De Korn Boezemweg in de hooitijd bij Dussen

Vanaf de Karnemelksesteeg zien we het dijkdorp Nieuwendijk

Altena is a municipality in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, on a

river island River Island is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores and online. Best known for its trend focused womenswear offering, River Isla ...

in the very north of the province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), 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 we ...

, bordering the provinces of

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

and

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

. Nearby cities are

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

in the west,

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of Oc ...

in the north (both in South Holland), and

Waalwijk Waalwijk () is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. It had a population of in and is located near the motorways A59 and N261. The villages of Capelle, Vrijhoeve-Capelle, Sprang (the former municipality of Sprang-Capelle) and ...

in the south. Approximately 56,000 people live in an area of about 201 km², making Altena the largest municipality of North Brabant in terms of land area (surpassing Meierijstad).

Geography

The municipality was formed on 1 January 2019, by the merger of the municipalities of Aalburg,

Werkendam Werkendam () is a town and a former municipality in the southern Netherlands. The municipality, part of Land van Heusden en Altena, contained a large part of De Biesbosch area as is located in the province of North Brabant. On January 1sth 2019 it ...

, and

Woudrichem Woudrichem (; Brabantian: ''Woerkum'') is a city and former municipality in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. History The city of Woudrichem was granted city rights in 1356. Geography The municipality is located at in th ...

. Aalburg was only a municipality, Werkendam and Woudrichem are also population centres. Werkendam is the largest town, and the small city of Woudrichem the historical centre of Altena. The village of

Almkerk Almkerk is a village in the municipality of Altena, North Brabant, Altena, in the Netherlands. It is located about 7 km south of Gorinchem. History The village was first mentioned in 1292 as Almekercke, and means "church on the Alm river". ...

serves as the municipal seat and lies in the middle of the municipality. Altena can be characterized as a rural community with population centres mainly concentrated along the surrounding waterways. These waterways are (clockwise, starting in the west):

Nieuwe Merwede The Nieuwe Merwede (; "New Merwede") is a Dutch canal, mainly fed by the river Rhine, that was constructed in 1870 to form a branch in the Rhine–Meuse delta. It was dug along the general trajectories of a number of minor Biesbosch creeks to r ...

Boven Merwede The Boven Merwede () is a stretch of river in the Netherlands, mainly fed by the river Rhine. The Afgedamde Maas river joins the Waal at Woudrichem to form the Boven Merwede, which at Hardinxveld-Giessendam splits into the Beneden Merwede rive ...

Afgedamde Maas The Afgedamde Maas (; Dammed-up Meuse) is a former distributary of the Maas River (French: Meuse) in the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Gelderland. The Maas splits near Heusden with one channel flowing north until its confluence with the r ...

, Heusdensch Kanaal, Bergsche Maas, and

Amer Amer may refer to: Places * Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant * Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain * Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state ** Am ...

. De Biesbosch National Park is partially situated in the western part of Altena. The municipality of Altena is to a large extent identical to the region of the

Land van Heusden en Altena The Land of Heusden and Altena ( nl, Land van Heusden en Altena) is a region located in the Dutch province of North Brabant. In 1904 it consisted of the historical regions ''Land van Altena'' and '' Land van Heusden'' (only the part above the Ber ...

. Only De Biesbosch area, existing of the aforementioned De Biesbosch National Park and polders above, falls outside. Waterway Steurgat largely forms the boundary.

Population centres

The municipality of Altena officially has 1 city, 18 villages, and 27 hamlets.Altena
Plaatsengids.nl However, many villages are the size of a hamlet, and Werkendam and Woudrichem are the size of towns, the latter also having

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

. ;;;City *

;;;Villages ;;;Hamlets

Topography

''Dutch topographic map of the municipality of Altena, 2020''

Transport

Altena is accessible by bridges and ferries. Important bridges are the northern Merwede Bridge and the southern Keizersveer Bridge. Both bridges are part of motorway A27, which crosses the municipality from north to south. A car ferry in the very western part connects the city of

with Altena. Nearest railway station is

Gorinchem railway station Gorinchem is a railway station in the town of Gorinchem, Netherlands. It is on the MerwedeLingelijn. It was opened on 1 December 1883. Train services are operated by Qbuzz Qbuzz is a public transport company in the Netherlands that operates ...

in the municipality of

, above Altena on the other side of the

river.

