1.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
2.
North Brabant
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Noord Brabant, also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the west, the northern border follows the Meuse river westward to its mouth in the Hollands Diep strait, part of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. The Duchy of Brabant was a state of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183 or 1190. Until the 17th century, the area that now makes up the province of North Brabant was mostly part of the Duchy of Brabant, of which the southern part is now in Belgium. In the 14th and 15th century, the experienced a golden age, especially the cities of Brussel, Mechelen, Leuven, Antwerpen, Breda, Bergen op Zoom. After the Union of Utrecht was signed in 1579, Brabant became a battlefield between the Protestant Dutch Republic and Catholic Spain, which occupied the southern Netherlands, attempts to introduce Protestantism into the region were largely unsuccessful, North Brabant remained strongly Roman Catholic. For over a century, North Brabant served mainly as a buffer zone. In 1796, when confederate Dutch Republic became the unitary Batavian Republic and this status ended with the reorganisation by the French, and the area was divided over several departments. This boundary between the Netherlands and Belgium is special in that it does not form a contiguous line, a few of these irregularities were corrected, Huijbergen became totally Dutch, but some remain, notably Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-Nassau. The period from 1900 until the late 1960s is called Het Rijke Roomse Leven, in those days every village in North Brabant had a convent from which the nuns operated. Politically, the province was dominated by Catholic parties, the Roomsch-Katholieke Staatspartij and its successor, the Katholieke Volkspartij. The influence of Het Rijke Roomse Leven remains in the form of education where some schools are still Roman Catholic, a cultural divide is still found between the Catholic south and the Protestant north, but with a total of 1. In the province of North Brabant Catholics are no longer a majority of the population as of 2010, only 1–2% of the total population of Catholic area attend mass, and these churchgoers consist mostly of people over 65 years old. With a population density of 501/km², North-Brabant is above average urbanized, the urbanization is at the center of the province at largest, where the kite is located, the rest of the province has a more rural character. The province has preserved some of its scenic nature well, also, south of Eindhoven named De Kempen is a beautiful area with farmlands and forests. In Heeze, also south of Eindhoven, are the areas the Groote Heide. The Strabrechtse Heide holds also the largest fen of the Netherlands, like most of the Netherlands, North Brabant is mostly flat but nearly every part of North Brabant is above sea level, therefore, there are not as many canals as in the lower parts of The Netherlands. Although most of the lives in urban areas, the province is scattered with villages around which most of the land is cultivated
3.
Christian Democratic Appeal
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The Christian Democratic Appeal is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. Sybrand van Haersma Buma has been the party leader since 18 May 2012, the party suffered severe losses in the 2010 general election, losing half of its seats and falling to fourth place in the House of Representatives. Subsequently, the CDA again lost a number of seats in the 2012 general election. Since 1880 the sizeable Catholic and Protestant parties had worked together in the so-called Coalitie and they shared a common interest in public funding of religious schools. In 1888 they formed the first Christian-democratic government, led by the Anti-Revolutionary Æneas Baron Mackay, the cooperation was not without problems and in 1894 the more anti-papist and aristocratic conservatives left the Protestant Anti Revolutionary Party, to found the Christian Historical Union. The main issues dividing Protestants and Catholics was the position of the Dutch Representation at the Holy See, the General League evolved into the Roman Catholic State Party by 1926, and the Catholic Peoples Party in 1945. From 1918 to 1967, the three Christian Democratic parties had a majority in both houses of the States General, and at least two of them were included in every cabinet, the KVP and its antecedents had been in government without interruption since 1918. In the sixties, the Dutch society became more secularized and the pillars faded, in 1963 general election the three parties held 51% of the vote, whilst in 1972 general election they held only 32%. This decline forced the three parties to work closer together, in 1967 the Group of Eighteen was formed, it was a think-tank of six prominent politicians per party that planned the future cooperation of the three parties. In 1968 the three leaders of the parties (Norbert Schmelzer, Barend Biesheuvel and Jur Mellema made a public appearance. This caused progressive forces within the three parties, especially the ARP and KVP, to regret their political affiliation, in 1968 they founded the Political Party of Radicals, a left-wing party that sought cooperation with the Labour Party. Locally and provincially however the three parties had long cooperated well, in areas they formed one Christian-democratic parliamentary party. In the 1971 general election, the three presented a common political program, which lay the foundation for the first Biesheuvel cabinet. After the disastrous elections of 1972 the cooperation was given new momentum, in 1973 this federation was officially formed, with Steenkamp as chairperson. The cooperation was frustrated by the formation of the Den Uyl cabinet, established by the leader of the social-democratic PvdA, Den Uyl refused to allow members of the CHU in the cabinet that he would lead. This led to a situation where the CHU, ARP and KVP sat as a faction in both houses of parliament, but only the KVP and ARP supplied ministers and junior ministers. The cabinet Den Uyl was riddled with political and personal conflicts, another issue that split the three parties was the place that the Bible would take in the new party. In 1976, the three announced that they would field a single list at the 1977 general election under the name Christian Democratic Appeal
4.
