Hedel () is a town in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. It is a part of the municipality of

Maasdriel Maasdriel () is a municipality in the province of Gelderland, in the eastern Netherlands. Maasdriel was formed on 1 January, 1999 by the merger of the former municipalities of Ammerzoden (including Well, Wellseind en Wordragen), Hedel, Heerewaarde ...

, and lies about 7 km northwest of

'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 ...

. Hedel was a separate municipality until 1999, when it was merged with

. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, there were a lot of fights in Hedel, especially during the month April 1945 when the armies of the

Princess Irene Brigade During the Second World War, the Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade, later known as the Princess Irene Brigade ( nl, Prinses Irene Brigade) was a Dutch military unit initially formed from approximately 1,500 troops, including a small gro ...

came to liberate the town. Hedel has a very strategic location, it lies on the border of

and

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 ...

and on the Maas. Almost the whole town of Hedel was destroyed during World War II. A monument to 12 members of the

killed between April 23rd and April 26th, 1945 was erected in Hedel. Hedel has its own harbour named 't Stik. There is also an excavation of the castle of Hedel. The excavations lie in the Historic Museum in Hedel. A clock Museum and a mini-zoo with

snowy owls The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mos ...

, goats, pheasants, parrots, chickens, ducks and other animals can also be found in Hedel. Hedel has got a Reformed and a catholic church. The reformed church was built in 1640, but it was destroyed during World War II and rebuilt in the original style several years later. On the first Monday of November after 1 November, there is a horse market. This is the biggest horse market in

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and one of the biggest horse markets in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Gallery

File:Hervormdekerkhedel.jpg, Dutch Reformed church File:9372wi.jpg, Horse market File:Hedel - Veldweg 9 Villa.jpg, Villa in Hedel File:Hedel - Kerkstraat 5 Woonhuis.jpg, House in Hedel

References

External links

Official website of the municipality of MaasdrielHorse market Hedel official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 1999 Populated places in Gelderland Former municipalities of Gelderland Maasdriel