Egem is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the sub-municipality of

Bambrugge Bambrugge is a sub-municipality of Erpe-Mere in Flanders. It is located on the Molenbeek (Erpe-Mere Bovenschelde), Molenbeek in the Denderstreek, southeast of East Flanders and belongs to the Arrondissement of Aalst. It is bordered by the sub-mu ...

in the municipality of

Erpe-Mere Erpe-Mere () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of Aaigem, Bambrugge, Burst (village), Burst, Erondegem, Erpe, Mere, Be ...

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

. It is located on the

Molenbeek ( French, ) or (Dutch, ), often simply called Molenbeek, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, from which it is separated ...

, in the

Denderstreek The Denderstreek or Denderland is a region in Belgium. It is named after the river Dender. Though the river stretches over three provinces, Hainaut, East Flanders and Flemish Brabant, the region called after the river is situated in East Flander ...

, within the southeast of

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

and belongs to the

Arrondissement of Aalst An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements'', ...

. It is bordered by the sub-municipalities of Bambrugge proper,

Vlekkem Vlekkem is a sub-municipality of Erpe-Mere in Flanders. It is located on the Molenbeek in the Denderstreek, southeast of East Flanders and belongs to the Arrondissement of Aalst. The sub-municipality is bordered by the hamlet Egem of the sub- ...

(municipality of Erpe-Mere),

Ottergem Ottergem is a sub-municipality of Erpe-Mere in Flanders. It is located on the Molenbeek in the Denderstreek, southeast of East Flanders and belongs to the Arrondissement of Aalst. The sub-municipality is bordered by the sub-municipalities of E ...

(municipality of Erpe-Mere) and

Zonnegem Sint-Lievens-Houtem (; french: Hautem-Saint-Liévin, not officially recognized) is a Dutch-speaking municipality of Belgium. It is located in the Denderstreek and at the edge of the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the province of East ...

(municipality of

Sint-Lievens-Houtem Sint-Lievens-Houtem (; french: Hautem-Saint-Liévin, not officially recognized) is a Flemish Community of Belgium, Dutch-speaking Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Belgium. It is located in the Denderstreek and at the edge of the Flemish ...

). Egem also borders the domain Steenberg. Egem consists of two streets, the Egemstraat and Everdal.

History

Through the centuries Egem has had multiple names. In the oldest documents it was found to be named Heddeghem (1571), later it was also mentioned as Edeghem (1629), Hettegem (1638), Eedegem (1763), Eghem (1779) and Eegem (1842). Etymologically,

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

s ending with –''gem'' refer to a Germanic compound of –''haim'', meaning ‘home’ or ‘residence’, and a derivative ending –''inga''. The first part of the name "Egem" is commonly assigned to the Germanic name of ''Haid, Hait or Heit''. In its totality, the compound ''Haidingahaim'' meant ‘residence of the followers or tribal members of Frank Haid’, degenerated into Heddeghem. The locality name belongs to the group of ingahemnames who are older than regular hemnames. Egem was founded in the early centuries of the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

era (6th-7th century), and thus has an older origin than Bambrugge. Egem was probably a secluded homestead which was not too great, and was later absorbed by the rapidly faster developing Bambrugge.

Location

Landmarks

* The Egemmolen or Meuleken Tik Tak was an overshot watermill at Everdal 21 and functioned as a wheat mill. The mill wheel has been removed and the mill has been largely demolished, but there are still remains of this mill and the mill house intact. The mill house is now used as a country cottage. * The little chappelle at Egemstraat File:Egemmolen Bambrugge Molenhuis.JPG, Mill house of the Egemmolen at Bambrugge File:Egemmolen Bambrugge overblijfselen.JPG, Remains of the Egemmolen at Bambrugge File:Kapel Egemstraat Bambrugge.jpg, The little chappelle at Egemstraat {{coord, 50, 55, N, 3, 56, E, display=title, region:BE_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Erpe-Mere Populated places in East Flanders