Waalwijk () 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 city in the southern Netherlands. It had a population of in and is located near the A59 and N261 motorways. The villages of

Capelle Capelle (also ''Kapelle'') is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located about 6 km west of Waalwijk. The village was first mentioned in 1257 as Capella, and means chapel. The original village was flooded in the St. E ...

, Vrijhoeve-Capelle, Sprang (the former municipality of

Sprang-Capelle Sprang-Capelle is a former municipality in the North Brabant province of the Netherlands. It was formed in 1923 as a merger of the municipalities of Sprang, Vrijhoeve-Capelle and 's Grevelduin- Capelle. Therefore Sprang-Capelle consists of three ...

) and Waspik together with the city of Waalwijk form the municipality of Waalwijk. The city has an old town center, which has recently been modernized.

Population centers

The city of Waalwijk

Waalwijk is a city in North Brabant that lies north of

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

and west 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 ...

. To its north runs the

Bergse Maas The Bergsche Maas (; History of Dutch orthography, current spelling: Bergsche Maas) is a canal that was constructed in 1904 to be a branch of the river Meuse, Maas (French: Meuse) in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The Maas splits near Heusde ...

canal, with the River Waal further to the north. Waalwijk used to be known for its shoe business. Waalwijk was granted

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 ...

in 1303. The professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team RKC plays in Waalwijk. Waalwijk is also known for an event in the city and surroundings: the "80 van de langstraat", held every September, in which a few thousand people make an 80-km walk through all towns that are part of the Langstraat region. Some other events: * Waalwijk Modestad (Waalwijk Fashion City), a weekend full of fashion * Nacht van het levenslied (Night of the "Dutch song"), where Dutch and local singers perform * Straattheaterfestival (street theatre festival), a weekend full of street performers and theatre acts

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Waalwijk is twinned with:

Notable people from Waalwijk

* Valensia, a Dutch composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Grew up in Waalwijk. * Willem Hendrik Johan van Idsinga (1822 in Baardwijk – 1896), politician and Governor of the

Dutch Gold Coast The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea'') was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch (et ...

and Surinam *

Hendrikus Chabot Hendrikus "Henk" Chabot (; 2 August 1894 – 2 May 1949) was a Dutch painter and sculptor. Hendrik Chabot: Artist beyond Expressionism. '' If there is any one modern Dutch painter who stands near to Van Gogh, it is, surely, Hendrik Chabot (1894 ...

(1894 in Sprang – 1949), painter and sculptor * Martinus J. G. Veltman (born 1931 in Waalwijk – 2021), theoretical physicist, joint winner of the 1999

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

for work on particle theory * René Mioch (born 1959 in Waalwijk), journalist, presenter for radio and TV and actor IMDb Database
retrieved 09 March 2020 * Jan-Hein Kuijpers (born 1968 in Waalwijk), lawyer and columnist * Wieki Somers (born 1976 in Sprang-Capelle), designer * Olcay Gulsen (born 1980 in Waalwijk), fashion designer * Ariën van Weesenbeek (born 1980 in Waalwijk), drummer with the Dutch metal band Epica * Bas van Daalen (born 1996 in Waalwijk), known as '' Will Grands'', record producer, singer and songwriter

Sport

* Frans Slaats (born 1912 in Waalwijk – 1993), professional cyclist who broke the world hour record * Ramon van Haaren (born 1972 in Waalwijk), former footballer with 291 club caps * Patrick van Balkom (born 1974 in Waalwijk), former sprinter, competed at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

* Jos van Nieuwstadt (born 1979 in Waalwijk), former footballer with 310 club caps * Yuri van Gelder (born 1983 in Waalwijk), gymnast on the rings, competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

* Frank van Mosselveld (born 1984 in Waalwijk), former footballer with 266 club caps

Gallery

File:2012-10-07 14.27 Waalwijk, gemeentehuis RM521817 foto3.jpg, Waalwijk, townhall File:Waalwijk, de Sint Janskerk RM444705 foto2 2012-10-07 14.34.jpg, Waalwijk, church: de Sint Janskerk File:Waalwijk, straatzicht Stationsstraat foto1 2012-10-07 14.38.jpg, Waalwijk, view to a street: de Stationsstraat File:Waalwijk, grand café in monumentaal pand RM521819 foto5 2012-10-07 14.42.jpg, Waalwijk, pub in monumental house

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Municipalities of North Brabant Populated places in North Brabant