Ossendrecht 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 to ...

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 we ...

. It is located in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Woensdrecht Woensdrecht () is a municipality (named after the village) in the southern Netherlands. Woensdrecht is the home of the Woensdrecht Air Base, which is located to the north-east of the village of Woensdrecht and to the north-west of Huijbergen. ...

, about 12 km southeast 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 p ...

. The village was first mentioned in 1187 as "Alardus de Ossendreht", and is a combination of ferry / waterway and ox. Ossendrecht developed around a triangular village square. During the 19th century, Ossendrecht became a centre of

cichorium ''Cichorium'' is a genus of plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. The genus includes two cultivated species commonly known as chicory or endive, plus several wild species. Common chicory (''Cichorium intybus'') is a bush ...

cultivation and processing. Ossendrecht was home to 214 people in 1840. Ossendrecht was a separate municipality until 1997, when it became part of Woensdrecht.

Notable people

Pauline Musters Pauline Musters (February 26, 1878 – March 1, 1895) was a Dutch woman. She is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the shortest woman ever recorded, standing at only tall. Life Musters was born in 1878 in Ossendrecht in North Bra ...

, recognized by the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as the shortest woman ever recorded, was born here on 26 February 1876.

Gallery

File:Voormalig stadhuis DSCF3363.JPG, Town hall File:Natuurpoort Volksabdij DSCF3343.JPG, Nature area Volksabdij File:Dorpstraat Ossendrecht DSCF3365.JPG, Village street File:Ossendrecht DSCF3373.JPG, Hotel in Ossendrecht

References

Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 1997 Populated places in North Brabant Former municipalities of North Brabant Woensdrecht {{NorthBrabant-geo-stub