Beek en Donk
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Beek en Donk is a town in the province Noord Brabant, Netherlands. The area of nowadays Beek en Donk has been inhabited for a long time, tools of stone age nomadic people have been found. The first permanent inhabitants come around 700 AD, in the Middle Ages, the basis was made for the current towns. First Beek grew around the Oude Toren, and Heereind, in the 13th century, the role of Heereind was taken over by the expanding Donk. Heereind is noted in a document in 1314, where it was given the importance as Aarle, Rixtel. On Saint Barbara day in 1300, duke Jan II of Brabant gave the inhabitants of Rikestele, Arle ende Beke the right to use common lands around the towns, in the 14th century, Beek en Donk got its first church. In 1809, it was demolished, but the remains, as the Oude Toren During the reign of Johanna van Brabant, Beek was together with Aarle and Stiphout, was sold to Dirk de Roovere. In later ages, the area changed owners a few times, during the 80-year war, the town suffered from passing enemy armies. After the war, Beek en Donk remained poor, only in the late 18th century, when there was more land cultivated, the situation slowly got better. In the 19th century, the town started to develop more, in 1836 the Zuid-Willemsvaart was dug by hand, and in 1880-1881, the steam tram between Den Bosch and Helmond was built, having a stop in Beek en Donk. The tram was broken up later, the canal still remains, there are plans to broaden the canal, so ships up to 1500 tons can use it. In 1997, Beek en Donk, Lieshout, Aarle-Rixtel and Mariahout formed the municipality Laarbeek, J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, Beek en Donk. Map of the municipality, around 1868
5.
Lieshout
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Lieshout is a small village located in the province of North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, about 15 kilometres northeast of Eindhoven. There are 4,300 inhabitants, and the village is known for its beer brewery called Bavaria, archaeological inspections on Lieshouts territory give rise to the conclusion that the area has been inhabited from 1100 BC onwards. The present village was established in the 8th century as a Frankish allodium, at the end of the 12th century the lord of Lieshout donated the allodium to the Floreffe Abbey. In 1698 the abbey sold most of their property in Lieshout to the farmers, the remaining land and buildings and the manorial rights were sold in 1714 to a noble family from Holland. This family sold the rights in 1842 to a textile manufacturer from Helmond. With the revision of the Dutch Constitution in 1848 the feudal system was abolished in the Netherlands, in 1851 the municipality of Lieshout was established. Improved accessibility of Lieshout at the end of the 19th century led to the rise and flourishing of industrial activities, in 1997 the independence of Lieshout came to an end when the village became part of the new municipality of Laarbeek. A gateway from 1474 to the Binderen Abbey in Helmond, the gate was transferred to Lieshout around 1800. Here it gave access to a site surrounded by a moat, in 1962 the mansion was demolished and replaced by a church devoted to Saint Servatius. Manor house, also called Hunting lodge at Havenweg 10 and this is the oldest building in Lieshout. The house was built between 1719 and 1725 by Jan Bout, at the lord of Lieshout. Originally, the house was surrounded by a moat, several farmhouses, including the official monuments De Plashoeve at Provincialeweg 10 and the farmhouse at Dorpsstraat 76. Windmill De Vogelenzang at the Molendreef and this mill was built in 1819 to replace the late 18th century mill, which was blown down in 1817. Windmill De Leest from 1899 at the Molenstraat, in front of the mill is the national monument De Mulder, a bronze statue from 1989. Guus Meeuwis is a Dutch singer and songwriter who grew up in Lieshout J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, map of the former municipality, around 1868
6.
