The Donge is a small river 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 w ...

. It rises from springs east of

Baarle-Nassau Baarle-Nassau () is a municipality and town in the southern Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. It had a population of in . The town is the site of a complicated borderline between Belgium and the Netherlands, with 22 small ...

as a stream called Leij. Near

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

the name changes to ''Donge''. It passes the village of

Dongen Dongen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a village in the southern Netherlands. In the past it was home to a profitable leather industry, to which a few old shoe factories in the town's older sections still testify. The t ...

and flows north to the town of

Geertruidenberg Geertruidenberg () is a city and municipality in the province North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands. The city, named after Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, received city rights in 1213 from the count of Holland. The fortified city prospered un ...

where it's continued by the

Amer Amer may refer to: Places * Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant * Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain * Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state ** Am ...

together with the

Bergse Maas The Bergse Maas (; pre-1947 spelling: Bergsche Maas) is a canal that was constructed in 1904 to be a branch of the river Maas (French: Meuse) in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The Maas splits near Heusden into the Afgedamde Maas and the ...

. Its length is 35 km.Rijkswaterstaat (national Dutch authority on waterways and dikes) on river Donge (in Dutch)
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Use of the river

Because the Donge gets wider around the city of

, it was mainly used for industrial purposes in that area. Until 1952 the powerplant Dongecentrale, which provided all of

with electricity was located at the river. When it was discontinued, the

Amercentrale The Amercentrale is a coal-fired power plant of RWE in the municipality Geertruidenberg Geertruidenberg () is a city and municipality in the province North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands. The city, named after Saint Gertrude of Nivelle ...

(located at the river

) took over its tasks, some of the ships with coals still use the Donge. Until 2005, 4 ship manufacturers were also located at the river. The only big industry left at the banks of the river are in the north-east side, around Geertruidenberg. In previous centuries, more upstream, the Donge was heavily used in the leather industry. Because of its relatively fast current, it was used to clean skins, and rinse chemicals from the processed product. Therefore, during the 20th century the Donge was one of the most polluted rivers in the Netherlands.

Miscellanea

* Two sub-dialects of the

Brabantian dialect Brabantian or Brabantish, also Brabantic or Brabantine ( nl, Brabants, Standard Dutch pronunciation: , ), is a dialect group of the Dutch language. It is named after the historical Duchy of Brabant, which corresponded mainly to the Dutch provi ...

arose due to the existence of the river. Because the people on either side of the river didn't have much contact in earlier days, ''West-Brabantian'' is mainly spoken on the west side of the river, as ''East-Brabantian'' is spoken, naturally, on the east side of the river.

External links

Video of Omroep Brabant on the Donge (in Dutch)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donge (River) Rivers of North Brabant Rivers of the Netherlands Geertruidenberg