Tielen is a village in the province of

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It is part of the municipality of

Kasterlee Kasterlee () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Kasterlee proper, Lichtaart and Tielen. In 2021, Kasterlee had a total population of 19,052. The total area is 71.56 km2. Th ...

. The nearest city is the neighbouring city of

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

. Other neighbouring towns are

Vosselaar Vosselaar () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Vosselaar proper. In 2021, Vosselaar had a total population of 11,443. The total area is 11.85 km2. There are three pari ...

Lichtaart Lichtaart is a village in Belgium, in the province of Antwerp and municipality of Kasterlee. The village is situated near the town, Antwerp. Lichtaart bordered by the Rivers, Nete and Kaliebeek. In 1977, Lichtaart had an area of 25 km ² and ...

, ,

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

and Gierle. The borders of Tielen are marked by two rivers: The Aa and the Kaliebeek. Almost one third of the village is still covered with pine-woods, heath and swamps. Typical for the Kempen area. The rest of this village is mostly used for residential and agricultural purposes.

Inhabitants

With not more than 3,900 inhabitants (3886 - ''2009-01-01''), Tielen still has a strong community even though in the last 50 years

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

has doubled the population as shown below.

Evolution of habitation

The largest part of the inhabitants are upper middle class nowadays, but through history, the largest part of the inhabitants were poor farmers. The most famous inhabitant of Tielen was Baron

Flor Peeters Franciscus Florentinus Peeters, Baron Peeters (4 July 1903 – 4 July 1986) was a Belgian composer, organist and academic teacher. He was director of the Conservatorium in Antwerp, Belgium, and organist at Mechelen Cathedral from 1923 to his deat ...

(an important organist). Less famous is the

bishop of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropoli ...

Lucas Van Looy Lucas Van Looy S.D.B. (born 28 September 1941) is a Belgian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Bishop of Ghent from 2004 to 2019. He worked as a missionary in South Korea for more than a decade and held leadership positions with the Salesian ...

Sights

The village has a small center which is triangular. It has a 19th-century church, an old railway station and a beautiful town hall (nowadays the old town hall, since Tielen became a part of

in 1977). Other important buildings in Tielen are the 12th century

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

and the 15th-century castle ( Tielenhof), which was the home of the lords of Tielen and its neighbouring village Gierle until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. People visit this village to go walking or bike-riding in nature and to enjoy the countryside. Tielen is a vivid village with local pubs or bars and regular events of all sorts. Far from the industrialised world, Tielen only has one factory. "Het IJsboerke" (The Ice Farmer) manufactures

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

and is the second biggest ice cream producer in Belgium. The factory is worth visiting, but in front of the buildings there are fountains worth seeing as well.

History

The name "Tielen" no longer has a meaning in modern-day Dutch (or Flemish) and it is not sure what it means. It could mean "a moist swampy area covered with small plants", "a river lock" or even "a row of houses next to a river" There's no real date to point out the foundation of Tielen. The oldest documents mentioning the village are from the 13th century, but most historians think the village is actually much older. The characteristics of the oldest settlements prove the village was founded by the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

when they colonized the area. Yet an even earlier settlement could be located where the castle of Tielen stands today. In 1597 there was a battle in Tielen. It was called 'The battle near

' or ' The battle on Tielenheide', this battle was between The Northern

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and the Spanish occupier of The Southern Netherlands, nowadays where we situate

. The first years after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

had a military base in the village, in the surrounding villages people referred to Tielen as 'Little Britain'. This of course ended when the Belgian 3PARA took over the base. In 1977, Tielen had not enough inhabitants to remain an independent municipality. It was fused into a larger municipality together with

and

Accessibility

There's a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in Tielen and it has direct connections with

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. The village is near the E34 highway and has several bus connections. Tielen (België)-Station

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Antwerp Province Kasterlee