Aalsmeer is located on the border of the former Haarlem Lake. The older portion of the town is built on peat, and is surrounded by polders. The polders consist of loamy soil and are 9–15 feet (2.7–4.6 m) below sea level.[6]
Aalsmeer is first referenced in a document from 1133 in which it is called "Alsmar" and is granted to the Abbey of Rijnsburg. Diederik VII van Kleef confirmed this grant in an act in 1199. The area was then a wilderness with alders and willow forests.
In its surroundings, large tracts of land were dug up for peat, creating large lakes and ponds such as Oosteinderpoel (East End Pool), Schinkelpoel (Schinkel Pool), Stommeer (Stom Lake), Hornmeer (Horn Lake), Legmeer (Leg Lake), and the Westeinderplassen (West End Ponds). This left little land for agriculture, causing Aalsmeer's inhabitants to switch to fishery. The land was cultivated intensely, mostly for tree nurseries.
Topographic map of Aalsmeer, June 2015
The lack of dry land was countered by reclaiming some of the lakes, starting with Stom Lake in 1650, and followed by Horn Lake in 1674. In 1852, the large Haarlem Lake, bordering on Aalsmeer, was made into a polder. Then followed Schinkelpoel, Oosteinderpoel, and Legmeer. Peat was no longer dug up and the fishing business declined. Yet horticulture increased, especially strawberry cultivation, which peaked between 1850 and 1885. The strawberry became the symbol for the flag of Aalsmeer: red (fruit), green (leaf), and black (soil). The cultivation of flowers began circa 1880, first with roses in greenhouses.
The growers would sell their strawberries and flowers to distributors who would bring them with barges to the market in Amsterdam. But the trade shifted to Aalsmeer where auctions began to be held in local cafés. In 1912 two auction businesses were established: Centrale Aalsmeerse Veiling (Central Aalsmeer Auction) in the town's centre and Bloemenlust in Aalsmeer East.
During World War 2, Aalsmeer gained a reputation for its Nazi support, mostly because of its fanatical National Socialistic mayor and a handful of fascist supporters. The highest supreme commander of the German Wehrmacht in the Netherlands, Friedrich Christiansen, was a regular visitor. Following the war, more than a hundred court cases were held against Nazi supporters from Aalsmeer.
In 1950 Aalsmeer had 12,500 inhabitants. In 1968 the two flower auction businesses merged, and in 1972 a new large auction building was completed in South Aalsmeer and expanded in 1999.
Having 999,000 square metres (10,750,000 sq ft) of floor space, the flower auction building of FloraHolland [nl] is one of the largest commercial buildings in the world. Its close proximity to Schiphol Airport allows the growers access to markets worldwide. On 1 January 2008 the Aalsmeer flower auction merged with the united auctions of Naaldwijk and Rijnsburg under the name FloraHolland, and is the largest auction market in the world.[9] The flowers that are grown and sold here are carnations, roses, lilacs, freesias, chrysanthemums, cyclamens, and begonias.[6]
The Endemol television studios are located in the former Central Auction building. The Bloemenlust building is nowadays a sports, event, and congress centre. Dominating the Ringvaart canal are the large building halls of Royal De Vries Scheepsbouw.
Agriculture and manufacturing also play an important role in the economy of the locality. Dairy, beef, potatoes, vegetables, and fruit are the areas within agriculture, and the types of manufacturing in the city are farm products, sporting goods, boats, and packaging material.[10]
Aalsmeer has a number of annual events and festivals. The most famous was the Flower parade (Bloemencorso), every first Saturday in September. After 60 years, this tradition was discontinued in 2007 as the flower auction stopped its sponsorship. Other annual events are the "Pramenrace", every second Saturday in September and the Bands Night (Bandjesavond) in June.
Municipality of Aalsmeer (13 Jan 2014). "College van B en W" [Board of Mayor and Aldermen]. Gemeente Aalsmeer (in Dutch). Gemeente Aalsmeer. Retrieved 25 Feb 2014.
Munro, David, ed. (1995). "Aalsmeer". The Oxford Dictionary of the World. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-866184-3.
