Waardenburg 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

West Betuwe West Betuwe is a municipality in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Gelderland. West Betuwe had 51.948 inhabitants on 1 January 2022. The municipality was formed on January 1, 2019, by the merger of the municipalities Geldermalsen, Neerijnen, Li ...

, and is located about 13 km west of

Tiel Tiel () is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the East. Tiel comprises the population centres Kapel- ...

. Waardenburg was a separate municipality until 1978, when it was merged with

Neerijnen Neerijnen () is a village and former municipality in the Netherlands. It is about south of Utrecht and some north of 's-Hertogenbosch. On 1 January 2019, it merged with Geldermalsen and Lingewaal to form the new municipality of West Betuwe. ...

History

It was first mentioned in 1108 as Werden, and means "fortified place near water". Waardenburg developed as an ''

esdorp __NOTOC__ An ''Angerdorf'' (plural: ''Angerdörfer'') is a type of village that is characterised by the houses and farmsteads being laid out around a central grassed area, the ''anger'' (from the Old High German ''angar'' =pasture or grassy place ...

'' perpendicular to the

dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

of the

Waal WAAL (99.1 FM "The Whale") is a commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station in the Binghamton metropolitan area. It is an ...

Waardenburg Castle Waardenburg Castle, sometimes also called Weerdenburg, is a medieval castle located in Waardenburg in the municipality of West Betuwe, in the Dutch province of Gelderland. History The date of foundation of Waardenburg Castle is precisely know ...

was founded in 1265 as a wooden fortification. It developed into a castle with three towers, a ring wall and a gate. In 1574, it was taken by

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...

causing the destruction of the west and south side. In 1703, the ruins were cleared. In 1840, Waardenburg was home to 675 people. In 1868, the village was cut in two by the railway line. A train station opened in Waardenburg, but closed in 1935. In 1932, the main road

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

(nowadays: A2 motorway) further divided the village. Waardenburg has two windmills. The Poldermolen is a

windpump A windpump is a type of windmill which is used for pumping water. Windpumps were used to pump water since at least the 9th century in what is now Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. The use of wind pumps became widespread across the Muslim world an ...

built in 1867 which still serves a modest function to drain a nature area. De Zeskante Molen is a

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

from the 18th century. Between 1914 and 1918, it was used to generate electricity. In 1995, the dike was enlarged and the windmill was raised 1.5 metres.

Gallery

File:Waardenburg NH Kerk (1).jpg, Dutch Reformed Church File:Kasteel Waardenburg Waardenburg Castle (4510403357).jpg, Waardenburg Castle File:Waardenburg - poldermolen in de sneeuw.jpg, Polder mill File:Waardenburg RM Waalbandijk 12 Dijkmagazijn (2).jpg, Dike armory

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Gelderland Former municipalities of Gelderland West Betuwe