History and religion

Altena is the southernmost part of the

Dutch Water Line The Dutch Waterline ( nl, Hollandsche Waterlinie, modern spelling: ''Hollandse Waterlinie'') was a series of water-based defences conceived by Maurice of Nassau in the early 17th century, and realised by his half brother Frederick Henry. Combine ...

, an obsolete defensive line, which contains several fortresses in this municipality like Fort Steurgat, Fort aan de Uppelse Dijk, and Fort Giessen, and with Woudrichem as a fortified city. Contrary to most other North Brabant municipalities,

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

is dominant in the Altena municipality, especially the

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

branch. Church attendance is high, and Christian oriented political parties receive many votes.

Politics

The municipal council consists of: The municipal executive consists of CDA, Altena Lokaal, SGP, and Progressief Lokaal. Mayor has been CDA politician Egbert Lichtenberg (since 9 December 2019).

Sports

Several football clubs have their home base in the municipality: *

Achilles Veen Achilles Veen is a football club from Veen, Netherlands. Achilles Veen plays in the 2017–18 Saturday Hoofdklasse A. History On 27 October 2021, Achilles Veen defeated GVV Unitas 4–0 to advance to the second round of the 2021–22 KNVB Cu ...

Veen Veen may refer to: Surname * Hans-Joachim Veen (born 1944), German political scientist * Hendrik Veen (1823–1905), Dutch photographer in the Dutch East Indies * (born 1937), Dutch ballet dancer and actress * Stephan Veen (born 1970), Dutch fi ...

* GRC '14 in

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

Kozakken Boys Kozakken Boys () is a Dutch football club based in Werkendam. It competes in Tweede Divisie, the highest amateur league of Dutch football. Formed as Steeds Voorwaarts Werkendam (SVW) in 1932, it adopted its current name in 1935. Kozakken Boys ...

* VV Almkerk in

Each year the 7-Dorpenomloop Aalburg, a prestigious women's road bicycle race, is being held in the southeast corner of Altena (the area of the former municipality of Aalburg, hence the name).

Notable people

* Jan Hendrik van den Berg (1914–2012), psychiatrist *

Erik Braal Erik Braal (born May 16, 1971) is a Dutch professional basketball coach, currently serving as head coach for Heroes Den Bosch. He was the head coach of Donar from 2015 until 2020. Braal was the most successful coach ever for the club with seven tr ...

(born 1971), basketball coach *

Hendrikus Colijn Hendrikus "Hendrik" Colijn (22 June 1869 – 18 September 1944) was a Dutch politician of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP; now defunct and merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from ...

(1869–1944), prime minister *

Leendert Antonie Donker Leendert Antonie Donker (7 September 1899 in Almkerk – 4 February 1956 in Rotterdam) was a Dutch politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicia ...

(1899–1956), minister of Justice * Louwrens Hanedoes (1822–1905), landscape painter *

Hans van Helden Hans van Helden (born 27 April 1948) is a former speed skater, originally competing for the Netherlands, later for France. Life and career Despite being a very talented speed skater and having an excellent skating style and technique, Van Hel ...

(born 1948), speed skater * Adri van Heteren (born 1951), politician and Christian minister (in

) * Cornelis Pieter van den Hoek (1921–2015), resistance fighter (

line-crosser Line-crosser is a Dutch concept from World War II. The name is used to refer to 21 people, mostly from Werkendam, who during the last months of the war maintained a secret connection between occupied and liberated Netherlands across the Biesbos ...

