Chronology

3500 B.C. The area where Haarlem now stands is a series of sandbanks on a marshy, shallow lake. Archaeologists have discovered stone axes thought to belong to seal-hunters.

2000 B.C. Evidence has been found of hunters and fishers and their encampments on an ancient beachhead near Haarlem.

1700 B.C. Farmers live on and cultivate the Zuiderpolder (South Polder).

500 B.C. A dramatic change in the climate brings heavy and continuous rainfall, meaning more marshland. However, dwellings from this period have been found on a more inland beachhead, inhabited intermittently up to the 5th century A.D.

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ca 50 B.C. The Romans establish a fort in Velsen.

28 A.D The Frisians drive the Romans out of the fort at Velsen.

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700 Evidence exists of modest dwellings in what is now the Lange Veerstraat and the Anegang.

918 The name 'Haarlem' first appears on a list of possessions of the St Martin's church in Utrecht. There is a beacon to warn shipping of low water at the Haarlem 'corner' of the IJ. This gives rise to the name of the Bakenes canal.

1000 Haarlem is growing in population. It becomes the market centre for the surrounding area, with an economy based on peat farming.

1100 The land around what is now Haarlem is in the possession of the Count of Holland.

1132 The Count of Holland is mentioned in the Annals of Egmond: "The Kennemers (a local tribe) were angry with the Count and burnt down his residences in Haarlem". The Kennemers were a constant thorn in the Count's side.

1155 The Count of Holland and his knights repel the Frisians. These knights live on what is now the north side of the main square, or 't Zant (The Sand) as they called it and held jousting tournaments there.

1217 Count William I and his knights take part in the Fifth Crusade. In 1219, they capture the port town of Damiate (on the Nile) which later entitles Haarlem to add a cross and a sword to its coat of arms. For the modern-day inhabitants of Haarlem, the name Damiate conjures up the courage and audacity of their predecessors.

1245 Count William II declares Haarlem a city, only the second place to be accorded these rights in the Holland of the period.

1247 A Dominican Abbey is established on the main square.

ca 1270 Work starts on the town defenses after an attack from the Kennemers.

1287 Count Floris V grants the Dominican abbey ground to expand.

ca 1300 Work starts on the Great St Bavo Church on the main square.

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1347 The first great city fire breaks out, destroying a large part of Haarlem.

1351 A second great fire. The Town Hall, the abbey and the Count's residence are all destroyed.

1355 Haarlem expands with an enclave on the east side of the river. The Burgwal area lies between the Amsterdam and Schalkwijk Gatehouses. New walls are immediately erected to protect this new area. The walls are 1.5 meters thick and 7 meters high and can be seen from afar. All citizens have to help with construction and maintenance.

ca 1360 The Counts of Holland move to Delft.

1365-1416 The knights of the Count's court remain and petty squabbles and rivalries abound. Duke Albrecht of Bavaria (who assumes the title of Count of Holland after his brother's Willem I's death) is called in to quell these and imposes hefty fines on the quarrelling families.

1389 Duke Albrecht donates a Latin School to the city. This is now better known as the Choir School of St Bavo.

1395 The first 'hofjes' (courtyard houses) in Holland are built for the poor by Dirk van Bakenes. The remaining examples of these well-maintained garden houses (not always open to the public) are a popular attraction for modern-day tourists.

ca 1400 Now, merchants using the trade routes through Haarlem are stopping there to to trade in the town itself.

1429 The city is granted the right to levy toll on shipping using the river Spaarne. The Gedempte Oude Gracht is abandoned as a line of defence as the city expands to include modern-day Gasthuisvest and Wilhelminastraat, as well as the 'heiliglanden' (holy area, so-called because of the many religious houses there).

1430 There are more than one hundred breweries along the Spaarne and Bakenessergracht. The refugee Fleming Laurens Coster invents printing in Haarlem (according to the people of Haarlem!). A statue of Coster can be seen today on the main square.

1491 Uprising of the 'Bread and Cheese Peasants'. These local farmers cannot afford the taxes and price of food forced on them by the central government. They are outraged at the amount of land owned by wealthy burgers and urban institutions and gain the support of Alkmaar, then Haarlem. After a vain attempt to enter Leiden the rebellion is brutally put down. A garrison is installed in Haarlem to prevent any further rebellions.

1550-75 The Eighty-year war between Spain and the Low Countries sees the economy stagnate. The Town elders try to encourage trade and industry and refugee Flemings instigate linen weaving and bleaching factories, making use of the clean dune water in Haarlem.