Eindhoven
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Eindhoven is a municipality and a city in the south of the Netherlands, originally at the confluence of the Dommel and Gender streams. The Gender was dammed short of the city centre in the 1950s, the city has a population of 223,220 in January 2015, making it the fifth-largest municipality of the Netherlands and the largest in the province of North Brabant. Neighbouring cities and towns include Asten, Son en Breugel, Nuenen, Geldrop-Mierlo, Heeze-Leende, Waalre, Veldhoven, Eersel, Oirschot, the agglomeration has a population of 337,487. The metropolitan area consists of 419,045 inhabitants, the city region has a population of 753,426. Also, Eindhoven is located in the Brabantse Stedenrij, a metropolitan area with about 2 million inhabitants. The name Eindhoven derives from the contraction of the regional words eind, toponymically, eind occurs commonly as a prefix and postfix in local place- and streetnames. A hove comprised a parcel of land which a local lord might lease to private persons, given that a string of such parcels existed around Woensel, the name Eindhoven may have originated with the meaning last hoves on the land of Woensel. The written history of Eindhoven started in 1232, when Duke Hendrik I of Brabant granted city rights to Endehoven, then a small town right on the confluence of the Dommel, at the time of granting of its charter, Eindhoven had approximately 170 houses enclosed by a rampart. Just outside the city stood a small castle. The city was granted the right to organize a weekly market. Another factor in its establishment was its location on the route from Holland to Liège. Around 1388, the fortifications were strengthened further. And between 1413 and 1420, a new castle was built within the city walls, in 1486, Eindhoven was plundered and burned by troops from Guelders. The reconstruction of Eindhoven was finished in 1502, with a stronger rampart, however, in 1543 it fell again, its defense works having been neglected due to poverty. A big fire in 1554 destroyed 75% of the houses but by 1560 these had been rebuilt with the help of William I of Orange, Eindhoven did not become part of the Netherlands until 1629. During the French occupation, Eindhoven suffered again with many of its houses destroyed by the invading forces, Eindhoven remained a minor city after that until the start of the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution of the 19th century provided a major growth impulse, canals, roads and railroads were constructed. Industrialization brought population growth to Eindhoven, at the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, Eindhoven had 2,310 inhabitants
7.
Bavaria Brewery (Netherlands)
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Bavaria is the second largest brewery in the Netherlands. Founded before 1680, it has been owned by the Swinkels family since 1773, the company, which produces five hundred million litres of beer annually, is based in Lieshout, North Brabant. Bavaria N. V. is fully owned by Swinkels Family Breweries N. V. Bavaria produces and markets four products, beer, malt, soft drinks, Bavaria is the second largest brewery in the Netherlands after Heineken. The annual production is around six million hectolitres of beer, most of the beer is still brewed in Lieshout, special and seasonal beers are produced in Berkel-Enschot. Bavaria products are brewed locally in South Africa and Russia. The breweries produce a range of standard and low alcohol pale lagers under a variety of names including Bavaria and Hollandia. The best-known global product is Bavaria Premium Pils lager, the brewery also makes a popular alcohol-free beer, Bavaria 0. 0%, malts are also available in apple, caramel, lemon and karkadé flavours. It is also contracted to make a number of European supermarket own-brand Dutch lagers, Bavaria makes a special beer, called Bavaria 8.6 and two seasonal beers. Bavaria also distributes the La Trappe beers, sales of beer count for three quarters of Bavarias total sales. A subsidiary of Bavaria, Holland Malt B. V. owns two houses, one in Lieshout and one in Eemshaven. The annual capacity totals 245,000 tons of malt, a third of which is used by Bavaria itself, one third of the production is sold to third parties in Europe and one third goes to countries outside Europe, mainly to Latin America, South America and Japan. Sales of malt contribute to around fifteen percent of Bavaria sales, the company produces approximately 500,000 hectoliters of soft drinks per annum, of which almost 95 percent as private label products. Bavaria itself uses the brand names 3ES and B52, the soft drink activities account for almost ten percent of total sales. CereX B. V. a subsidiary of Bavaria, produces and these extracts are used in the food and beverage industry. Specific information on this activity is not given by Bavaria, the history of the Bavaria brewery can be traced back to 1680. In that year Dirk Vereijken owned a brewery at the Kerkdijk in Lieshout, for three consecutive generations this brewery was handed down from father to daughter and after that for seven generations from father to son. Vereijken, Van Moorsel and Moorrees were the names attached to this brewery from 1680 till 1773. Since then the brewers from Lieshout belong to the Swinkels family, for centuries the brewery only produced beer for the local market
8.
