Zelhem is a town 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 has approximately 11,000 inhabitants. Zelhem is located in the municipality of

Bronckhorst Bronckhorst () is a municipality in Gelderland, the Netherlands. The municipality is the result of a merger of the former municipalities Hengelo, Hummelo en Keppel, Steenderen, Vorden and Zelhem, on 1 January 2005. The municipality is named afte ...

, about 7 km northeast of

Doetinchem Doetinchem (; Low Saxon: ) is a city and municipality in the east of the Netherlands. It is situated along the Oude IJssel (Old IJssel) river in a part of the province of Gelderland called the Achterhoek. The municipality had a population of in ...

. Zelhem was a separate municipality until 2005, when it became a part of Bronckhorst. The municipality used to cover an area of 81.89 km².

History

The village is more than 1200 years old. The modern name Zelhem originated from Salehem. This name was given to the village when a chapel was built and a gift-document was presented to the inhabitants. The name Salehem comes from two words 'Sale' which means 'house' and 'heim' which means 'place where people are home'. The founder of this chapel was a passionate preacher called Liudger. He brought religion to the land of the Saksen. Between 1450 and 1500 the church as we know it was built. It was dedicated to St. Lambertus,

bishop of Maastricht The Diocese of Maastricht (Latin Traiectum ad Mosam) was a Roman Catholic jurisdiction in parts of present Netherlands (including the see Maastricht) and Belgium, which has been nominally revived as a Latin titular bishopric. History Establishe ...

in the time of Ludger (hence the name 'Lambertikerk').

The myth of Smoks Hanne

The village also has a myth of 'Smoks Hanne'. She lived in Zelhem somewhere in the nineteenth century. Nowadays she's pictured as a good witch flying on a broom. The funny part is that Smoks Hanne only has one clog (on her left foot) and the broom she's flying on is backwards. It is assumed that Smoks Hanne lost her clog during flight. Unfortunately there's not much information about this old lady. But when the village celebrated its 1200th anniversary, the theme was all about her.

People born in Zelhem

Hedzer Rijpstra Hedzer Rijpstra (11 May 1919 – 7 April 2011) was a Dutch politician. He was born in Zelhem and died in Oegstgeest Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was i ...

(1919-2011), politician *

Jan Remmelink Professor Jan Remmelink (27 April 1922, Zelhem, Gelderland – 15 May 2003, Groningen) was Attorney General of the High Council of the Netherlands from 1968 to 1989. In 1979 he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He ...

(1922–2003), jurist *

Leo Klein Gebbink Leo Klein Gebbink (born 9 January 1968 in Zelhem, Gelderland) is a former field hockey midfield player from The Netherlands, who represented his native country in two consecutive Summer Olympics (1992 and 1996). At his last appearance in Atlanta, ...

(born 1968), hockey player

References

External links

Information about ZelhemOud Zelhem (historical information about Zelhem)Link collection on Zelhem
{{Authority control Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2005 Populated places in Gelderland Former municipalities of Gelderland Bronckhorst