Urk

Fishery, fishery and more fishery. That is Urk, past, present and future. Everything revolves around fishing. And around faith.

The old town center exudes history. Dive deeper into it in Museum het Oude Raadhuis. If you enjoy fresh fish, stroll to the harbour for a real treat!
Urk used to be an island of fishermen before the island was incorporated into Noordoostpolder – a large land reclamation project in what used to be the Zuiderzee. If you look at the town from afar, you can see that it is slightly elevated compared to its surroundings.
After the Closure Dam cut off IJsselmeer from the North Sea, everybody thought that would be the end of Zuiderzee saltwater fishing. But the fishermen of Urk have the most modern fishing fleet plying the North Sea today. It also boasts the largest fish auction in the Netherlands. But boats cannot reach the North Sea from Urk anymore, so what’s the story? The fish comes ashore at one of the Dutch ports along the North Sea coast and is transported to Urk by lorry. A large fish processing industry has also developed in Urk.
Urk has just over 20 000 inhabitants and counts over twenty different Protestant congregations. The people of Urk are religious, close-knit and speak their own dialect. The town has the highest birth rate in the country and one of the lowest vaccination percentages.