Dinther is a village in the Dutch 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 ...

. It is located in the municipality of

Bernheze Bernheze () is a municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. It was formed as a rename of Heesch in 1995. The municipalities of Heeswijk-Dinther and Nistelrode had merged into Heesch in 1994. Etymology The municipa ...

. Dinther was a separate municipality and town until 1969, when it merged with

Heeswijk Heeswijk is a Dutch village. It is located in the province of North Brabant, in the south of the Netherlands. History The village was first mentioned in the 12th century as "Albertus de Essuic", and means "settlement in the shrubbery". Heeswijk ...

to form the new municipality of

Heeswijk-Dinther Heeswijk-Dinther (population: 7,985) is a town and former municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant being named after the former municipalities Heeswijk and Dinther. The municipality was created in 1969, and became a ...

. Since the municipal merger, the two towns started to share a marketplace and center. Today the towns form the greater town of

Etymology

The settlement now known as Dinther initially appears as ''Dinthre'' in a document of 1139. The name has an

Old Frankish Frankish ( reconstructed endonym: *), also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 9th century. After the Salian Franks settled in Roman Gaul, its speakers in Picardy an ...

origin and is a composition of the words "Dint" and "haar". "Dint" (or "dent") means "dent" or "dented" usually it implies a landscape with rolling heights. "Haar" is an old Dutch word for a long stretchted sand dune. There lies a long stretchted sand dune between the city of

Berlicum Berlicum is a town in the south of the Netherlands, located in North Brabant's Meierij region near the city of s-Hertogenbosch and the river Aa. The town was most likely founded between 600 and 700 AD. It was a municipality along with the villag ...

and

Veghel Veghel () is a town and a former municipality in the southern Netherlands. On 1 January 2017 Veghel, together with Schijndel and Sint-Oedenrode, merged into a new municipality called Meierijstad creating the largest municipality of the provinc ...

to the north of Dinther. It seems correct to translate Dinther as: "dented long stretchted sand dune" (source: "Grepen uit de geschiedenis van Dinther 1139–1989", J. van der Leest). The current landscape though is green and does not show any signs of dunes or sand.

History

In the early Middle Ages the first acres were cultivated out of fertile woodlands along the river " Aa". In the early Middle Ages Dinther was part of a free territory governed by the Lords of Dinther; as were the nearby towns of Heeswijk and Boxtel. In 1196 half of this territory was granted in use by Knight Albert van Dinther to the Lord of Cuijk. The Lord of Cuijk granted the use to the Duke of Brabant. The Lords of Dinther probably resided in a stronghold on an artificial hill called "Ter Borch". This stronghold was most likely situated near the river Aa, to the south of Dinther. In 1388 the other half of this territory was granted in use by "Willem van der Aa" to "Duchess Johanna van Brabant", which turned it into a part of the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

. Dinther was part of the

Meierij The Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch (; Dutch for "Bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch") was one of the four parts of the Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate o ...

's-Hertogenbosch 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 ...

one of the four administrative parts of the Duchy of Brabant. In 1352 Dinther became an acknowledged town when "Jan van Benthem", Lord of Dinther, granted the inhabitants of the parish the use of the land. In the 14th century the residence of the Lords of Dinther moved from "Ter Borch" to the estate of "Ten Bogaerde". This was situated near the castle Avestein. Avestein was torn down in 1807. After the end of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in 1648 Dinther became part of the

States of Brabant The States of Brabant were the representation of the three estates (nobility, clergy and commons) to the court of the Duke of Brabant. The three estates were also called the States. Supported by the economic strength of the cities Antwerp, Brusse ...

for the "Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch" became part of the

. The Protestants repressed the catholic faith in Dinther until 1795. Repressing is a strong term. In reality a manner of coexisting between Catholics and Protestants was daily practice. The administrative and political power though remained in the hands of the Protestants. In 1795 the French invaded the Dutch Republic and "freedom of faith" is restored in Dinther. In 1814 Dinther becomes a part of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

The village

Dinther has never been a significant town but was still a fairly large village. Dinther is situated next to a ford in the river Aa like Heeswijk and Veghel. The centre of Dinther is situated around the church. During the ages several houses or housing blocks have been added to the village. In essence the village is still a rural farm town. There is some industrial activity in an area called "Retsel".

Sights in Dinther

* The '' Killdonk Mill'' . A rare water and wind mill combination. Restored in 2009. * ''Manor Zwanenburg''; a fortified house from the Middle Ages (14th century). * The ''Saint Servatius church''; a monument from 1877 restored in 2006. * The ''Protestant Church'' from 1843.

Landscape

The presence of the river Aa, subsidiaries as Leijgraaf and Oudebeek formed the landscape of Dinther; a typical river landscape. Since Dinther is situated in the Aa valley inundation was a fact of life for the early inhabitants. This caused a lot of damage to cattle and acres. The danger of inundation was removed when the river Aa was forced into a canal.

Places nearby

Loosbroek Loosbroek is a village and parish in the southern Netherlands. It is located in the municipality Bernheze, North Brabant. Before 1994 the territory of Loosbroek was divided between three municipalities, Nistelrode, Heesch (Netherlands), Heesch an ...

References

{{Authority control Populated places in North Brabant Former municipalities of North Brabant Bernheze