Stichtse Vecht

Stichtse Vecht is a municipality of the Netherlands and lies in the northwestern part of the province of Utrecht.

The municipality has about 63,000 inhabitants and covers an area of about 107 km2 (41 sq mi).

Stichtse Vecht was formed on 1 January 2011 by a merger of the municipalities of Breukelen (in the west), Maarssen (in the east) and Loenen (in the north).

Geography
Stichtse Vecht is situated north of the city of Utrecht, in an area called the Vechtstreek. It is near sea level and is mostly rural with many pastures.

Within its boundaries are the Maarsseveense Plassen, which are recreational lakes. Northeast it borders the Loosdrechtse Plassen, also recreational lakes, which lie in neighbouring municipality of Wijdemeren.

The Amsterdam–Rhine Canal and the river Vecht cross the municipality from south to north.

Topography
Map of Stichtse Vecht, June 2015

History
The municipality contains several country estates (buitenplaatsen) and castles, like Nijenrode Castle, Slot Zuylen and Huis te Mijnden.

Transportation
The A2 motorway crosses the municipality from south to north.

There are two railway stations:
 * Breukelen railway station
 * Maarssen railway station

Population centers
Former municipality of Breukelen:
 * Breukelen
 * Gieltjesdorp
 * Kockengen
 * Kortrijk
 * Laagnieuwkoop
 * Nieuwer-Ter-Aa
 * Noordeinde
 * Oud-Aa
 * Oukoop
 * Portengen
 * Portengense Brug
 * Scheendijk
 * Spengen
 * Zuideinde

Former municipality of Loenen:
 * Loenen (aan de Vecht)
 * Loenersloot
 * Mijnden
 * Nieuwerhoek
 * Nieuwersluis
 * Nigtevecht
 * Vreeland

Former municipality of Maarssen:
 * Maarssen
 * Maarssenbroek
 * Maarsseveen
 * Molenpolder
 * Oud-Maarsseveen
 * Oud-Zuilen
 * Tienhoven

Municipal council
After the 2022 local elections, the municipal council of Stichtse Vecht consisted of the following parties:

Since 2020 the mayor has been Ap Reinders, who is not a member of any political party.

The arts

 * Willem Vrelant (?? in Vreeland – ca.1481) a Dutch book illuminator
 * Constantijn à Renesse (1626 in Maarssen – 1680) a Dutch Golden Age painter
 * Gerrit Zegelaar (1719 in Loenen aan de Vecht – 1794) a Dutch painter
 * Isabelle de Charrière (1740 in Castle Zuylen – 1805) a Dutch writer of letters, novels, pamphlets, music and plays
 * Nicolaas Bastert (1854 in Maarssen – 1939) a Dutch landscape painter
 * Marjolein Bastin (born 1943 in Loenen aan de Vecht) a Dutch nature artist, writer, children's author and illustrator
 * Rutger Hauer (1944 in Breukelen – 2019) a Dutch actor, writer and environmentalist
 * Penney de Jager (born 1948) dancer and choreographer, lives in Stichtse Vecht
 * Leoni Jansen (1955 in Leiden) a Dutch singer, stage-director and TV anchor-woman

Public thinking & public service

 * Gerrit van Arkel (1858 in Loenen aan de Vecht – 1918) a Dutch Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) architect
 * Aarnoud van Heemstra (1871 in Vreeland – 1957) a Dutch nobleman, jurist and politician.
 * Pieter Nicolaas van Eyck (1887 in Breukelen – 1954) a foreign correspondent, poet, critic, essayist and philosopher
 * Pierre Joseph Eyma (1903 in Maarssen – 1945) a Dutch botanist
 * Annelien Kappeyne van de Coppello (1936 in Loenen aan de Vecht – 1990) a Dutch politician
 * Sander Griffioen (born 1941 in Loenen aan de Vecht) a Dutch philosopher and academic
 * Bernt Schneiders (born 1959 in Breukelen) a Dutch politician, Mayor of Landsmeer, Heemskerk & Haarlem
 * Liesbeth Spies (born 1966 in Alphen aan den Rijn) a Dutch politician, Mayor of Alphen aan den Rijn
 * Marianne Thieme (born 1972 in Ede) a Dutch politician, author, animal rights activist and jurist

Sport

 * Cor Aalten (1913 in Breukelen-Nijenrode – 1991) a Dutch athlete, competed at the 1932 Summer Olympics
 * Henk van der Grift (born 1935 in Breukelen) a retired Dutch speed skater, competed at the 1960 Winter Olympics
 * Bart Verschoor (born 1965 in Loenersloot) a sailor, competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics
 * Annemieke Kiesel (born 1979 in Kockengen) a former Dutch footballer and coach, also played for the Dutch national team, retiring with 156 caps