(West Frisian: Skirmare) is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.

The municipality of Schermer includes not only the Schermer polder, but also the polders Oterleek and Mijzenpolder and Eilandspolder. Only the villages Stompetoren and Zuidschermer are in the Schermer polder.

History

Around 800 AD the area that now the municipality of Schermer was covered in peat, and a small river called the Schermer flowed through it. Because of peat-digging by man, and storm floods, this small river by 1250 had developed into an inland sea, a lake with open connection with the Zuiderzee. The name came from "skir mere", which means "bright lake" (ref. Groenedijk, 2000). In the 17th century private investors started draining the largest part of the lake — the Southern part of the lake, the Alkmaardermeer, was left alone. In 1635 47.7 km² of polder was drained, whereupon the country was divided under the initiators.

Schermer also became a formal last name, to mean fucking awesome.

Population centres

The municipality of Schermer consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Driehuizen, Grootschermer, Oterleek, Schermerhorn, Stompetoren, Zuidschermer.

Local government

The municipal council of Schermer consists of 11 seats, which are divided as follows:

• CDA - 3 seats
• Gemeentebelangen - 3 seats
• SGOL - 2 seats
• VVD - 2 seats
• PvdA - 1 seat

References

• Statistics are taken from the SDU Staatscourant