De Korn Boezemweg in de hooitijd bij Dussen

Altena is a municipality in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, on a

river island River Island (stylised as RiverIsland and abbreviated as RI) is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis (entrepreneur), Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores ...

in the very north of the province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

, bordering the provinces of

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

and

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

. Nearby cities are

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

in the west,

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( ), pronunciation respelling, also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in . The munici ...

in the north (both in South Holland), and

Waalwijk Waalwijk () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. It had a population of in and is located near the A59 and N261 motorways. The villages of Capelle, Vrijhoeve-Capelle, Sprang (the former mun ...

in the south. Approximately 56,000 people live in an area of about 201 km², making Altena the largest municipality of North Brabant in terms of land area (surpassing

Meierijstad Meierijstad () is a municipality in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The municipality is the result of a merger between the municipalities Schijndel, Sint-Oedenrode and Veghel in 2017. After the merger it became North Brabant's largest municip ...

Geography

The municipality was formed on 1 January 2019, by the merger of the municipalities of Aalburg, Werkendam, and Woudrichem. Aalburg was only a municipality, Werkendam and Woudrichem are also population centres. Werkendam is the largest town, and the small city of Woudrichem is the historical centre of Altena. The village of Almkerk serves as the municipal seat and lies in the middle of the municipality. Altena is a rural community with population centres mainly concentrated along the surrounding waterways. These waterways are (clockwise, starting in the west): Nieuwe Merwede, Boven Merwede,

Afgedamde Maas The Afgedamde Maas (; Dammed-up Meuse) is a former distributary of the Meuse, Maas River (French: Meuse) in the Netherlands, Dutch Provinces of the Netherlands, provinces of North Brabant and Gelderland. The Maas splits near Heusden with one chan ...

, Heusdensch Kanaal,

Bergsche Maas The Bergsche Maas (; current spelling: Bergsche Maas) is a canal that was constructed in 1904 to be a branch of the river Maas (French: Meuse) in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The Maas splits near Heusden into the Afgedamde Maas and the B ...

, and Amer. De Biesbosch National Park is partially situated in the western part of Altena. The municipality of Altena is nearly identical to the region of the

Land van Heusden en Altena The Land of Heusden and Altena () is a region located in the Dutch province of North Brabant. In 1904 it consisted of the historical regions '' Land van Altena'' and '' Land van Heusden'' (only the part above the Bergse Maas). Historically this ...

. Only the De Biesbosch area, consisting of the De Biesbosch National Park and polders above, falls outside. The waterway Steurgat largely forms the boundary.

Population centres

The municipality of Altena officially has 1 city, 18 villages, and 27 hamlets. However, many villages are the size of a hamlet, and Werkendam and Woudrichem are the size of towns, the latter also having

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

. ;;;City * Woudrichem ;;;Villages ;;;Hamlets

Topography

''Map of the municipality of Altena, 2020''

Transport

Altena is accessible by bridges and ferries. Important bridges are the northern Merwede Bridge and the southern Keizersveer Bridge. Both bridges are part of motorway A27, which crosses the municipality from north to south. A car ferry in the very western part connects the city of

with Altena. Nearest railway station is Gorinchem railway station in the municipality of

, above Altena on the other side of the Boven Merwede river.

History and religion

Altena is the southernmost part of the Dutch Water Line, an obsolete defensive line, which contains several fortresses in this municipality like Fort Steurgat, Fort aan de Uppelse Dijk, and Fort Giessen, and with Woudrichem as a fortified city. Contrary to most other North Brabant municipalities,

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

is dominant in the Altena municipality, especially the

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

branch. Church attendance is high, and Christian-oriented political parties receive many votes.

Politics

After the 2022 municipal elections, the municipal council consisted of: The municipal executive consists of CDA, Altena Lokaal, SGP, and Progressief Lokaal. The Mayor has been CDA politician Egbert Lichtenberg since 9 December 2019.

Sports

Several football clubs have their home base in the municipality: * Achilles Veen in Veen * GRC '14 in

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

* Kozakken Boys in Werkendam * VV Almkerk in Almkerk Each year the 7-Dorpenomloop Aalburg, a prestigious women's road bicycle race, is held in the southeast corner of Altena (the area of the former municipality of Aalburg, hence the name).

Notable people

* Jan Hendrik van den Berg (1914–2012), psychiatrist * Erik Braal (born 1971), basketball coach *

Hendrikus Colijn Hendrikus "Hendrik" Colijn (22 June 1869 – 18 September 1944) was a Dutch politician of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP; now defunct and merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands fro ...

(1869–1944), prime minister * Leendert Antonie Donker (1899–1956), minister of Justice * Louwrens Hanedoes (1822–1905), landscape painter * Hans van Helden (born 1948), speed skater * Adri van Heteren (born 1951), politician and Christian minister (in Werkendam) * Cornelis Pieter van den Hoek (1921–2015), resistance fighter ( line-crosser) * Louis van Iersel (1893–1987), American sergeant of World War I * Ricardo Ippel (born 1990), footballer * Rebekka Kadijk (born 1979), (beach) volleyball player * Jan Lohman (born 1959), footballer * Anton Mussert (1894–1946), civil engineer, political leader and war criminal * Hans Oerlemans (born 1950), climatologist * Leo van der Pluym (born 1935–2020), cyclist *

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld Lucas Rijneveld (formerly Marieke Lucas Rijneveld; born 20 April 1991 in Nieuwendijk, the Netherlands) is a Dutch people, Dutch writer. Rijneveld won the 2020 International Booker Prize together with their translator Michele Hutchison for the deb ...

(born 1991), writer * Elsbeth van Rooy-Vink (born 1973), cyclist * Jan Nico Scholten (born 1932), politician (mayor of Andel,

, and Rijswijk) *

Carola Schouten Cornelia Johanna "Carola" Schouten (; born 6 October 1977) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Union (CU). She was Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and Third Deputy Prime Minister in the third Rutte cabinet from 2017 to 20 ...

(born 1977), minister of Agriculture * Raymond Schouten (born 1985), motorcycle racer * Kees Stoop (1929–2019), painter * Edwin Straver (1971–2020), motorcycle racer * Henri Karel Frederik van Teijn (1839–1892), general and governor * Gijsbert van Tienhoven (1841–1914), prime minister * Hermanus Eliza Verschoor (1791–1877), politician (mayor of De Werken en Sleeuwijk) * Mart Visser (born 1968), fashion designer * Niels Vorthoren (born 1988), footballer *

Marianne Vos Marianne Vos (; born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam . After winning a junior European and World Championship in road racing, she continued her success in senior c ...

(born 1987), cyclist

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Land van Heusden en Altena Municipalities of North Brabant Municipalities of the Netherlands established in 2019