs.