Welden is a village in the municipality of

Oudenaarde Oudenaarde (; french: Audenarde ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heu ...

in the province of

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

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 ...

, and is situated along the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corr ...

. It is located about south of

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

History

Welden is situated on the right bank of the

along the old Roman road from

to Doornik. Artefacts from the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

have been discovered. The land near the river was regularly flooded, and ''

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 s ...

ed'' in the 11th and 12th century. The village was first mentioned in 1110 as Wenlines, and means "settlement of Wandilo (person)". The area used to be part of

East Francia East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided t ...

, but was conquered by the

Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the co ...

in the mid 11th century. Welden used to contain several '' heerlijkheden'' (landed estates). It was mainly a rural village with a few

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for cl ...

. In 1790, Welden was one of the centres of the . The farmers protested against the reintroduction of the ''heerlijkheid'' system, and demanded the return of the

Emperor of Austria The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Ho ...

. The priest and

bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

tried to calm the masses, but had to flee to Oudenaarde. The revolt was crushed by troops of the

United Belgian States The United Belgian States ( nl, Verenigde Nederlandse Staten or '; french: États-Belgiques-Unis; lat, Foederatum Belgium), also known as the United States of Belgium, was a short-lived confederal republic in the Southern Netherlands (modern-da ...

. In 1868, a railway station opened on the

Denderleeuw Denderleeuw () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of Denderleeuw proper, and . In 2021, Denderleeuw had a total populati ...

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

railway line. The railway station closed in 1984. Welden was an independent municipality until 1971, when it was merged into

Buildings

The St Martinus Church originally dates from the 12th century. The church was modified several times during its history. In 1866, it was supposed to be demolished and replaced by a new church. In 1867, it was decided to restore and modify the existing church into a three aisled

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church. The church was re-consecrated in 1872. It was damaged during World War I.

Notable people

Arthur Decabooter Arthur Decabooter (3 October 1936 – 26 May 2012) was a Belgian professional racing cyclist, active as a professional between 1959 and 1967. Cyclist Walter Godefroot is his wife's brother-in-law. Apart from a few years when he was signed to Lib ...

, (1936–2012) professional racing cyclist * Henri-Charles Lambrecht (1848–1889), bishop of Ghent

Gallery

File:PM 117623 B Welden.jpg, House in Welden File:Grafkapel Lambrecht in Welden.jpg, Tomb of Henri-Charles Lambrecht File:Welden Spoorwegovergang lijn 89 (disappeared).jpg, Former railway crossing File:Zicht op Welden - 2016.jpg, View on Welden

References

External links

* {{Authority control Oudenaarde Populated places in East Flanders