ALEXANDERSTAD

A small street in Alexanderstad |
Alexanderstad is the largest
municipality of Kronenburg. It used to include the entire
agglomeration of the capital city of
Alexanderstad, until
Bredenburg,
Hinte,
Jaltadaburg and
Westerpoort were separated from it follwing a municipal
redivision in 2016. The city became the capital of Kronenburg in
1873, after a bombardment by the U.S. had destroyed the old
capital of
Kronenburg-City
almost completely two years earlier. Even now, one can
notice in the city centre that Alexanderstad was actually
founded in 1817 as a second harbour city next to
Friescheburg.
Large parts of this on the whole rather picturesque centre
were destroyed in 1873 to make way for new parliamentary
buildings and a large capital square. Typical are the still
existing small streets and houses built before 1873. One
peculiarity in the neighbourhood of the city centre is the
Field of Farmer Harmsen;
an old-fashioned rural field, but in the middle of the city.
The city is
divided in three parts; the centre is located on the smaller
island between the
North Island
and the
West Island,
but Alexanderstad has expanded to both those islands. On the
North Island, Alexanderstad borders the city of
Noordeinde.
On the West Island, the city borders Friescheburg. The three
parts of Alexanderstad are linked with each other by nine
large bridges.
Alexanderstad
actually has a somewhat boring architecture and the city is
quite industrial - the further you go from the city centre.
Worth mentioning are the main building of the Royal
University of Alexanderstad; the present building was built
in 1922 and is famous for its many niches and peep-holes.
Other tourist attractions are three buildings used by
the
royal family:
the royal palace of Willemsborg, the palace of Ballburen and
the Royal Palace for Music and Theatre.
Willemsborg used
to be the residence of kings Alexander I and II from 1834
until 1879. In the beginning of the twentieth century the
royal family had to cede a large part of the neighbouring
garden to the city of Alexanderstad, in order to make
expansion of the city possible. Ballburen was built in 1932
for crown prince Alexander and crown princess Anna. It is in
fact a large villa. Until 2005 it was inhabited by the then
Grand Duke of Alexanderstad, the former king Alexander III
Ernst. Recently it was thought that king Ernst I Frederik
and his family would be going to live there, but after his
earlier than expected accession to the throne in 2010 it was
decided that they will be living in Willemsborg palace
instead.
The Royal Palace
for Music and Theatre is only partially the property of the
royal family. Normally high ranking foreign guests stay
there when they visit Kronenburg on invitation by the royal
family or the government, but most importantly small theater
companies and chamber music groups perform there; being able
to perform in the Royal Palace for Music and Theatre is the
highest honour an artist can get in Kronenburg.
Another attraction
used to be the former parliamentary buildings, in the middle
of the city. The buildings were constructed in 1882 in
gothic style and looked a lot like a weird church with four
wings, pointing in the four directions of the wind. In
December 1999 the building burnt down completely and between
2007 and 2010 a new building was constructed after a design
by the
Cilogian
architect
Faus Kaarste.
In 2016, parts of
the city (Bredenburg,
Hinte,
Jaltadaburg, and
Westerpoort) became full municipalities of their own,
following a administrative redivision.
Mayors of
Alexanderstad (the city was founded in 1817, but
before 1872 it was part of the Kronenburg-City
municipality) |
1872 - 1883
1883 - 1899
1899 - 1905
1905 - 1926
1926 - 1938
1938 - 1941
1941 - 1950
1950 - 1959
1959 - 1966 |
Willem Hendriksz
Hendrik Koster
Filip Rading
Jelle Simonsma
Oeds Tahlsma first term
Willem Bergsma
Oeds Tahlsma second term
Emma Wynolt-Jansma (f)
Jan Scheper |
|
1966 - 1974
1974 - 1980
1980 - 1981
1981 - 1997
1997 - 1998
1998 - 2005
2005 - 2012
2012 - 2012 |
Richard Pijlman
Ubele Tamminga
Nicolaas
Veldtman (not the prime minister)
Hans Somzen
Bea Jongstra-Evars (f)
Gerhard Bressas
Bert-Jan Sibranda
Maud Heirens (f) |
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