Ochten is a village 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

Neder-Betuwe Neder-Betuwe () is a municipality in the province of Gelderland, in the east of the Netherlands. On 1 April 2003, it was established as the new name of the redivided municipality of Kesteren. Neder-Betuwe counted 25,042 inhabitants on 1 january 20 ...

, and lies about 10 km southwest of

Wageningen Wageningen () is a municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a population of in , of which many t ...

. Ochten was a separate municipality until 1818, when it was divided into two parts,

Echteld Echteld is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Neder-Betuwe, and lies about 6 km east of Tiel. Echteld was a separate municipality between 1818 and 2002, when it was merged with Kesteren. Befor ...

and IJzendoorn.

History

It was first mentioned in the late 9th century as "in uilla Ovtun". The etymology is unclear. Ochten developed along the

Waal River The Waal (Dutch name, ) is the main distributary branch of the river Rhine flowing approximately through the Netherlands. It is the major waterway connecting the port of Rotterdam to Germany. Before it reaches Rotterdam, it joins with the Afg ...

. It was an ''

heerlijkheid A ''heerlijkheid'' (a Dutch word; pl. ''heerlijkheden''; also called ''heerschap''; Latin: ''Dominium'') was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas in the Dutch-speaking Low Countries before 1800. ...

'' of the Prince-Bishop of Utrecht until 1402 when it changed hands to the Duchy of Gelre. In 1712, it became a possession of

Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen ( en, Nothing without God) , national_anthem = , common_languages = German , religion = Roman Catholic , currency = , title_leader = Prince , leader1 ...

. In 1840, it was home to 820 people. In September 1944, Ochten became a battleground between the Germans and the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. Not a single houses remained undamaged, and more than half of the 400 buildings were damaged beyond repair. The emergency houses would continue to be used until 1973. In 1995, the dike was about the break during high water. The entire village was evacuated and the army was called in to strengthen the dike. The entire embankment was later renewed and strengthened.

Gallery

File:Ochten De Luitekamp Heuningstraat 11 1.jpg, Villa Luitekamp File:Ochten Sonnevanck Heuningstraat 6 1.jpg, Villa Sonnevanck File:Ochten - 44 Ri straat - 3.jpg, Farm in Ochten File:Sunset at the river Waal near Ochten - the Netherlands.jpg, Sunset on the Waal near Ochten

References

Populated places in Gelderland Former municipalities of Gelderland Neder-Betuwe {{Gelderland-geo-stub