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Sint-Michielsgestel () is a village in the municipality of
Sint-Michielsgestel Sint-Michielsgestel () is a village in the municipality of Sint-Michielsgestel (municipality), Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands. Geography The 120 km long river Dommel flows north from a well near Peer, Belgium, Peer in Belgium. Just nort ...
,
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 ...
.


Geography

The 120 km long river
Dommel The Dommel is a small river in Belgium and the Netherlands, left tributary of the Dieze. It is 120 km long, of which 85 km are in the Netherlands. The Dommel takes in water from the Keersop, Tongelreep, Run (stream), Run, Gender (stream), Gender a ...
flows north from a well near Peer in Belgium. Just north of
's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...
it is joined by the Aa and joins the
Meuse The Meuse or Maas 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 total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...
as
Dieze The Dieze is a short river in North Brabant, the Netherlands, tributary of the Meuse (). It is formed by the confluence of the rivers Aa River (Meuse), Aa and Dommel in 's-Hertogenbosch. The part of the Dieze in the centre of 's-Hertogenbosch is ...
. It currently divides Sint-Michielsgestel in two parts. In the past the Dommel was important as a transport axis and had crucial influence on the village's history.


History


Antiquity

Archeological finds near the hamlet of Halder prove that the hamlet Halder was probably the most important settlement on the Dommel during the
Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
. Thousands of Roman coins were found in 1962 not far from Nieuw Herlaer
castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
. These and other local archeological finds are now on display in the Museum Romeins Halder at Haanwijk.


Medieval times

The current center of Sint-Michielsgestel is not the same as the medieval center. Right into the 15th century, there were references to 'Gestel near Herlaar'. The economic center of the parish was in the current hamlet Halder, with its water mills. In Halder was also the ruined
motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...
of Oud Herlaer, which probably dates from the 11th or 12th century. The associated Lords of Herlaer start to get mentioned from 1079. During medieval times a surprising number of castles and other moated sites was built in vicinity of Sint-Michielsgestel. The importance of the village Sint-Michielsgestel probably stems from the possibility to safely cross the Dommel. The remains of a wooden 10th century church were found at the foot of the church tower Oude toren in the village. The church of Sint-Michielsgestel is dedicated to the archangel St. Michael, and this was already the case in medieval times. Remains of another 10th century church were found in the hamlet Ruimel, between Halder and Herlaer. In the village name, 'Gestel' is a concatenation of , meaning sandy ground at a higher level, and (), meaning forest. In other words an elevated sandy ground in the forest. The prefix 'Sint-Michiels' comes in handy, because in Brabant there are multiple places named Gastel/Gestel. The first certain reference to the village (Sint-Michiels)gestel dates from 1281. Its name was first mentioned when the estates or heerlijkheden Herlaer and Gestel were joined in approx. 1314 AD.


Kingdom of the Netherlands

The
French period In Northern European historiography, the term French period (, , ) refers to the period between 1794 and 1815 during which most of Northern Europe was controlled by Republican or Napoleonic France.Eduard Rothert''Rheinland-Westfalen im Wechsel d ...
would prove disastrous for the many castles and manors. For the Catholics in the area it brought freedom of religion, and in 1799 they established a
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
in what was left of Nieuw-Herlaer Castle. When the Netherlands regained their independence, a preparatory small seminary was founded in the village in 1815. It is the precursor of Gymnasium Beekvliet.


World War II

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
this facility was used as prison-camp, along with the in Haaren. On 4 May 1942 the Germans imprisoned 460 Dutch men in Beekvliet. All prisoners were politically involved or otherwise important to the Dutch people. Luuk van Driel, father of the famous Tim and Dirk, also known as 'grote spelers', got to escape along with a group of people, by calling the police. They became local heroes after this. Amongst the prisoners were writers Simon Vestdijk and Anton van Duinkerken. Political prisoners were Wim Schermerhorn (Prime Minister 1945-1946), Willem Banning, Pieter Geyl and Jan de Quay, all post-war politicians.


