Gooise Meren (pronounced [ˈɣoːisə ˈmeːrə(n)]) is a municipality in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. It has about 58,000 inhabitants and covers an area of about 77 km2 (30 sq mi).
Gooise Meren has existed since 2016. It is a merger of the three former municipalities of Bussum, Muiden (including Muiderberg) and Naarden. Eastern (Naarden area) and southern part (Bussum area) of the municipality lie within the Gooi region, western part (Muiden area) lies within the Vechtstreek region.
The very northern part of the Utrecht Hill Ridge, lake Naardermeer and artificial island Pampus are situated within its boundaries.
Gooise Meren borders in the northwest on lake IJmeer, in the northeast on lake Gooimeer. The Vecht river empties into the IJmeer at Muiden, and also the northern end of the former Hollandic Water Line ends in Muiden.
Contents
Politics
The municipal council consists of 33 members which, after the 2026 municipal elections, were divided as follows:
D66 - 8 seats
VVD - 7 seats
Goois Democratic Platform - 6 seats
GroenLinks / PvdA - 5 seats
Hart voor Gooise Meren - 4 seats
CDA - 2 seats
Partij voor Leefomgeving En Klimaat - 1 seat
The municipal executive consists of a mayor (Han ter Heegde, VVD) and five aldermen (2 VVD, 2 D66, 1 Goois Democratic Platform).
Notable people
Willem Cornelisz van Muyden (1573 in Muiden – 1634) ship's carpenter and mariner
Salomon van Ruysdael (ca.1602 in Naarden – 1670) Dutch Golden Age landscape painter
Jan van Neck (1634–1714) Dutch Golden Age painter
Moses Lemans (1785 in Naarden – 1832) Dutch-Jewish Hebraist and mathematician and a leader of the Haskalah movement in Holland
Pieter Merkus (1787 in Naarden – 1844) Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies 1841/1844
Willem Cornelis Bauer (1862 – 1904 in Bussum) architect and painter
Frederik van Eeden (1860 – 1932 in Bussum) writer and psychiatrist
Abraham Samson Onderwijzer (1862 in Muiden – 1934) Dutch rabbi
Frank Martin (1890 – 1974 in Naarden) Swiss composer
Willem Arondeus (1894 in Naarden – 1943) artist and author who joined the Dutch resistance
Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart (1901 in Bussum – 1956) politician and diplomat, first United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 1951/1956
Freddy Wittop (1911 in Bussum – 2001) costume designer, dancer and college professor
Wim van Norden (1917 in Bussum – 2015) journalist, co-founder of Het Parool
Paul Biegel (1925 in Bussum – 2006) prolific writer of children's literature
Sport
Tineke Lagerberg (born 1941 in Bussum) retired Dutch swimmer, team bronze medallist at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Huub Rothengatter (born 1954 in Bussum) former racing driver
Anneloes Nieuwenhuizen (born 1963 in Bussum) former Dutch field hockey defender, team gold medallist at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Ruud Hesp (born 1965 in Bussum) Dutch former professional football goalkeeper with 504 club caps
twins Tim & Tom Coronel (born 1972 in Naarden) Dutch racing drivers
Wouter Jolie (born 1985 in Naarden) Dutch field hockey player, team silver medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Lucas Steijn (born 1986 in Muiderberg) Dutch former basketball player
Marlous Pieëte (born 1989 in Naarden) Dutch female retired international footballer with 51 caps for the NL
Ferry Weertman (born 1992 in Naarden) Dutch long-distance freestyle swimmer, gold medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Robin van Kampen (born 1994) Dutch chess grandmaster, brought up in Bussum
Youri Mulder (born in 1969) retired Dutch Footballer
Joël Drommel (born 1996), football goalkeeper