Kampen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkɑmpə(n)] ) 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 54,474 in 2021 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.
Geert van Wou (1440, Hintham—December 1527, Kampen) was a well-known Dutch bellfounder. He is best known today for the Maria Gloriosa (1497) of Erfurt Cathedral. The son of a bellfounder, he is considered one of the most important bellfounders of the Middle Ages, though records suggest he participated in other casting.
The most famous bells for the cathedrals include those in Erfurt (Maria Gloriosa, e, 1497), Braunschweig (1502), Naumburg (1502), Utrecht (7 bells on F, 1505/06), and the St. Michael's Church in Kampen (1493/96) and that of today's new tower in Kampen (1481–83). A Van Wou bell also hangs in Zeerijp (1500) and another there by him was recast in 1955 by van Bergen because of a crack in the bell foundry. He cast two other bells (of 1493) hanging in the Lamberti Church in Munster. In Eernewoude also a Van Wou-bell from the year 1500. For St. Michaelis and St. Nicolai in Lüneburg he also poured bells (two in St. Michaelis, one in St. Nicolai, 1491) and for St. Mary in Stendal and the St. Mary's Cathedral in Hamburg (1487, the bell "Celsa", which since 1804 is now in the St. Nicholas Church (Hamburg- Altengamme depends)). Another bell hangs in the minster Mildam roads in the church of St. Gudula. Cast in 1492, the Regina Bell of Osnabrück Cathedral, already cast in 1485, is now in the tower of Holy Cross Church at Osnabrück. The Grote Kerk, Haarlem in Haarlem houses another van Wou bell, the Roelant cast in 1503, weighing in at almost 5000 kg.
The Flevopolder is an island polder forming the bulk of Flevoland, a province of the Netherlands. Created by land reclamation, its northeastern part was drained in 1955 and the remainder—the southwest—in 1968.
Unlike other major polders, it is surrounded by lakes and below-sea-level channels. By some definitions, it is the world's largest artificial island. Levees, dikes, and pumping were used to drain the land. The polder's name references the ancient Lake Flevo. The Flevopolder, along with the Noordoostpolder, forms the Flevoland province, which is located near Amsterdam in the southwest and Kampen, Overijssel in the northeast.
The Utrecht–Kampen railway (also known as Centraalspoorweg) is an important railway line in the Netherlands running from Utrecht to Kampen, passing through Bilthoven, Amersfoort, Nijkerk, Ermelo, Harderwijk, Nunspeet, Wezep and Zwolle. The line was opened between 1863 and 1865 by the Nederlandsche Centraal-Spoorweg-Maatschappij. Its northern part (Zwolle–Kampen) is known as the Kamperlijntje, currently operated by Keolis Nederland.