Haarle

Haarle is a village in Salland, in the middle of the Dutch province Overijssel. It is part of the municipality of Hellendoorn. Haarle has approximately 2,100 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2021). It is located south of the N35 (Zwolle - Enschede), about 9 km west of Raalte and about 5 km east of Nijverdal.

In 1985, 2,300 people lived in Haarle, but in recent years the number has fluctuated around 2,200. The Haarle territory covers 3,590 hectares, which is more than a quarter of the area of the municipality of Hellendoorn. Just over half of the residents live in the built-up area, the others in the surrounding countryside.

History

The place name Haarle is a combination of "Haar" and "Le". "Haar" stands for "long high ridge" and "le" is a weakened form of "lo", a botanical term indicating "a forest with low trees where pieces of open meadow land lie".

The oldest known document indicating the presence of a hamlet Haarle dates from the year 1244. This document mentions the estate Smethinc or Smeenk. The Catholic church of the village is located precisely between the two groups of old farms. Over two hundred years, the rest of the village was built around the church.

South of Haarle lies the nature reserve de Sprengenberg, on which the villa of the Almelose textile manufacturer Van Wulfften Palthe was built in 1903.

North of Haarle runs the railway line Zwolle - Almelo. Haarle had its own stopping place on this line from 1881 until the 20th century, namely stopping place Haarle.