Beek en Donk is a town in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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 ...

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 ...

. There are 10,028 inhabitants. The spoken language is Peellands (an

East Brabantian East Brabantian ( nl, Oost Noord-Brabants or Oost Brabants) is one of the main divisions of the Brabantian dialect group recognized by the ''Woordenboek van de Brabantse dialecten''. East Brabantian dialects are mainly spoken in the eastern part of ...

dialect, which is very similar to colloquial

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

History

The area of nowadays Beek en Donk has been inhabited for a long time. Tools of

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

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 same importance as Aarle, Rixtel and Beek. On

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Acc ...

day (December 4) in 1300, duke Jan II of

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

gave the inhabitants of 'Rikestele, Arle ende Beke' (Rixtel, Aarle and Beek) the right to use common lands around the towns. In the 14th century, Beek en Donk got its first

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

. In 1809, it was demolished, but the tower remains, like the Oude Toren (old tower) During the reign of Johanna van Brabant, Beek was together with Aarle and Stiphout, was sold to Dirk de Roovere, for 1.700 gulden. In later ages, the area changed owners a few times, until in 1798 the feudal system was abolished, inspired by the French revolution. 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 The Zuid-Willemsvaart (; translated: ''South William's Canal'') is a canal in the south of the Netherlands and the east of Belgium. Route The Zuid-Willemsvaart is a canal in the provinces Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg (Belgium) and North Br ...

was dug by hand, and in 1880-1881, the steam

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

between

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

and

Helmond Helmond (; called ''Héllemond'' in the local dialect) is a city and municipality in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the province of North Brabant in the Southern Netherlands. Helmond is home to several textile and metal companies. The Vlisco fa ...

was built, having a stop in Beek en Donk. The tram was broken up later; the canal still remains. In 1997, Beek en Donk,

Lieshout Lieshout is a 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 brewing company Swinkels Family Brewers. The ...

Aarle-Rixtel Aarle-Rixtel is a village in the Dutch municipality of Laarbeek in North Brabant. It lies about 4 km north of Helmond. Since the municipal reorganization of 1968 the castle Croy is part of Aarle-Rixtel. History Aarle was first mentioned ...

and

Mariahout Mariahout is a village located in the province of North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, about 20 kilometers northeast of Eindhoven. Mariahout has a population of about 1700 and is the smallest village of the municipality of Laarbeek. Hi ...

formed the municipality

Laarbeek Laarbeek () 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 ...

. The town hall of Beek en Donk serves as the town hall of the new municipality. In 2020, at a future construction site in Beek en Donk,

phosphor A phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence; it emits light when exposed to some type of radiant energy. The term is used both for fluorescent or phosphorescent substances which glow on exposure to ultraviolet or vi ...

was found in the ground at the site, dating back to

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

used by

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The construction was postponed.

Gallery

File:Beek en Donk, de Sint Michaëlkerk in straatzicht RM520153 foto5 2016-10-16 11.49.jpg, Church (de Sint Michaëlkerk) Image:Oude Toren.JPG, Oude Toren (Old Belfry) Image:Castle Eyckenlust.JPG, Castle Eyckenlust Image:Bridge Beek over Zuid Willemsvaart.JPG, Bridge over Zuid Willemsvaart

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beek En Donk Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 1997 Populated places in North Brabant Former municipalities of North Brabant Laarbeek