Kampen is a city and municipality in the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. A member of the former Hanseatic League, it is located at the lower reaches of the river IJssel.
The municipality of Kampen had a population of 53,779 in 2019 and covers an area of 161.79 square kilometres (62.47 square miles). Kampen is located in the North West of Overijssel and is the largest city in this region. The city of Kampen itself has around 37,000 inhabitants.
Kampen has one of the best preserved old town centres of the Netherlands, including remains of the ancient city wall (of which three gates are still standing) and numerous churches. Also notable are the three bridges over the IJssel which connect Kampen with IJsselmuiden and Kampereiland, the agricultural area between the branches which form the IJssel delta, and a windmill (d’ Olde Zwarver – the Old Vagabond). Since November 2018, the town and some communes are on a riverisland. Between the 14th and 16th century it was the biggest town in the Northern Netherlands (modern day European Netherlands). The town is about 90km northeast of Amsterdam.
Traditionally people in Kampen speak a variation of the Sallands dialect, known as Kampers.
Kampen has a large number of old to very old buildings, including remains of the ancient city wall (whose city gates are still standing) and the Church of St Nicholas (Bovenkerk). The structure of the walled fortress city is still visible in the streets.
Significant structures include:
- The Koornmarktpoort: a city gate located near the river IJssel which probably dates from the 14th century. In the 15th century two squat towers were added at the outer corners.
- The Broederpoort: a rectangular city gate with four slender towers, originally from 1465, rebuilt in Renaissance style in 1615
- The Cellebroederspoort: a rectangular city gate, flanked by two heavy round towers, originally from 1465, rebuilt in 1617 in Renaissance style
- The Stedelijk Museum Kampen: located in the former town hall of Kampen, which dates from the late 14th century
- The Gotisch huis: built around 1500. This was the location of the Stedelijk Museum Kampen before it moved to its current location in the old town hall.
- The Nieuwe Toren: a tower with a carillon designed by Philips Vingboons and dating from 1648 to 1664
- The Church of St. Nicholas (Bovenkerk): a great Gothic basilica dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The interior of the church houses an early-Renaissance choir screen (1552), a stone pulpit (circa 1500) and a monumental organ from 1670 to 1676.
- The Broederkerk: a 14th-century church which originally belonged to a Franciscan monastery
- The Buitenkerk: a 14th-century church
- The Burgwalkerk: a neoclassical 19th-century church
- A windmill called d’Olde Zwarver, built in 1842
- A monastery gate dating from 1165 called Linnenweverspoortje
- The city auditorium (Stadsgehoorzaal), dating from 1891
- An old tobacco factory, De Olifant, where cigars are still made with 19th-century equipment. De Olifant cigars are sold in the shop and guided tours are available.
Throughout the town of Kampen, there are colorful murals which are in fact old commercials for now-defunct business in Kampen. These murals, which include Art Nouveau influences, were made by local artists and are now referred to as “frescoes of the middle class”. As a result of current municipal policy, wherever these murals are discovered under old plaster, they are restored to their former glory.
A number of better or lesser known people with a certain connection with Kampen is honoured with a commemorative stone bearing their name and a single-sentence characterization of their personality or achievements, incorporated into the pavement of the Oude Raadhuisplein (formerly Koeplein), the square in between the old town hall, the former Post Office and Nieuwe Toren.
