Batadorp is a neighbourhood of the Dutch town of

Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

, just northwest of

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Bata Shoes The Bata Corporation (known as Bata, and in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, known as Baťa) is a multinational footwear, apparel and fashion accessories manufacturer and retailer of Moravian (Czech) origin, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzer ...

company built a factory in 1934 on land that it bought from the municipality. Bata sought expansion abroad, partly to circumvent tariffs, and built factories and entire villages. Bata had operated shops in the Netherlands since 1922, and chose to locate in Best because land and labour were cheaply available. It also had good transport links, being at the junction of the

Wilhelmina Canal The Wilhelmina Canal is a canal in North-Brabant, Netherlands. It connects Tilburg to the Meuse, and continues to the east to connect to the Zuid-Willemsvaart north of Helmond. Characteristics The Wilhelmina Canal runs from the Zuid-Willemsva ...

with the

Beatrix Canal The Beatrix Canal (Dutch: ''Beatrixkanaal'') is an 8.4 km long canal in the southern Netherlands. It was constructed to provide the city of Eindhoven with access to the Wilhelmina Canal. In order to be able to regulate the level of the Ge ...

and close to a railway. The factory it built there in 1933 was an exact copy of the headquarters in

Zlín Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; ; german: Zlin) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 73,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Zlín Region and it lies on the Dřevnice river. It is known as an industrial centre. The development of the ...

. At that time, Bata already had 28 shoe shops in the country, and this number grew to 150 in 1961. Many Bata shops had their own shoe repair and pedicure departments. The factory made ladies', men's, children's and sports shoes. So that the employees could live near the factory, Bata built a town of 130 homes, separated from the centre of Best by the canal, along with schools, medical services and a hairdressers'. Bata built other such villages wherever it had factories. Bata promoted order and cleanliness. Thus, the houses in the village have flat roofs, as attics would only encourage people to store clutter. The workers were not allowed to wear

clog Clogs are a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood. Used in many parts of the world, their forms can vary by culture, but often remained unchanged for centuries within a culture. Traditional clogs remain in use as protective f ...

s, as Bata produced suitable footwear. The emphasis on hygiene can be seen as paternalistic but resulted in a level of welfare that was far ahead of its time. The company also established sports clubs, a theatre, a brass band and a volunteer fire brigade. From the 1960s shoe production was moved to low-wage countries and Batadorp was sold to the municipality of Best. The network of shops - even the factory shop - had closed by 1996. The original buildings of Batadorp are now an industrial heritage site. However, production continues at a reduced level. It now belongs to the Bata Protective division which was created in 1970 and makes speciality shoes. In 2008 about 160 employees produced 900,000 pairs of safety shoes and 1 million pairs of safety socks. The headquarters of the global division is located there.M. Schlingmann : ''Batafabriek'' in : Brabantserfgoed.nl, 2018
/ref> Best Rijksmonument 512318, 512319, 515262 BATA de drie gebouwen samen.JPG, The three Bata factories at Batadorp in line. Best Rijksmonument 512318 BATA schoenfabriek gedenksteen 40-45.JPG, War memorial of Bata factory, Batadorp. Best Rijksmonument 512324 Batalaan 5.JPG, House in Batadorp, Batalaan 5. File:Voorgevel - Batadorp - 20028088 - RCE.jpg, Villa in Batadorp

Bibliography

* Ondřej Ševeček, Martin Jemelka : ''Company Towns of the Bat'a Concern: History - Cases - Architecture'', Steiner 2013
Batadorp on ''plaatsengids.nl''

References

{{Bata Limited Populated places in North Brabant Best, Netherlands Bata Corporation