A new port on the Yser (1163 to 1500)
Nieuwpoort was founded in the 12th century by the Counts of Flanders as a new port on the Yser, which is exactly what the name means.
- Town charter (1163): Count Philip of Alsace granted the settlement a founding charter in 1163, as he did for other new port towns such as Dunkirk and Damme.
- Outer port: via the Yser and the Ieperlee, Nieuwpoort was the port for towns such as Ypres, Saint-Omer and Veurne.
- The church (1163): the first Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk was consecrated in 1163 by Bishop Milo of Thérouanne.
- The vierboeten (1284): in 1284 Count Guy of Dampierre had a stone lighthouse built, the great vierboete, which formed a leading line for sailors together with a smaller wooden tower.
- The market hall: the hall with its belfry goes back to the 13th and 14th centuries; the belfry is now on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
- Plundered: in 1213 and 1299 the French plundered the town, followed in 1383 by the men of Ghent, while the English badly damaged the lighthouses.
- Jan Turpin (1489): during an attack in 1489 mayor Jan Turpin called on the women of Nieuwpoort for help, who according to a chronicler fought like Amazons; the town giant Jan Turpin from 1926 recalls that victory.
The Battle of Nieuwpoort and the fortified town (1600 to 1856)
Because of its position on the Yser, Nieuwpoort was a contested fortified town for centuries.
- Witch trials: around 1600, 31 people in Nieuwpoort were accused of witchcraft, 18 of whom died at the stake; in 2012 they were rehabilitated with a memorial plaque.
- Battle of Nieuwpoort (1600): on 2 July 1600 the Dutch States army under Maurice of Nassau defeated the Spanish army in the dunes near Nieuwpoort, one of the best known battles of the Eighty Years' War.
- A painting as a gift: in the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk hangs a painting of the Battle of Nieuwpoort, given to the town by King William I in 1821.
- French attacks: in the 17th and 18th centuries the town had to deal with the French five times, in 1647, 1658, 1745, 1793 and 1794.
- Peter the Great (1717): in 1717 the Russian Tsar Peter the Great visited Nieuwpoort.
- Within the walls: on the Ferraris maps of the 1770s Nieuwpoort is a small, fully walled town with a wide moat and a grid of rectangular streets.
From garrison town to seaside resort (1856 to 1914)
When the fortress disappeared, Nieuwpoort could finally grow, and a new resort arose by the sea.
- The ramparts go (1861 to 1866): in 1856 the restrictions of a garrison town were lifted, and between 1861 and 1866 the fortifications were demolished.
- Nieuwpoort-Bad: with the growth of coastal tourism, Nieuwpoort-Bad grew up by the sea.
- The first train (1869): on 15 August 1869 the first train steamed into Nieuwpoort, with King Leopold II on board.
- The tram (1885): in 1885 the first Belgian local tramway from Ostend reached Nieuwpoort, extended to Nieuwpoort-Bad in 1903; in 1929 it was electrified as far as De Panne, today's Coastal Tram.
- New lighthouses: the old great vierboete got an oil lamp in 1863, and in 1883 the light of a new tower in the dunes of Lombardsijde shone for the first time.
The First World War and the Yser
In October 1914 Nieuwpoort became the place where the Belgian army stopped the German advance by flooding the land.
- Battle of the Yser: during the Battle of the Yser in October 1914 Nieuwpoort was a strongpoint of the Belgian army.
- Under water (1914): on the night of 29 to 30 October 1914 Belgian engineers, helped by bargeman Hendrik Geeraert, opened the sluices of Veurne-Ambacht, flooding the plain between the Yser and the railway to Diksmuide.
- A first attempt: on 26 October engineer captain Robert Thys and Karel Cogge had already made a first, less successful attempt at a smaller sluice.
- Destroyed, not captured: the town was completely destroyed but never taken by the Germans; the belfry and the lighthouses were lost too.
- Nieuport Memorial: close to the monument, the British Nieuport Memorial commemorates British soldiers who fell on the coast in the First World War.
Reconstruction, Second World War and marina
After 1918 Nieuwpoort was rebuilt to its historic design, and after 1945 it grew into a seaside resort with a large marina.
- Town hall (1922): the new town hall on the Marktplein was built in 1922 in Flemish Renaissance style.
- Hall and belfry (1921 to 1923): the market hall and the belfry were rebuilt to their historic design between 1921 and 1923.
- Second World War: in 1940 Nieuwpoort was captured, and until 1944 the town again suffered heavy damage.
- The church again: the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk, rebuilt in 1922, burned out in 1940, was rebuilt in 1946 and got a free-standing tower in 1952.
- Nieuwpoort-Bad joins (1949): in 1949 Nieuwpoort-Bad, which until then belonged to Oostduinkerke, became part of the town, roughly quadrupling its area.
The Nieuwpoort lighthouse
The Nieuwpoort lighthouse has a history that goes back to the Middle Ages.
- The great vierboete (1284): the stone tower from 1284 got an oil lamp in 1863 but was blown up by the Belgian army on 18 October 1914, because it was a landmark for German artillery.
- Lombardsijde (1883): the tower of 1883 in the dunes of Lombardsijde was shot to pieces by a British warship on 30 October 1914.
- Between the wars: a new tower rose between 1922 and 1926, which the retreating Germans destroyed in 1944; its lens system was then safely stored in Paris.