Helmond
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Helmond is a municipality and a city in the province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands. The Vlisco factory is located next to the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal which runs through the city, the name Helmond can be traced back to a combination of Hel, which means low-lying, and Mond, which would refer to a higher ground, secure place. The name has nothing to do with the literal translation of Hell Mouth. This helmet would symbolize the fortified medieval town, originally a medieval pot helmet, this was later adapted to a new fashion style and is now a tournament helmet. The bird in the branches is a decoration and has no meaning. First settlements in the area were around 1000, and Helmond was granted city rights in approximately 1232, the centre of Helmond has a castle which was built by Jan III van Berlaer around 1350. Railway stations, Helmond, Helmond Brouwhuis, Helmond Brandevoort, Helmond t Hout The municipal council consists of 37 seats. Below the council since 1998, The political parties SDH-OH, Helmondse Belangen, and D66 form 1 parliamentary group in the council, in the elections they received 4,2 and 2 seats respectively. Representatives of the blue colored parliamentary groups form the executive coalition
9.
Bergen op Zoom
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Bergen op Zoom is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands. The city was built on a place where two types of soil meet, sandy soil and marine clay, the sandy soil pushed against the marine clay, accumulating and forming hills over several centuries. People called those hills the Brabantse Wal, literally meaning wall of Brabant, Zoom refers to the border of this wall and bergen in Dutch means mountains or hills. The name has nothing to do with the channel the ‘Zoom’ which was later built through Bergen op Zoom. Bergen op Zoom was granted city status probably in 1212, in 1287 the city and its surroundings became a lordship as it was separated from the lordship of Breda. The lordship was elevated to a margraviate in 1559, several noble families, including the House of Glymes, ruled Bergen op Zoom in succession until 1795, although the title was only nominal since at least the seventeenth century. During the early period, Bergen op Zoom was a very strong fortress and one of the main armories. It had a natural defensive site, surrounded as it was by marshes. Furthermore, it could receive reinforcements and supplies by sea, if the army did not have a fleet to blockade its port. Due to these features, the city was one of the strategic points held by the Dutch during their revolt in the Eighty Years War and it was at that time besieged by Alessandro Farnese first in 1588, and by Ambrosio Spinola a second time in 1622. Both sieges were unsuccessful and Bergen op Zoom got the nickname La Pucelle or The Virgin as it was never sieged successfully, in 1747, during the War of the Austrian Succession, the French army laid siege to it again. However, it had no line of fortifications, nor any fortress. After seventy days of siege, the city was taken and thoroughly sacked, during the War of the Seventh Coalition, the town was again besieged by the British in 1814 in a failed attempt to dislodge the French garrison. During the reign of Jan II van Glymes, nicknamed Jan metten Lippen, which means Jan with the big lips, probably caused by an infection, large fairs were held twice a year, in spring and fall, that were known both nationally and internationally. Merchants from all over Europe came to Bergen op Zoom to sell their goods, because of this major economic growth, the Sint-Gertrudischurch was enlarged. The enlargement was called the Nieuw Werck but was never finished, because of the recession of the mid 16th century. The economic recession was largely caused by the bad accessibility of the port, due to a number of floods in Zeeland, because of the great reliance on the port, the economic growth received a major blow. In addition, the modernization of trade techniques, like the permanent stock exchange instead of the fairs, nevertheless, these fairs existed until 1910
10.