) * Louis van Iersel (1893–1987), American sergeant of World War I * Ricardo Ippel (born 1990), footballer * Rebekka Kadijk (born 1979), (beach) volleyball player *

Jan Lohman Johannes Hermanus Petrus "Jan" Lohman (born 18 February 1959) is a Dutch former association football, footballer. He played as a central midfielder, and represented his country at Netherlands U-21 national football team, under-21 level. Born in Du ...

(born 1959), footballer *

Anton Mussert Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname) Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, a town and capital of th ...

(1894–1946), civil engineer, political leader and war criminal *

Hans Oerlemans Johannes "Hans" Oerlemans (born October 8, 1950 in Eethen) is a Dutch climatologist specialized in glaciology and sea level. He has been a professor of meteorology in the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at Utrecht University since 1989. He was el ...

(born 1950), climatologist * Leo van der Pluym (born 1935), cyclist *

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (born 20 April 1991 in Nieuwendijk, the Netherlands) is a Dutch writer. Rijneveld won the 2020 International Booker Prize together with his translator Michele Hutchison for the debut novel '' The Discomfort of Evening'' ...

(born 1991), writer *

Elsbeth van Rooy-Vink Elisabet "Elsbeth" van Rooy-Vink (born 25 January 1973 in Wijk en Aalburg) is a Dutch cyclist specializing in competitive mountain biking. Van Rooy-Vink represented the Netherlands at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta in both the road race an ...

(born 1973), cyclist *

Jan Nico Scholten Jan Nico Scholten (born 4 June 1932 in Dalen) is a former Dutch politician. Scholten studied law and political science at VU University Amsterdam. After being mayor of the municipalities Andel, Giessen and Rijswijk for nine years and Chairman o ...

(born 1932), politician (mayor of

Andel Andel or Anděl may refer to: * Andel, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Altena * Angel Award (Czech music) (Czech: ''cena Anděl'') * Anděl (neighborhood), a part of the Czech capital Prague * Anděl (Prague Metro), a metro station in ...

, and

Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also includes t ...

) *

Carola Schouten Cornelia Johanna "Carola" Schouten (born 6 October 1977) is a Dutch politician serving as third Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister for Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions in the IV Rutte Cabinet since 10 January 2022. Sh ...

(born 1977), minister of Agriculture *

Raymond Schouten Raymond Schouten (born 15 March 1985) is a Dutch motorcycle racer Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road rac ...

(born 1985), motorcycle racer * Kees Stoop (1929–2019), painter *

Edwin Straver Edwin Straver (12 April 1971 – 24 January 2020) was a Dutch motorcycle racer. Career Straver was particularly known for his participation in the Dakar Rally. He participated in 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2019 he won the classification in the clas ...

(1971–2020), motorcycle racer * Henri Karel Frederik van Teijn (1839–1892), general and governor *

Gijsbert van Tienhoven Gijsbert van Tienhoven (12 February 1841 – 10 October 1914) was a liberal Dutch politician. He started his political career in the municipal council and executive of Amsterdam, and served as mayor of Amsterdam from 1880 to 1891. He spent o ...

(1841–1914), prime minister * Hermanus Eliza Verschoor (1791–1877), politician (mayor of De Werken en Sleeuwijk) *

Mart Visser Martin Visser born on the 10th of July 1968 is a Dutch fashion designer from Sleeuwijk, Netherlands. He studied fashion and design at the Hogeschool amsterdam, Hoge School Amsterdam, The Amsterdam Fashion Academy (formerly known as Charles Mont ...

(born 1968), fashion designer * Niels Vorthoren (born 1988), footballer *

Marianne Vos Marianne Vos (; born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . After winning a junior European and World Championship in road racing, she continued her success in senior cycling by becomin ...

(born 1987), cyclist

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Land van Heusden en Altena Municipalities of North Brabant Municipalities of the Netherlands established in 2019