Asten () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

and a town in southern

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 ...

. It is home to the Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry and also a

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

museum. The spoken language is Peellands, an

East Brabantian East Brabantian ( or ) is one of the main divisions of the Brabantian dialect group recognized by the ''Woordenboek van de Brabantse dialecten''. East Brabantian dialects are mainly spoken in the eastern part of the province of North Brabant. Clas ...

dialect.

Population centres

* Asten *

Heusden Heusden () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the south of the Netherlands. It is located between the towns of Waalwijk and 's-Hertogenbosch. The municipality of Heusden, including Herpt, Heesbeen, Hedikhuizen, Do ...

* Ommel

History

Asten has a rich history going back to the Roman period. In the swamp of the village's national park 'De Peel' an ancient Roman

centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

helmet was found. Silhouets of Hunter-Gatherer and Agricultural societies were also found in the area. The village has a castle dating back to the 12th century, at the south of the current village. It has also given its name to the village: "Aa-Stein", or "stone building on the river Aa". A second stone-built fortified building was suspected at the north, at the site of the current Slotweg ("castle road") to be precise. Some stone fragments have been excavated, although no conclusive evidence of a fortified building has been produced here. The village was pillaged and burnt twice in the 17th century, by Austrian and Swedish army troops.

Topography

Notable residents

* Driekske van Bussel (1868 in Asten – 1951) an archer, gold medallist at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

* Piet Raijmakers (born 1956 in Asten) a Dutch equestrian, gold medallist at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

* Jan Verschuren (born 1962 in Asten) a Dutch organist * Martin Koolhoven (born 1969) a Dutch film director and screenwriter IMDb Database
retrieved 22 October 2019 * Nancy Coolen (born 1973 in Asten) known as Nance, is a Dutch TV host and former singer for Twenty 4 Seven *

Bart Claessen Bart Claessen (; born 22 January 1980) is a Dutch electronic dance Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, an ...

(born 1980 in Asten) a Dutch

Trance music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from Electronic body music, EBM in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and quickly spread throughout Europe. Trance music is typically characterized by a tempo between ...

Gallery

File:Heilige Maria Presentatiekerk.JPG, Heilige Maria Presentatiekerk File:Overzicht noord-west gevel binnenhof - Asten - 20344502 - RCE.jpg, Villa En Klooster Van De Missiezusters Franciscanessen Van De He, Asten File:Wilhelminastraat 9, Asten.JPG, Wilhelminastraat, Asten File:Julianastraat 2, Asten - erker.JPG, Julianastraat, Asten

References

External links

*
Official websiteWebsite National Carillon-museum
{{Authority control Municipalities of North Brabant Populated places in North Brabant