However, eventually the walls became seen as redundant (or perhaps ineffective) and in 1672, they were torn down. Despite these defences, Doetinchem was besieged many times and during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648). Later a moat was dug around the wall and a rampart was built in front the city's central windmill, the 'walmolen' (Dutch 'wal'=rampart, 'molen'=mill), stands on the remains of this rampart. There were four barriers in the wall which, being weak points, were replaced over time by four large city-gates known as the Hamburgerpoort (built 1302), the Waterpoort, the Gruitpoort, and the Hezenpoort. In 1226, Doetinchem faced increasing danger from plunderers, and so the city wall was raised by a metre. Also, the new city council published rules for the city, codified in the 'Keurboek van Doetinchem' (Rulebook of Doetinchem), which laid down severe punishments for infringements. In 1236, Doetinchem was granted city rights ('stadsrechten') by Count Otto II of Gelre and Zutphen, and in return, the town provided taxes and soldiers for the Count's army. The spelling has varied over the centuries, with 'Duttichem', 'Duichingen' and 'Deutekom' being just some examples.įor a long time, Doetinchem remained a small place but around 1100 it started to grow and, after suffering several attempts by plunderers, a town wall was built. In 887, there is another mention of 'Deutinkem', a fortress with a church which had been given to the then Bishop of Utrecht. The first reference to the name of Doetinchem comes in a document from the year 838 which mentions a 'villa Duetinghem', a settlement with a small church. Roman coins have been found and there is also archaeological evidence of the Vikings having plundered the area. These prehistoric hunters were followed by Celtic and Germanic tribes like the Franks and Saxons. It is known from archaeological finds of skulls, pottery shards, and flint arrowheads that the area was inhabited more than 11,000 years ago. Wehl was a separate municipality (with about 6,750 inhabitants, including Nieuw-Wehl) until 31 December 2004, when it merged with the municipality of Doetinchem. The municipality of Doetinchem consists of: The local government organization in the Netherlands is complex and fine-grained (see municipality and Govt Stats, with municipalities being divided into various entities. On 1 January 2005, a municipal restructuring merged the neighbouring municipality of Wehl as well as the Zelhelmse Broek area with Doetinchem. This makes Doetinchem the largest town (by population) in the Achterhoek. The municipality had a population of 58,270 in 2021 and consists of an area of 79.66 km 2 (30.76 sq mi) of which 0.61 km 2 (0.24 sq mi) is water. It is situated along the Oude IJssel (Old IJssel) river in a part of the province of Gelderland called the Achterhoek. Dutch Topographic map of Doetinchem, March 2014ĭoetinchem ( Dutch pronunciation: ⓘ Low Saxon: Deutekem) is a city and municipality in the east of the Netherlands.
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