The park was built from 1830, when space was created along the canals due to the demolition of the city walls [1]. Initially, the park consisted of a narrow green strip along the city girth. The canal was widened in the second half of the nineteenth century and part of the park was excavated in 1856 due to the construction of a steam pumping station. In 1893 the park was expanded with the backyard of the house of Mayor Van Bergen IJzendoorn on the Oosthaven. In 1898 the park was given the name Houtmansplantsoen. [2] At the height of the park, part of the city wall used to be. Even longer ago, the Castle of Gouda was located partly in the area of the park.
The park is named after Cornelis and Frederik de Houtman, the two Gouda brothers who sailed with the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies in 1595. Since 1880 the park has been a monument to the two brothers, with the inscription: "to the brothers Cornelis and Frederik de Houtman, natives and citizens of Gouda ... founders of the alliance of the Netherlands with Insulinde." [3] Other There are memorials for Mayor Van Bergen IJzendoorn and for Queen Wilhelmina and King Willem Alexander (Koningslinden). There is also a music dome in the park, built in 1898 after a design from 1893. [4] At the edge of the park is the flour mill 't Slot.
Several events will take place in the Houtmansplantsoen. In the summer, free concerts - the so-called Houtmansplantsoen concerts - are organized in the bandstand in the park on Sunday afternoons organized by the Events Foundation Gouda (SEG).
The Houtmansplantsoen is, just like the bandstand and some memorials in the park, registered in the national monument register.