ALKMAAR, a town of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, situated on the Helder canal and on the railway between Haarlem and the Helder, about 20 miles N.N.W. of Amsterdam. The streets of Alkmaar are extremely neat and regular, and are intersected by canals lined with trees, while the ramparts of the town have been converted into beautiful boulevards. Many of the public buildings are elegant, especially the church of St Lawrence, a Gothic edifice of the 15th century. Alkmaar is the seat of a court of primary jurisdiction and of a tribunal of commerce, and possesses good schools as well as several literary and scientific societies. Its principal article of commerce is cheese, for which it is said to be the chief market in the kingdom, if not in the world. Besides cheese, it has a good trade in butter, com, and cattle, and manufactures of salt, sailcloth, soap, vinegar, and leather. Alkmaar successfully sustained a siege by the Duke of Alba in 1573, and in 1799 gave its name to a convention signed by the Duke of York and the French general Brane, in accordance with which the Russo-British army evacuated Holland. Population, 12,000.

ALKMAAR, Heinrik von, the German translator of the celebrated satirical poem Reineke de Vos, flourished in the latter half of the 15th century. In the preface to his work, which is the only source of information as to his life, he states that he was tutor to the Duke of Lorraine, and that he translated the poem from the Walsch. In spite of the latter statement, many have attributed the authorship to him; but it is now known that the story had a much earlier origin. Some have supposed the name Alkmaar to be a pseudonym.