Dongen

Dongen ( listen? / I ) is a municipality in the Netherlands, North Brabant province. Their total surface area is 29.72 km ². She had on 1 January 2013 with a population of 25,376.

Places

• Dongen, seat of the municipal administration
• 'S- Gravenmoer

Location and economic

Dongen is situated in a marshy landscape, the river Donge, a tributary of the Meuse, and the Wilhelminakanal. In the south Dongen is limited by Rijen, and to the east by Waalwijk and Tilburg. The village of 's- Gravenmoer is a little further north than Dongen. Dongen part of the land " Langstraat ". Several highways, the A27 Utrecht - Breda, the A58 and the A59, proceed through the municipality of Dongen.

Since the 17th century here tanneries and other leather processing companies operate. There are also, especially in the small ' s Gravenmoer, agriculture, and much trade and small businesses. The community also has two hotels and some camping. In Dongen is also a very old, founded by Franciscan " kweekschool " is. This is a school where young people are trained to become primary school teachers. The modern name in the Netherlands for such a school is PABO ( Pedagogical Academy Basisonderwijs ).

One of a total of 22 sites of Ardagh Glass Group for the manufacture of container glass in Europe.

History

The name Dongen stands for: Donk by the brook Aa. 's- Gravenmoer means: Moor of Count (from Holland).

Dongen was already before the 13th century to two sand ridges, " Donken " ( cf. Winnekendonk in North Rhine- Westphalia), where the first churches were built. As in Tilburg and many other places in Brabant, there is still the relatively high altitude, triangular village green, the " Heuvel " ( = hill ) is called. Three old trade route from Breda, Oosterhout and Hertogenbosch came together here. Later, a 5 km long village street between these " Donken " where the farms incurred by the people who made the fen arable arose. In 1281, Wilhelm van Hoorne and Altena, Lord of Loon op Zand, the glory Dongen. This came in the 14th century in the hands of the mighty Mr. Willem van Duvenvoorde. This was in Dongen build a castle ( which was destroyed by fire in 1656 and then completely demolished). Until the 17th century, agriculture was the main source of income of the population. Then the production of boots made ​​of leather and the tanning industry in the 18th century came on. After 1860, this was driven more and more in factories. Dongen spread after 1960 strongly by the settlement of commuters from the surrounding cities.

's- Gravenmoer was not in North Brabant, but in Holland until 1672. Trading and the extraction of peat was very important here. After about 1650 the Heuhandel came in its place. Because of belonging to Holland, the population was also Protestant, while remained Dongen himself, as usual in the rest of Brabant, predominantly Catholic faith. Between 's- Gravenmoer and Dongen, the border between these areas, which for centuries formed a sharp cultural boundary. Only in 1973 the villages were joined together in a community.

Attractions

• Both villages have a reformed church from the 15th century.
• In Dongen Built in 1920 Lawrence Catholic church. This was designed by members of the famous architect Cuypers Tight Schlecht.
• In Dongen a local museum " Dongha " stands ( tannery; history; electric apparatus from 1850 to 1950 )
• Some small natural areas around the villages
• Some " long Gables" farms and houses from the 18th and 19th centuries
• The big theme park Efteling is located a few kilometers east of Dongen.