Origins and early years

The name Schiphol predates the airport by several centuries. It is recorded as Sciphol in 1447, in a description of land in the jurisdiction of Aalsmeer. Its precise etymology is uncertain.

Dutch linguist and toponymist Moritz Schönfeld associated the name with the local Schipholsloot. He noted that Middle Dutch hol could denote the depth or bed of a ditch or watercourse, and that the adjective hol could also mean low-lying or marshy. Schönfeld described the name as passing from the local settlement to Fort Schiphol and subsequently to the airfield. Maas later considered two analyses of Schiphol possible: if divided into separate elements, hol may refer to low-lying, marshy terrain; alternatively, the name may have described a hollow parcel of land by comparison with a scheepshol, the interior or hull of a ship.

Several other explanations have circulated. B. J. Hekket proposed that schip in place-names could carry a meaning such as "branches" or "timber", an interpretation he also applied to Schiphol. Maas rejected this derivation, finding no evidence that schip had ever carried the proposed meaning and describing Hekket's interpretation of the Scandinavian linguistic evidence as incorrect. Popular accounts have also associated the name with ships supposedly lost in the former Haarlemmermeer and with scheepshaal, referring to the hauling of ships between bodies of water. These explanations are not established by the specialist etymological sources cited above.

Before the reclamation of the Haarlemmermeer, the site of the later airport lay beside the lake and partly within the area subsequently reclaimed from it.

After the lake was dredged in the mid-1800s, a fortification named Fort Schiphol was built in the area, which was part of the Stelling van Amsterdam defence works.

Schiphol was established in 1916 as a military airfield; the first military aircraft landed there on 19 September of that year. Scheduled civil aviation began on 17 May 1920, when KLM's inaugural service from London landed at Schiphol. In its early years the airfield was unpaved and frequently muddy. French pilots consequently nicknamed it Schiphol-les-Bains ("Schiphol bathing resort").

The Fokker aircraft manufacturer established its Dutch factory in Amsterdam-Noord in 1919, rather than at Schiphol. A Fokker hangar was built at Schiphol in 1924, where aircraft manufactured in Amsterdam could be assembled and operated. Military use of Schiphol continued alongside the developing civil airport until 1923, when the military left the airfield.

By 1940, Schiphol had four asphalt runways at 45-degree angles, all 1,020 m (3,350 ft) or less. One was extended to become today's runway 04/22; two others crossed that runway at 52.312°N 4.800°E / 52.312; 4.800. The airport was captured by the German military that same year and renamed Fliegerhorst Schiphol. A large number of anti-aircraft defences were installed in the vicinity of the airport, and fake decoy airfields were constructed in the vicinity near Bennebroek, Vijfhuizen, and Vogelenzang to try to confuse Allied bombers. A railway connection was also built. Despite these defences, the airfield was still bombed intensively; an exceptionally heavy attack on 13 December 1943 caused so much damage that it rendered the airfield unusable as an active base. After that, it served only as an emergency landing field until the Germans themselves destroyed the remnants of the airfield at the start of Operation Market Garden. At the end of the war, the airfield was quickly restored: the first aircraft, a Douglas DC-3, landed on 8 July 1945.

A new terminal building was completed in 1949, and it was decided that Schiphol was to become the primary airport of the Netherlands. The expansion came at the cost of a small town called Rijk, which was demolished to make room for the growing airport. The name of this town is remembered in the name of the present Schiphol-Rijk industrial estate. In 1967, Schiphol expanded even further with a new terminal area at its current location. Most of the 1967 terminal is still in use today (Departure Halls 1 and 2), as are parts of the original piers (now called C, D, and E). Dutch designer Benno Wissing created signage for Schiphol Airport, well known for its clear writing and thorough colour-coding; to avoid confusion, he prohibited any other signage in the shades of yellow and green used. The new terminal building replaced the older facilities once located on what is now the east side of the airport. The A-pier (now C-pier) of the airport was modified in 1970 to allow Boeing 747 aircraft to use the boarding gates. A new pier (D, now called F) opened in 1977, dedicated to handling wide-body aircraft. The first railway station at the airport was opened in 1978.

Development since the 1990s

The construction of a new air traffic control tower was completed in 1991, as the existing tower could no longer oversee all of the airport, as it was further expanded. Departure Hall 3 was added to the terminal in 1993, as was another pier, G-pier. New wayfinding signage was designed that year as well by Paul Mijksenaar.