Every design for Harderwijk

Harderwijk once faced the open Zuiderzee, and its fishing boats sailed out from here until 1932, when the sea was cut off from the North Sea. The harbour now holds mostly yachts, facing the Wolderwijd.

The town lies on the western edge of the Veluwe, halfway between Zwolle and Amersfoort, and the south-eastern half of its municipality is largely forest. That puts Harderwijk on the boundary between two landscapes, with woodland behind it and water before it. The Klimbos Harderwijk takes the woods as its playground, while along the boulevard you can still buy fish for most of the year.

Harderwijk received city rights in 1231, joined the Hanseatic League and hosted a university between 1648 and 1811, where Carl Linnaeus graduated. Today it is best known for the Dolfinarium Harderwijk. Yet the Vischpoort, the only city gate left standing, is what ties the town together: the gate that once opened onto the sea, and the one image any Harderwijker would choose to carry.