In the beginning. In the beginning… there was no Hilversum at all. Hilversum?! Never heard of it. Let alone Hilversum Mediastad. The latter may still be true today, because real Hilversumers still go to the village when they go to the center.
Around the year 900
That village of Hilversum was founded around the year 900. We think. Because we don't know for sure. The very first mention of Hilversum is in the year 1305. And then Hilversum was not an independent village. Hilversum was part of Laren. Laren is one of the oldest villages in the Gooi. Naarden and Blaricum also certainly existed since the early Middle Ages. Hilversum? That was the place where the sheep grazed. Hence our barren heathen.
The Gooi
The high Gooi is one of the oldest inhabited regions of the Netherlands. Het Gooi, Gooiland, 't Gooi - it's all possible - is the region between the rivers Vecht and Eem. The Gooi includes Huizen, Blaricum, Laren and the former municipalities of Naarden and Bussum, and of course our Hilversum. Throw comes from shire. A 'shire' was an area that belonged to the Germanic people, also in Frankish times a shire was an indication for the regions. It is often also used to indicate a landscape: a shire is an area that lies along the water. And that may be true in this case.
Land of Naarden
But beware: our region used to be called 'Naerdincklant', or land of Naarden. Naarden was important, because the bailiff lived in Naarden. The bailiff was someone who represented a king or emperor in the countryside. Naerdincklant was donated by Emperor Otto I the Great to the Elten Abbey in Germany in 968. Yes, that was possible at the time: giving away our village and surrounding area. The fact that we have a 'Vitus Church' in Hilversum - Saint Vitus is a saint who is hardly venerated in our country - has to do with this: the abbey of Elten was also dedicated to St. Vitus.
And there is Hilversum!
Place names that indicate the place of residence of an important person or tribe often end in 'heim' or 'sum'. It often indicates that these places originated in the Early Middle Ages (800 - 1000). The name Hilversum could therefore easily come from Hilvertshem or Hilfertshem. That means settlement (heem) of the person Hilvert or Hilfert. A bit like Arnhem, which is probably a corruption of 'the Settlement of Arent'.
The Memorial Book Hilversum 1424 – 1924
The 'Het Gedenkboek Hilversum 1424 – 1924', published to celebrate Hilversum's 500th anniversary, states that according to tradition, Hilfert built his home on what is today the Havenstraat or somewhere in the vicinity of the Kerkbrink. The name Hilversum could also come from 'hil' (hill). In the past, people in the village also spoke of 'Hulversom' in dialect. So yes, then the question is again what that means. Anyone who knows, please tell us.
[Sources known to the editors]
Photo: Gooi en Vecht Historical