People believe that the name Amstel originates from Aeme-stelle, which is an old Dutch word for “area with a lot of water”. The word Aeme-stelle is also an old Fries (from Friesland in the North of Holland) word, which means “two water flows that come together”. The old Fries word could also be the true meaning because south of Uithoorn the water streams of the Drecht and the Kromme Mijdrecht come together. The area near the Amstel River has been named Amstelland for many years.
They strongly suspect that at the south of the Amstel there was another river flowing before the 12th century. Because of the shrinking peat, the depth of Amstelland was lowered which is why the flow of the Amstel was redirected to the East.
The small river named Waver located South of a little village named Nes aan de Amstel, flows into the Amstel. Because it was extremely dry in 2003 and the Green heart area had a water shortage, and the first time in History they made a temporary decision to switch the water flow in the opposite direction.
History of Amstel River Countryside (Amstelland):