Flushing, Netherlands

History of the name 'Vlissingen'

Research still hasn't been able to determine where the name Vlissingen was derived from originally. Most theories however relate the name to the word fles (bottle) in one way or another.

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One legend states that Bishop Wilibrord landed in Flushing with a bottle in the seventh century. He shared the contents of his bottle with the beggars he found there while trying to convert them. A miracle occurred, because the contents of the bottle did not seem to diminish. When the Bishop realised the beggars did not want to listen to his words, he gave them his bottle. After that, he supposedly called the city Flessinghe.

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Another source states that the name has its origins in an old ferry-service house, on which a bottle was attached. The monk Jacob van Dreischor, who visited the city in 967, then apparently called the ferry-house het veer aan de Flesse (the ferry at the Bottle). Because many cities in the region later received the appendix -inge, the name gradually could have evolved to Vles-inge.

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According to another source, the name was derived from the Danish word Vles, which means tides. This could have led to the city's current name.

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