Geffen had been an independent municipality in the Dutch province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called 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 the w ...

until 1993, when it became a part of the newly formed municipality

Maasdonk Maasdonk () is a former municipality in the southern Netherlands that existed from 1993 until January 1, 2015, when it was merged into the existing municipalities of 's-Hertogenbosch and Oss. Population centres * Geffen *Nuland Nuland is a v ...

. This lasted until 2015, when Maasdonk was dissolved and Geffen became part of Oss. Archeological findings show that the area had been inhabited since the Stone Age (2000 B.C.). The date of settlement is not known. The first time Geffen was mentioned in official documents was on the October 1, 1246. There have been many different names for Geffen, including Ghiffen and Gheneffen. Gheneffen most probably had been created as a fusion between "gen" + "effa", which means "on the water's edge". In the year 1298, Duke Jan II of Brabant granted the town of Geffen rights for peat harvesting. In the following centuries, Geffen became a

fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...

. The Vassal of Geffen resided in the castle of Geffen close to the border of

Nuland Nuland is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located about 8 km (5 mi) east of 's-Hertogenbosch. Nuland was a separate municipality until 1993 when it merged with Geffen and Vinkel to create the new municipality ...

. During a French raid in the 18th century this castle was destroyed and at this time only the ditch and its fortifications can be found.

After the Second World War

Up until the Second World War things did not really change in Geffen; it maintained a population of roughly 1,200. In 1956 the first planned neighbourhood began construction. During this time, neighbouring Oss started to become a true city and many facilities moved away. Geffen itself grew in every direction except north; this is mainly because of the railway embankment which protects Geffen from flooding from the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

. With the creation of the A50 highway, a dig site was opened at the border of Oss, Heesch and Geffen. After the construction of the highway was completed this area was reformed into a swimming point (the Geffenseplas) and a small forest.

Education

There are two schools in Geffen, both are

Catholic schools Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syst ...

. The Aloysiusschool, which can be found between town hall and the local supermarket, and the Mariaschool, which lies next to the church and has a more religious background. In March 2009, the building of a new school started. The former Aloysius- and Mariaschool have merged into one multifunctional building, containing the new school, called De Wissel.

Religion

Around 1450 the bell tower of the Maria Magdalena Church was built. The church survived numerous fires and floods, even the burning of Geffen by

Charles II, Duke of Guelders Charles II (9 November 1467 – 30 June 1538) was a member of the House of Egmond who ruled as Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen from 1492 until his death. He was the son of Adolf of Egmond and Catharine of Bourbon. He had a principal role ...

in 1487. At the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the German military tried to blow up the church like they did with the churches of Nuland, Heesch and . At the ceiling level, the marks of this are still visible. One of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in

can be found in Geffen. As early as 1693 the archives speak of this cemetery and until 1908, 20 years after the founding of a new regional cemetery, it was in use. Over 300 people are buried here, including many forefathers of the van den Bergh, Hartog and van Zwanenberg families.

Present

Geffen is a typical town of east Brabant with close to 5,000 inhabitants. The biggest sports club is ''Nooit Gedacht Geffen'', a football club founded in 1929. Every year a farmers' market is organized under the name of 'effe noar geffe'. Every year more people visit this festival and in 2004 more than 35,000 people were welcomed. Because of mismanagement of funds, among other problems, integration into Oss and

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 ...

has been approved, and the dissolution of the village, one part into Den Bosch, another part to Oss, is to be effective as of January 1, 2015.

Famous Geffenaren

* Simon van den Bergh (1819), industrial magnate, father of

Samuel van den Bergh Samuel van den Bergh (6 April 1864, in Oss – 4 February 1941, in Nice) was one of the main European Jewish margarine and soap manufacturers in the early 20th century. In 1888, the year his father, Simon van den Bergh, opened his first German ...

, co-founder of

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

Ruud van Nistelrooy Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (anglicised to Van Nistelrooy; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He is currently the coach of PSV Eindhoven. A former footballer, Van Nistelrooy is often consi ...

(1976), football player, born in Oss

Literature

* Jacob Becker: Het smouse Kerkhof te Geffen, 1693-1903, Stichting Iacobus Judeaus, Uden 1987

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in North Brabant Former municipalities of North Brabant Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 1993 Oss