Urk - History / Lordship of Urk En Emmeloord

History / Lordship of Urk En Emmeloord

The oldest instance of the name "Urk" is a donation certificate of 966 from Holy Roman Emperor Otto I to the Sint Pantaleonsklooster monastery in Cologne. The text reads: "cuiisdam insulae medietatem in Almere, que Urch vocatur" (Latin: "of a certain island in the middle of Almere, which is called Urch").
Until 1475 the High and Low Lordship of Urk and Emmeloord (the most northern village of Schokland) was in the hands of the Van Kuinre family.
From 1475 to 1614, the Zoudenbalch family of Utrecht were Lords of Urk and Emmeloord.
From 1614 to 1660, Urk and Emmeloord were ruled by Jonkheer van der Werve. (from an important family of Antwerp.)
From 1660 to 1792 Urk and Emmeloord belonged to the municipality of Amsterdam, and ruled from 1660 to 1672/1678 by Andries de Graeff.
From 1792 to 1950 Urk belonged to the province of Noordholland.
From 1950 to 1986 Urk belonged to the province of Overijssel.
Since 1986, Urk has belonged to the province of Flevoland.

After WWII, Urk's town spread into the polder. Many Urkers who had to leave the town because of overcrowding before the polder reclamation was completed were able to return to Urk.

The Noordoostpolder in its early years had an alternative name "Urker Land," from which Urk's newspaper, Het Urkerland, gets its name.