1571 The population is now around 20,000.

1572 Siege of Haarlem by the Spanish which lasts seven months before Haarlem capitulates.

1576 Another great fire breaks out, destroying about a quarter of the town. As this is started accidentally by German soldiers in Spanish employ stationed in the town, Haarlem demands compensation and eventually is granted possession of all catholic church properties in the town. As there are many abbeys, convents and churches within the town boundaries, Haarlem suddenly finds itself with a lot of money on its hands. This is used to repair the destruction caused by the Siege and the fire.

1577 Haarlem agrees to the Veere Treaty, as demanded by the Spanish. The Spanish leave shortly thereafter.

1578 There are riots in the city: Reformationists invade the cathedral on the main square.

1585 Fall of Antwerp. Thousands more Flemings emigrate to Haarlem, amongst whom the painter Frans Hals and city architect Lieven de Key.

1593 Lieven de Key is appointed town architect. Amongst his buildings are the Vleeshal 1602 ('Meat Market') and a new wing on the Town Hall (1620).

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1596 The city Library is established. The first books come from the dispossessed abbeys.

ca 1600 The city has around 40,000 inhabitants, half of whom are Flemish.

1656 Abraham Casteleyn prints the first newspaper in Europe in Haarlem.

1631 The Amsterdamse Vaart (an inland waterway) is built.

1656 The Leidsevaart is built.

1700+ Economy stagnates again, many breweries close thanks to changing drinking habits (coffee and tea) and the high taxes on peat and grains. The silk industry goes into decline as competition increases.

1737 Enschede prints the Oprechte Haerlemse Courant, the oldest surviving newspaper in Europe (now incorporated into the daily contemporary Haarlem newspaper, the 'Haarlems Dagblad').

1808-10 King Louis Napoleon resides in the stately house, Welgelegen (now used as the provincial government centre).

1811 Emperor Napoleon makes a visit to Haarlem.

1813 (Kingdom of the Netherlands established, the mainly protestant northern provinces unite with the mainly catholic southern).

1813 Haarlem established as the capital of the province 'Holland'.

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1839 First steam train rides between Haarlem and Amsterdam (30 minutes).

1850-70 Industry regains strength, helped by the new trade from the North Sea canal. The 'Waarderpolder' becomes a hub for manufacturing and many new industries settle in Haarlem: metalworks, printing, textiles, food, cocoa and chocolate factories.

1852 The Haarlemmermeer - a large lake - is drained. This makes the canals in town start smelling.

1859 Oude Gracht is filled in, to become the 'Gedempte' (filled-in) Oude Gracht.

1860 First sewers are installed under the Gedempte Oude Gracht.

1867-76 Various parks are built in the city, amongst which the Kenau and Ripperda parks. These nearly all still exist today and are well used by the city inhabitants.

1876 The Rozenprieel (a housing area in the south of the city) is built by a group promoting better housing for workers.

1878 The City Council decides sewers for whole town will be too expensive. The citizens have to put their excrement in barrels which are collected once a week!

1878 The first horse tram rides from the main train station to the Hout, a wood in the south of town.

1880 The Leidse buurt is built.

1882 The city has now expanded to include the Leidse district, and to the north, the Schotersingel.

1884 Parts of Schoten are annexed.

1899 The first electric tram in Holland runs in Haarlem.

1927 Further expansion of the city, including Schoten, Spaarndam and parts of Bloemendaal, Heemstede, Haarlemmerliede and Spaarnwoude.

May 1940 The first German soldiers march into Haarlem.

April 1943 Amsterdamse buurt is heavily bombed.

Feb 1944 Germans raid the house of the Ten Boom family in Barteljoris street who had been hiding and looking after many Jews and resistance workers.

April 1945 Hanny Schaft, a resistance heroine, is murdered by order of the Gestapo.

1948 The city tram system is scrapped.

1957 Last Blue Tram (Amsterdam-Haarlem-Zandvoort) runs.

1961 First houses are built in Schalkwijk.

1963 Schalkwijk becomes part of Haarlem.

1964 Parking meters are introduced. Cost: 10c per half hour.

1973 Pedestrianisation of Grote Houtstraat, Gierstraat, Anegang, Spekstraat, Grote Markt en Barteljorisstraat in line with the policy of discouraging car traffic in the city centre.

1995 Haarlem celebrates its 750th anniversary as a city.