Hoensbroek ( li, Gebrook) is a Dutch town in the municipality of

Heerlen Heerlen (; li, Heële ) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the fourth municipality in the province of Limburg. ...

. It is situated in the southeast of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

, a province in the southeast of the Netherlands. Until 1982, Hoensbroek was a separate municipality. Hoensbroek is known for its medieval castle, Kasteel Hoensbroek, named after Knight Hoen, a member of the Hoen Family. It dates from around 1250. Hoensbroek is also known for the fair on

Ascension Day The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., shared b ...

( Hemelvaartsdag). The fair brings as many as 100,000 people to the town, every year. In medieval times, the town was known under the name of Gebrook, meaning as much as "Swampy Landscape", and belonged to the Family Hoen. Their family name eventually mingled with the original one, resulting in the name ''Hoensbroeck'' for the location and

Van Hoensbroeck Van Hoensbroeck (in German: Hoensbroech) is a royal and aristocratic family with medieval origins in the town of Hoensbroek near Heerlen in Limburg, Netherlands. History is the first known ancestor of the family; he was killed in the Battle of ...

as the family name. The spoken dialect, Gerbrooker Plat, refers to the ancient name of Gebrook.

Recent history

Coal mining The town remained modest until the early 20th century, when several mines were opened (including the Emma), caused a substantial increase in population. This necessitated the construction of new residential areas, with the result that

& Hoensbroek grew closer to each other. Today Hoensbroek &

now form a contiguous and built-up area. Only the tip, the former Oranje Nassau III mine, currently designed as a park, represents a kind of barrier between the towns. The mines in the area are now all closed, but many of the workers before landscaped areas still exist.

Transport

Railway station:

Hoensbroek Hoensbroek ( li, Gebrook) is a Dutch town in the municipality of Heerlen. It is situated in the southeast of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, a province in the southeast of the Netherlands. Until 1982, Hoensbroek was a separate municipality. Hoens ...

. The town can also be reached from

Heerlen railway station Heerlen is a railway station located in Heerlen, Netherlands. History The station was opened on 1 May 1896 and is located on the Sittard–Herzogenrath railway and the Heerlen–Schin op Geul railway. The station was an important mining station, ...

and

Sittard railway station Sittard is a railway station located in Sittard, Netherlands. The station was opened in 1862 and is located on the Maastricht–Venlo railway and the Sittard–Herzogenrath railway. Train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen and Arriva ...

. Bus: The town can be reached by bus, in this city there are public buses from Veolia Transport(Limburg)

Notable people

Max van Heeswijk Max Lambert Peter van Heeswijk (born 2 March 1973 in Hoensbroek, Limburg) is a Dutch retired professional road racing cyclist. He finished 15th road race at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 17th in the road race at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Caree ...

, road racing cyclist * Willy Quadackers, footballer * Henk van der Linden, film director *, actress *

Christian Quix Christian Quix (8 October 1773, Hoensbroek – 13 January 1844, Aachen) was a Roman Catholic priest, heimatforscher (local historian) and from 1833 the director of the Stadtbibliothek Aachen, the city library of Aachen. Life The son of a typi ...

, priest, local historian, director of the city library of

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

Fernando Ricksen Fernando Jacob Hubertina Henrika Ricksen (27 July 1976 – 18 September 2019) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a right back and central midfielder. After winning Eerste Divisie titles with Fortuna Sittard and AZ, he joined Ran ...

, Dutch national team footballer *

Simone Simons Simone Johanna Maria Simons (born 17 January 1985) is a Dutch singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, which she joined at the age of seventeen, releasing eight studio albums and touring the world ...

, lead singer of symphonic metal band

Epica Epica or EPICA may refer to: * Epica (band), a Dutch symphonic metal band * ''Epica'' (Kamelot album), 2003 * ''Epica'' (Audiomachine album), 2012 * The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) * The Epica Awards (International Adver ...

* Egidius Slanghen, historian * Lambert Verdonk, footballer * Klaas de Vries, politician and jurist

References

External links

* {{Authority control Boroughs of Heerlen Former municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands) Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands)