Heerle (

Brabantic 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 ...

: ''Èrel'') is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in the municipality of

Roosendaal Roosendaal () is both a city and a municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. Towns/villages of the municipality * Roosendaal (population: 66,760) * Wouw (4,920) * Heerle (1,900) * Nispen (1,440) * Wouwse P ...

, 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

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 ...

. Before the municipal reorganisation of 1997, Heerle was part of the municipality of

Wouw Wouw is a village in the southern Netherlands. It is located in North Brabant, between the cities Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom, close to the border with Belgium. Until 1997 Wouw was the seat of the municipality of Wouw. The municipality consiste ...

. It lies between the cities of

Bergen op Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands. Etymology The city was built on a place where two types of soil meet: sandy soil and marine clay. The sandy soil ...

and Roosendaal.

Etymology

The name Heerle has been documented for the first time in the 13th century as ''Harella'' and is possibly a conjunction of the word ''har'' (meaning heightened sandy soil) and ''loo'', a small forest. The customary local Brabantic pronunciation differs significantly from the standard Dutch one, so that linguistic misconceptions regularly occur.

History

Heerle was mentioned for the first time in a charter of the Sint-Bernardusabdij in

Hemiksem Hemiksem (, historical spellings ''Heymissen'' and ''Hemixem'') is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Hemiksem proper. In 2021, Hemiksem had a total population of 11,722. The tot ...

, which could raise tenth penning taxes in the village for the first time in 1277. In 1307, Heerle was proclaimed an independent parish, previously it was part of the parish of Bergen op Zoom. Regardless of having an independent church community, Heerle hadn't developed its own village governance and remained dependent on the

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...

of neighbouring

. Furthermore, Heerle didn't have a village centre until the beginning of the 19th century.

Sights

* The Sint-Gertruduskerk is a church built in 1862 and 1924, situated at Herelsestraat 100. * The Boerin met Kalf (Peasant Woman with Calf) statue in front of the Sint-Gertrudiskerk, it is customary for the villagers to dress her up during Carnaval.

Gallery

File:Rijksmonumenten Roosendaal 434.JPG, House in Heerle File:Rijksmonumenten Roosendaal 442.JPG, St Gertrudis Church

References

{{Authority control Populated places in North Brabant Roosendaal