Oud-Vossemeer (

Zeelandic Zeelandic ( zea, Zeêuws; nl, Zeeuws; vls, Zêeuws) is a group of Friso-Franconian language varieties spoken in the southwestern parts of the Netherlands. It is currently considered a Low Franconian dialect of Dutch, but there have been mov ...

: ''Ou-Vossemaer'') is a village on the island of

Tholen Tholen () is a 25,000 people municipality in the southwest of the Netherlands. The municipality of Tholen takes its name from the town of Tholen, which is the largest population center in the municipality. The municipality consists of two peninsu ...

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

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

. It is a part of the municipality of Tholen, and lies about 13 km northwest 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 ...

, close to the

Eendracht The Eendracht is a former tidal branch of river Scheldt that has been channelised to form the northern stretch of the Scheldt-Rhine Canal. It flows from the Zoommeer lake (formerly part of the Oosterschelde) near Bergen op Zoom past the town ...

, part of the Scheldt-Rhine Canal.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1410 as Vosmer, and means "old fresh water stream". Oud (old) has been added to distinguish from

Nieuw-Vossemeer Nieuw-Vossemeer is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Steenbergen, about 10 km northeast of Bergen op Zoom. History The village was first mentioned between 1573 and 1576 as Nijeuwe Vossem ...

. Oud-Vossemeer is a circular church village which developed after the Kerkepolder was ''

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains ...

ed'' in 1411. Up to the 16th century, it formed a ''

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 180 ...

'' with

. In 1576, it was burnt by the

Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army ( nl, Staatse leger) was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This mercenary arm ...

. The tower of the Dutch Reformed church dates from 1450. The church was heavily damaged by the 1576 fire. It was rebuilt in 1595, and the tower was placed inside the church. The church was extensively modified between 1913 and 1915. The Catholic St Willibrordus Church is an aisleless church with wooden tower from 1841. The interior was modified in 1928. The former

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...

dates from 1786. The façade contains a "smith's clock" from 1805 with carved wooden figures, and has a wooden ringer with a brass bell. Above the clock is tunnel with cavalry figures. The clock was restored in 1960. Since 2015, the Roosevelt Information centre is housed in the forge. Oud-Vossemeer was home to 1,364 people in 1840. It includes the previous municipality and hamlet of

Vrijberge Vrijberge was a municipality in the Dutch province of Zeeland, located on the island of Tholen. It existed until 1813, when it was merged with Oud-Vossemeer Oud-Vossemeer (Zeelandic: ''Ou-Vossemaer'') is a village on the island of Tholen in the ...

. In 1944, Oud-Vossemeer and the surrounding country side was

inundate A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

d the Germans. Oud-Vossemeer was a separate municipality until 1971, when it was merged with

Notable people

The ancestors of the American presidential family

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...

may have lived in Oud-Vossemeer. A monument honouring the

Four Freedoms The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Monday, January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freed ...

(formulated by

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

) was placed in the centre of the village.

Gallery

File:Hervormde kerk (Oud-Vossemeer) P1400625.jpg, Dutch Reformed church File:Vergezicht met molen - Oud-Vossemeer - 20364132 - RCE.jpg, Wind mill De Jager File:Huys van Roosevelt P1400624.jpg, Restaurant Huys van Roosevelt File:Willibrorduskerk, Oud-Vossemeer.JPG, St Willibrordus Church

References

External links

Site about Oud Vossemeer, Roosevelt and the Four Freedoms Award
{{Authority control Former municipalities of Zeeland Populated places in Zeeland Tholen