Attractions

The Petrus Dondersplein is the central square of the village, close to the Dommel. It has two major monuments. The (old tower) is a nice 15th century church tower made with alternating rows of brick and
tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...
stone. The Protestant church was built in 1808, when the Protestant minority had to return the big church to the Catholics. After the main church connected to the Oude toren had to be demolished, a new St. Michael's was built on Nieuwstraat. This is a well preserved example of 1930s church architecture. The imposing former institute for the deaf is on the western side of the Dommel at Theerestraat. It dates from 1908, and as institute for the deaf it is a rare building. Sint-Michielsgestel and surroundings are best known for the many (former) castles and manors. * Little remains of the great castle at Oud Herlaer, but it will be a museum in the future. * Nieuw-Herlaer Castle was a true castle. It is now a manor with a 15th century stair tower, and an 18th century wing. * Haanwijk is a well preserved 16th century manor, which includes some other buildings, and the small Museum Romeins Halder. * The Grote Ruwenberg near Ruimel was a moated manor, later a school, and now a conference venue. The tower is part of the original manor. * The Kleine Ruwenberg is a 19th century mansion which replaced a 15th century manor. The above attractions do not attract many visitors to Sint-Michielsgestel, even while many spend the night in the village in order to visit the tourist magnate 's-Hertogenbosch. The challenge is that the village Sint-Michielsgestel and the surrounding hamlets do not have a major attraction. Instead it has to rely on nature, and the cultural history reflected in castles and farms. This makes that the municipality wants to focus on all kinds of healthy outdoor activities. Meanwhile these outdoor activities, like cycling, running, horse-riding are already popular with the locals.


Transport

Sint-Michielsgestel is located near the central transport axis in the Netherlands, between
's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...
and
Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...
. Nowadays this axis is dominated by the A2 motorway, but towards 's-Hertogenbosch, the village has an even more direct access via the N617.The village has grown by
suburbanization Suburbanization (American English), also spelled suburbanisation (British English), is a population shift from historic core cities or rural areas into suburbs. Most suburbs are built in a formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence ...
.


Services

A major employer in Sint-Michielsgestel is , a resource centre for sensory and communicative disabled people formerly known as ''Institute for the deaf and hearing impaired'' called Instituut voor Doven. There is little industry in the village. Gymnasium Beekvliet is a popular school that attracts many students from outside the village.


Sport

Sint-Michielsgestel is a major venue for
Cyclo-cross Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...
. Stichting Wielerbelang Sint-Michielsgestel (SWG) organizes major cyclo-cross events in the village since 1974. The absolute highlight was the 2000
UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships The UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships are the world championships for cyclo-cross organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Starting in 2022, seven events are organized each year – UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's elite ...
won by local
Richard Groenendaal Richard Marinus Anthonius Groenendaal (born 13 July 1971) is a Dutch former professional cyclo-cross cyclist. Groenendaal won the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 2000 and the overall titles in the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup 1997–1998, ...
. The Dutch National Cyclo-cross Championships have been held in the village five times.


Notable people

*
Gerrit Braks Gerardus Johannes Maria "Gerrit" Braks (23 May 1933 – 12 July 2017) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and agronomist. Braks applied at the Wageningen Ag ...
(1933–2017) a Dutch politician and agronomist * Cas Wouters (born 1943) a Dutch sociologist who embraces figurational sociology * Anneke van Giersbergen (born 1973) a Dutch singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist; IMDb Database
retrieved 30 March 2020 formerly of The Gathering


Sport

* Ronald Jansen (born 1963) a former field hockey goalkeeper, gold medallist in the
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
and
2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...
* Kees Akerboom Jr. (born 1983) a retired Dutch basketball player * Tom van Weert (born 1990) a footballer with more than 350 club caps, currently playing at A.E.K. Athens, Greece


Notes


References

* * * * * * {{Authority control Sint-Michielsgestel Populated places in North Brabant