Best () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

and a village in the province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic 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 ...

, southern

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is situated northwest of the city

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

, and is part of Brabant's

city region City region is a term used by urbanists, economists and urban planners to refer to how one or more core cities are linked to a hinterland by functional ties, such as economic, housing-market, commuting, marketing or retail catchment factors. This ...

. The headquarters of one of Europe's largest meat processors, Vion NV, are located in Best, as are

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

Healthcare and the

Bata Corporation The Bata Corporation (known as Bata, and in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, known as Baťa, ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational footwear, apparel and fashion accessories manufacturer and retailer of Moravian (Czech) origin, headquar ...

's "Bata Protective" operations (B2B).

History

The village used to be a part of Oirschot, a nearby town. But as Best was situated on the state road from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

, this often created difficulties. Each time the military wanted to quarter troops in Best, they had to request to be stationed in Oirschot, 10 km away, for this to be allowed. Because of this difficulty, the government decided to separate Best from Oirschot in 1819. Archaeological excavations around the village suggest settlement in the area dating back to the Roman era. The Armenhoef is a monumental farm on the Oirschotseweg 117 in Best. This stable is the oldest still in use within Western Europe. Historical building research in 2009 showed that the wooden frame of the stable dates back to 1263. The residential part of the farm is more recent, and was built in 1640 at the earliest, but probably around 1680. The farm is an official monument. The first written text about Best dates back to 1421. The village itself, however, did not exist until the 19th century. There were three small villages: Naastenbest in the west, Wilhelminadorp in the south and Verrenbest where Oranjestraat is located. They grew together, and formed the village with the name Best. Best received a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the line Rotterdam – Breda – Boxtel – Helmond – Venlo – Maastricht. The line had only one track, but traffic congestion necessitated another track, so it was made double-tracked. In the 1980s, congestion once again became a problem so two more tracks were added in 2002. It is now possible to travel to Best from Utrecht or Eindhoven by train. The spoken language is North Meierijs (an

East Brabantian East Brabantian ( or ) 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 the province of North Brabant. Clas ...

dialect, which is very similar to colloquial Dutch).

Population centres

Politics

Transport

For train transport, see Best railway station. One can take bus number 9 from

central station to Best, or bus numbers 141/142 from

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

central station to Best.

Notable people

* José Hoebee (born 1954 in Best) Dutch pop singer and member of girl group ''

Luv' Luv' were a Dutch girl group that scored a string of hit records in Continental Europe ( Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Finland) as well as Israel, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, Cana ...

'' * (born 1985 in Best) cabaret artist and artist of ''Snollebollekes''IMDb Database
retrieved 22 December 2019 * Ralf Mackenbach (born 1995 in Best) Dutch singer and dancer, winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Sport

* Eric Swinkels (born 1949 in Best) sports shooter and silver medallist at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

* Hans Stacey (born 1958 in Best) Dutch rally driver * Peter Aerts (born 1970) Dutch semi-retired super heavyweight kickboxer, trained in Best * Jesse Mahieu (born 1978 in Best) field hockey defender and team silver medallist at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

* Dennis Retera (born 1986 in Best) Dutch racing driver * Roel van de Sande (born 1987 in Best) Dutch professional footballer with 250 club caps

Gallery

File:2019-10-26 Station Best stationsgebouw.jpg, Best railway station File:Armenhoef-best 02 foto-michiel-wasmus.jpg, Armenhoef, Best File:Historia park Best A0953.jpg, Historia Park, Best File:Best - Schots gedenkteken.jpg, Best - Scottish war memorial

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of North Brabant Populated places in North Brabant