The origin of the town of Oudewater is obscure and no information has been found concerning the first settlement of citizens. It is also difficult to recover the name of Oudewater. One explanation is that the name is a corruption of old water-meadow. Oudewater was an important border city between Holland and Utrecht. Oudewater was of great strategic importance. The town was granted city rights in 1265 by Hendrik van Vianden, the bishop of Utrecht. Oudewater took its place in the First Free States council in Dordrecht on 19 July 1572, Oudewater was one of the twelve cities taking part in the first free convention of the States General in Dordrecht. This was a meeting that laid down the origin of the State of the Netherlands, as we know it now, under the leadership of the House of Orange. This happened at the beginning of the Eighty Years' War when the Netherlands were still part of the Spanish Empire. After a Siege of Oudewater, the city was conquered by the Spanish on 7 August 1575, and most of its inhabitants were killed, including the family of famous Oudewater native and Protestant theologian Jacobus Arminius. In the 16th and 17th century, Oudewater was an important producer of rope. In the surrounding area, hemp was cultivated. There still is a rope manufacturing plant and a rope museum in the town. Oudewater is the setting for the 1975 novel Das Geheimnis des Baron Oudewater set in the 16th century, when the Netherlands was fighting for its independence from Spain. Written by the German author Alberta Rommel, it has been described as a romantic historical novel.
Geography
Oudewater is located at in the southwest of the province of Utrecht in the center of the Netherlands. It is situated where the Linschoten river flows out in the Hollandse IJssel. Oudewater is bordered by the municipalities of Montfoort, Lopik, Krimpenerwaard, and Bodegraven-Reeuwijk. The municipality of Oudewater consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Hekendorp, Oudewater, Papekop, Snelrewaard.
Buildings
Oudewater is famous for the Heksenwaag. This Weighing house, an official town building, became famous at the height of the of the 16th century because people accused of witchcraft were offered a fair chance to prove their innocence as opposed to many other places where the scales were rigged. From all over Europe people made the journey to Oudewater to avoid prosecution. After the weighing, they received an official certificate proclaiming them not a witch. Nobody was ever found to be an actual witch in Oudewater, though the weighings were still a public spectacle. Certificates would state that "the body weight is in proportion to its build." The reasoning behind this is the old belief that a witch has no soul and therefore weighs significantly less than an ordinary person; this distinction would supposedly allow the witch to fly on a broomstick. In early modern times, when accusations of witchcraft could result in being burned at the stake, the town of Oudewater offered the accused a chance of proving their innocence. This can be seen as a sign of the growing power of the citizenry as a third force next to that of the church and nobility. Before witch hunts were sanctioned by the law and the church in their bid to break the power of local herb doctors and midwifes. By giving out these certificates the citizens of Oudewater, therefore were defying the church. The Waag is still open as a tourist attraction, and official certificates are available. The town hall dates from 1588 and features a stork's nest. Oudewater has a monumental protected city centre with more than 250 protected houses. The church, now Protestant, dates from the 15th century. Its tower is from about 1300. During the religious wars, until the sacking of Oudewater, both Roman Catholics and Protestants used this church. Thereafter Catholics were still tolerated but more in low profile.
