Aalsmeer is first referenced in a document from 1133 in which it is called "
Alsmar" and is granted to the Abbey of
Rijnsburg.
Diederik VII van Kleef confirmed this grant in an act in 1199. The area was then a wilderness with alders and willow forests. In its surroundings, large tracts of land were dug up for peat, creating large lakes and ponds such as
Oosteinderpoel (East End Pool), Schinkelpoel (Schinkel Pool), Stommeer (Stom Lake), Hornmeer (Horn Lake), Legmeer (Leg Lake), and the Westeinderplassen (West End Ponds). This left little land for agriculture, causing Aalsmeer's inhabitants to switch to fishery. The land was cultivated intensely, mostly for tree
nurseries. The lack of dry land was countered by reclaiming some of the lakes, starting with Stom Lake in 1650, and followed by Horn Lake in 1674. In 1852, the large
Haarlem Lake, bordering on Aalsmeer, was made into a polder. Then followed Schinkelpoel, Oosteinderpoel, and Legmeer. Peat was no longer dug up and the fishing business declined. Yet horticulture increased, especially strawberry cultivation, which peaked between 1850 and 1885. The strawberry became the symbol for the flag of Aalsmeer: red (fruit), green (leaf), and black (soil). The cultivation of flowers began circa 1880, first with roses in greenhouses. The growers would sell their strawberries and flowers to distributors who would bring them with barges to the market in Amsterdam. But the trade shifted to Aalsmeer where auctions began to be held in local cafés. In 1912 two auction businesses were established:
Centrale Aalsmeerse Veiling (Central Aalsmeer Auction) in the town's centre and
Bloemenlust in Aalsmeer East.
World War II During World War 2, Aalsmeer gained a reputation for its
Nazi support, mostly because of its fanatical
National Socialistic mayor and a handful of
fascist supporters. The highest supreme commander of the German
Wehrmacht in the Netherlands,
Friedrich Christiansen, was a regular visitor. Following the war, more than a hundred court cases were held against Nazi supporters from Aalsmeer.
Post war In 1950 Aalsmeer had 12,500 inhabitants. In 1968 the two flower auction businesses merged, and in 1972 a new large auction building was completed in South Aalsmeer and expanded in 1999. ==Local government==