Breda
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Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark, as a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance. Breda had a population of 180,420 in 2014, the area had a population of 324,812. In the 11th century, Breda was a fief of the Holy Roman Emperor. The city of Breda obtained a charter in 1252. After that Breda had the rights to build fortifications, the city constructed brick walls and Roman-style gates. In 1327 Adelheid of Gaveren Breda sold Breda to Duke Johannes III of Brabant, in 1350, the fief was resold to Johannes II of Wassenaar. In 1403 the heiress of his line, Johanna of Polanen, thus, the baron of Breda was also count of Nassau, Germany, prince of Orange and stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. Breda remained part of the barony Breda until it was taken by French revolutionary forces in 1795, the acquisition of the city by the House of Orange-Nassau marked its emergence as a residentiestad. The presence of the Orange-Nassau family attracted other nobles, who built palatial residences in the old quarters of the city. The most impressive one, built by the Italian architect Thomas Vincidor de Bologna for the first Dutch prince, was the first renaissance-style palace built north of the Alps, in the 15th century the citys physical, economic and strategic importance expanded rapidly. A great church was built in Brabantine Gothic style with a gallant 97-metre-high tower, in 1534 Henry III of Nassau-Breda rebuilt the modest medieval fortifications in impressive style. In 1534 a fire destroyed over 90 percent of the city, close to 1300 houses, churches and chapels, only 150 houses and the main church remained. In July 1581, during the Eighty Years War, Breda was captured by surprise by Spanish troops then under the command of Claudius van Barlaymont, although the city had surrendered upon the condition that it would not be plundered, the troops vented their fury upon the inhabitants. In the resulting mayhem, known as Haultpennes Fury, over 500 citizens were killed, the so-called Spaniards Hole marks the spot where the peat-boat allegedly lay, although this has not been historically proven. After a ten-month siege in 1624–25, the city surrendered to the Spaniards under Spinola, in 1637 Breda was recaptured by Frederick Henry of Orange after a four-month siege, and in 1648 it was finally ceded to the Dutch Republic by the Treaty of Westphalia. The Treaty of Breda was signed in the city, July 31,1667, during World War II the city was under German occupation. It was liberated following a successful outflanking manoeuvre planned and performed by forces of 1st Polish Armoured Division of Gen. Maczek on October 29,1944
11.
Cuijk
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Cuijk is a municipality and a town in upper southeastern Netherlands of pre-historic origin. Its existence is recorded on the Roman roadmap Tabula Peutingeriana under the name of Ceuclum, cuijk is twinned with Maldon in Essex, UK. It is a big town with very good public transport services to nearby Nijmegen. The nearest hospital is at Boxmeer and the nearest international airport is situated in the German town of Weeze, cuijk has a railway station on the Nijmegen to Venlo railway
12.
Etten-Leur
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Etten-Leur is a municipality in the southern Netherlands. Its name is a combination of the two towns from which the municipality originally arose, Etten and Leur, nowadays both towns have grown into one. This prosperity was caused by the fact that Etten was a centre for the production of peat, decline in economic importance marked both towns during the nineteenth century. During this time the painter Vincent van Gogh briefly lived in Etten, making him the most famous citizen in the history of Etten and Leur. During World War II, the two towns were freed from German occupation in late October 1944 by elements of the U. S. 104th Infantry Division, the economic decline was halted when, in 1950, the Dutch government decided to encourage population growth and industrial development. As a result of development, both towns have grown towards each other and merged into one, Etten-Leur. Notable residents have included the previously mentioned Vincent van Gogh
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pronunciation (help·info)) is a municipality located in the province of North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands. It was formed in 1997 from the former municipalities Beek en Donk, Aarle-Rixtel and Lieshout (which included the village Mariahout). Laarbeek is part of the city region 'Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven', centered on the city of Eindhoven. The town hall is located in Beek en Donk.
Media related to Laarbeek at Wikimedia Commons
Laarbeek
