Beveren () is a
municipality in the
Belgian province of
East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren,
Doel,
Haasdonk,
Kallo,
Kieldrecht
Kieldrecht is a village and ''deelgemeente'' (sub-municipality) of Beveren in East Flanders, Belgium. Kieldrecht was an independent municipality until 1977, when it merged with Beveren as part of the fusion of municipalities in Belgium. The villa ...
,
Melsele,
Verrebroek
Verrebroek is a village and deelgemeente in the municipality of Beveren in East Flanders, Belgium. Verrebroek was an independent municipality until 1 January 1977, when it merged with Beveren as part of the fusion of municipalities in Belgium.
H ...
and
Vrasene.
The port of the
Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') is in Beveren, on the left bank of the
Schelde, facing the
port of Antwerp on the other side of the river.
History
Roman origins
In
Roman times, the Beveren area was at the edge of the sea and heavily influenced by the tides. The earliest inhabitants erected primitive dams, which were later reinforced and built higher by the religious communities that sprang up in the region. The invasions of the
Normans in the 9th century prompted the
Counts of Flanders and their local
vassals to defend this land even more. Among the local nobility were the lords of Beveren, whose territory was eventually ceded to
Louis I of Flanders in 1334. Beveren thus became the oldest political centre of the
Waasland region — the northeastern part of the historical County of Flanders — basking for more than two centuries in the glory of Flanders and
Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
.
1570 to the present
In 1570, a catastrophic tide flooded the area. For strategic reasons linked to the protection of
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, , the local authorities decided to dismantle the remaining dams. Five years later, the rights to the territory were sold. The area closest to the
Scheldt was bought by an Antwerp merchant, and the rest went to the Duke of
Aarschot
Aarschot () is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Aarschot proper and the towns of Gelrode, Langdorp and Rillaar. On January 1, 2019, Aarschot had a total popul ...
. This state of affairs lasted until the
French Revolution, when the territory was subdivided into the pre-merger communes. From the 17th century on, the territory had slowly been taken back from the sea, until 1846, when the last parcel of land was dammed up.
Beveren was heavily impacted by the
North Sea flood of 1953
The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm surge that struck the Netherlands, north-west Belgium, England and Scotland. Most sea defences facing the surge were overwhelmed, causing extensive flooding.
The storm and flo ...
, which breached the dykes, causing again heavy damage to hundreds of houses. In the 1960s and 1970s, the expansion of the
port of Antwerp took place on
Kallo's territory. The village of
Doel was reduced from the 900 residents of only 10 years ago to some 250 currently because of the expansion of the port. Vast industrial settlements came in its wake, including a
nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...
in Doel, which allows Beveren to provide low municipal tax rates for its inhabitants. The opening of the ''Liefkenshoek'' car tunnel under the Scheldt in 1991 further improved access to the left bank. Despite all those developments, Beveren has managed to keep its green areas intact and still offers picturesque landscapes to visitors.
Sights
*Two castles remain from the
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
era: the 15th-century
Castle of Cortewalle, and the Castle Hof Ter Saksen (18th century), which evolved from a medieval inn on the road between
Ghent and
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, . During the second part of the 20th century, the castle was abandoned and reduced to ruins within a park.
*The Haasdonk fort was built just before
World War I for Antwerp's protection.
Bunkers can still be seen nearby.
*Beveren has kept several centuries-old houses, manors, chapels and churches.
*The village of Doel houses a 17th-century windmill, one of the oldest in Flanders.
*The
polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed
# Flood plains s ...
s north of Beveren offer a unique landscape, reminiscent of the southern
Netherlands.
*The
Freethiel
Freethiel Stadion is a multi-use stadium in Beveren, Belgium. The Freethiel Stadium, also known as the Freethiel for short, is the football stadium where the Belgian football club S.K. Beveren, SK Beveren (formerly known as Waasland-Beveren) plays ...
Folklore
Like many other cities in Belgium, Beveren has a collection of giant
puppets who take part in most of the local festivities. The two oldest ones were
baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
in 1954.
At Katoen Natie in Kallo one can watch and listen to the
Organ collection Ghysels, which was allocated to
Museum Vleeshuis in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, . The collection is open for the public since 2010 and waits on at transfer until Vleeshuis has been renovated.
[Kunsterfgoed]
De Collectie Ghysels
last visited on 5 November 2018
Climate
Beveren has an
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(
Köppen ''Cfb'') with narrow seasonal differences for its latitude. Summers are warm, but occasionally hot, whereas winters usually remain above freezing.
Famous inhabitants
*
Valère Gille
Valère Joseph Jules Gille (born Anderlecht, 3 May 1867, died Haasdonk, 1 June 1950) was a Belgian poet.
Life
In 1885 Gille enrolled at the Catholic University of Leuven, and in 1887 he began writing for ''La Jeune Belgique''. In 1889 he, togeth ...
*
Wilfried Van Moer
Wilfried van Moer (1 March 1945 – 24 August 2021) was a Belgian footballer who won the Belgian Golden Shoe three times, first in 1966 while at Antwerp then in 1969 and in 1970 while at Standard Liège.
Prior to 1966 Van Moer played with ...
,
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player (b. 1945)
*
Kathleen Smet
Kathleen Smet (born 19 January 1970, in Beveren) is an athlete from Belgium who competes in triathlon, becoming European champion in 2000 and 2002. She competes in Olympic and Long Distance Triathlons.
Smet competed at the first Olympic triathlo ...
,
triathlon athlete (b. 1970)
*
Dominique Cornu,
road and
track cyclist
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles.
History
Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it ...
(b. 1985)
*
Julie Gould
Julie Gould (born 15 February 1989) is a Welsh swimmer.
Gould was born in Beveren, Belgium. As a member of the Wales team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known ...
,
British swimmer
Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...
(b. 1989)
See also
*
K.S.K. Beveren
Koninklijke Sportkring Beveren (''Royal Sporting Club of Beveren'') is a Belgian association football club from the town of Beveren in East Flanders. KSK Beveren was particularly successful during the late 1970s and early 1980s in which it wo ...
*
Asterix Kieldrecht
References
External links
*
Official website in
Dutch
{{Authority control
Municipalities of East Flanders
Waasland
Populated places in East Flanders