Deventer; Sallaans: Daeventer) is a city and municipality in the Salland region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen (with a population of about 5,000 people) was merged with Deventer as part of a national effort to reduce bureaucracy in the country.

In the 19th century, Deventer became an industrial town. Bicycles (Burgers), carpets (Koninklijke Deventer Tapijtfabriek), tins and cans for food and drinks (Thomassen & Drijver), cigars (Horst & Maas en Bijdendijk & Ten Hove), foundry and heavy machinery (Nering Bögel), and textiles (Ankersmit) were produced until the mid to late 20th century. Some of these industries are still thriving today, such as beds and accessories (Auping) and publishing (Wolters Kluwer, now headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn)

The city’s trade and industry is still of some importance. The city is host to a factory producing central heating systems, as well as Wolters Kluwer, a global information services and publishing company.

The Deventer honey cake (Bussink Deventer Koek), produced in Deventer for over 500 years, is still manufactured locally and sold all over the Netherlands and beyond.

Sights[edit]

• The Waag (Weighing-house) on the edge of the Brink square, built in 1550 and restored in 2003. The Deventer City Museum is housed inside the Waag. The Museum’s collections include industrial and trading history, paintings by Gerard Terborch and Han van Meegeren, silver objects, and prehistoric findings). Thea Beckman‘s novel Het wonder van Frieswijck (“The Frieswijck Miracle”) features the Waag.
  • On the outer wall of the Waag hangs a large kettle that is over 500 years old, said to have been used for a public execution in the late Middle Ages; a man who had produced counterfeit coins was cooked to death in it. According to local tradition, there are holes in the kettle shot by footmen of Napoleon‘s army around 1809.
• The Saint Lebuïnuskerk (St. Lebuin’s Church) in Gothic style, with ceiling paintings and an organ. Its tower can be climbed in summer.
• The Brink (market square) with houses, shops, and cafes dating from 1575–1900. The market square is also the centre of Deventer nightlife. Alongside this square there is the Bussink “Koekhuisje”, where you can buy Deventer Koek (honey-cake).^[tone] Markets take place every Friday (including one on Good Friday, following a medieval tradition) and Saturday.
• The Speelgoedmuseum (Toy Museum) behind the Waag, housed in an old house in the city
• The medieval Bergkerk (Mountain Church), on top of a small hill (old river dune), now a museum for modern art.
• The old streets around the Bergkerk, known as Bergkwartier (Mountain Quarter) situated on and around an old river dune.
• The Stadsarchief en Athenaeumbibliotheek (City Archive and Athenaeum Library), the oldest scientific library of the Netherlands (founded in 1560).
• De Proosdij in the Sandrasteeg is the oldest stone house of the Netherlands still in use. The earliest parts dating back to around 1130.