Nuenen is a town in the municipality of Nuenen, Gerwen and Nederwetten in the Dutch province of North Brabant, located in the meierij 's-Hertogenbosch. Nuenen is the largest town in the municipality and also the village where the town hall is located. The name Nuenen comes from Nuenhem, which means 'new place'.
Nuenen is located between Eindhoven and Helmond.
Nearby church villages are Gerwen, Stiphout, Mierlo, Geldrop and
Nederwetten.
After the past Ice Age, the first people settled on a narrow
covering sand ridge that ran parallel to the Dommel. The oldest
objects found are attributed to the Late Palaeolithic Tjonger
culture. This is a reindeer hunter culture.
Some objects from
the Mesolithic were found in Vaarle and on the Refelingse Heide.
These arrowheads date back to around 8000 BC. and came from hunters
and gatherers. Gradually, agriculture from the south pushed towards
less fertile areas. From this Neolithic culture, which originated
around 5000 BC. fine stone axes are known in this area.
The
cover sand ridges on either side of the Hooidonkse Beek turned out
to be suitable for arable farming and habitation. Gerwen would
eventually emerge to the north of this brook, while Nuenen would
emerge to the south, initially as a collection of scattered
agricultural buildings. Objects from the Bronze Age (about 1500 BC)
have also been found. Several burial mounds and urn fields date from
this time, which were used until the Iron Age. These phenomena
indicate the existence of permanent settlements. They are considered
northern offshoots of Celtic culture. From 57 BC. an increasing
Romanization took place. After around AD 300 the Roman Empire
continued to weaken, the area became depopulated as a result of the
chaos caused by the population movements. Various archaeological
finds and settlements from Roman times are known.
Gradually
people settled in the area again and Christianization started, among
other things from the Abbey of Sint-Truiden. This probably happened
at the end of the 7th century. From 800 to 1250 habitation
increases, especially in places that were inhabited much earlier.
Written sources can be found from 1107. These originated
initially from the Abbey of Sint-Truiden which, via the parishes of
Son and Woensel, also served those of Nuenen, Gerwen and Stiphout.
Saint Clemens was venerated in the abbey mentioned above. Secular
lords appropriated the property of the abbeys, but out of concern
for their salvation, they also donated goods to the church. Thus
Nuenen was donated to the chapter of Kortessem in 1225 by Dirk van
Altena. In the 13th century, secular government probably took place
from the county of Rode, whose seat must be sought in
Sint-Oedenrode. Originally this was under the influence of Gelre,
but it became part of the Duchy of Brabant in 1231.
On St.
Barbara's Day, December 4, 1300, Duke John II of Brabant wrote a
letter in which he lent the common land to the residents of Nuenen
and Gerwen. This letter has been preserved. It concerned
uncultivated land for common use. The current municipal forests have
emerged from this. On this day, common land was also issued to other
municipalities. The duke did this mainly to generate income.
The issue of municipal rights was the first
step towards regular administration. The first alderman's bank was
established between 1300 and 1346. Nuenen was a duke's village in
the 14th and 15th centuries, which meant that the duke had direct
influence there. The first half of the 15th century was a quiet time
without war in which prosperity increased. Possibly in 1467, the
construction of a church in Campine Gothic style began, on the site
of a predecessor about which nothing is known. This church was
located on the Old Cemetery. It was damaged by fire in 1513 and then
rebuilt. In 1486 the united parish of Nuenen and Gerwen was split.
Both parishes already had a church. In 1452 a monastery for
Augustinian people was set up in Nuenen, which was moved after 1462
to the current location Soeterbeek, at a height near the Dommel, due
to flooding. The monks were lock sisters. They practiced linen
making to provide for themselves.
As the Duchy of Brabant
became increasingly larger, its administration was decentralized and
in Nuenen it fell under the quartermaster of Peelland.
From 1472 onwards, the Duke of Gelre invaded the area several
times, and looting took place. As a result, in Nuenen and Gerwen
there was a decline in prosperity, population and number of houses.
In 1512, for example, the Gelderland troops caused great damage.
Acts of war would ravage the area for many centuries after that. The
wars with Gelre lasted until 1543 and took their toll, while the
costs of the defense had to be borne by the villages. In that year
Maarten van Rossum plundered the Soeterbeek monastery, but his
troops were eventually defeated by Emperor Charles V.
In 1558
Nuenen became a manor. This means that the duke pledged his rights,
such as hunting rights, appointment rights, and the like, for a
specified period of time, as he needed money. The duke was then
Philip II. The lord had a castle built in Opwetten. The Collse
watermill was owned by the lords of Mierlo since 1335.
The
Eighty Years' War became noticeable from 1579. When Maastricht was
conquered from the rebels, they destroyed Hooionck. After that, the
region was a battleground of Spanish and State troops. In 1587
Gerwen and part of Nuenen were destroyed by State troops. After
that, undisciplined Spanish and State troops regularly moved through
the region and plundered or had to be maintained. During the Twelve
Years 'Truce there was some reconstruction, but after 1621 the
battle started again, and after the Siege of' s-Hertogenbosch in
1629 a period of authority vacuum started, the Retorsie period, in
which it was not clear who was in charge in the Meierij. so that
looting by troops from both sides took place regularly. In 1637 a
plague epidemic broke out and was transmitted by the soldiers. This
did not end until the Treaty of Münster in 1648.
Now that Nuenen was officially Staats, the practice of
Catholic worship was prohibited and the churches fell into the hands
of the reformed. The Nuenen manor ceased to exist in 1659 when
Nuenen became a state village, governed by the quartermaster of
Peelland on behalf of the States General. Nederwetten became an
independent state village. Government officials were demanded to be
Protestants.
The current Nuenen village lime tree must have
been planted around this time. There was some industry in the form
of breweries and later also the clog-making industry developed.
Gradually more trees were planted. Minerals were loam and peat. As
early as 1692, there was talk of a manufacturer who bought yarns and
had them processed by weavers into sheets by means of home labor.
Spinning also took place in Nuenen and the water mills were used as
full mills.
The Roman Catholic churches were expropriated and
the monasteries were abolished, but the Soeterbeek monastery was
allowed to remain until the last nun had died. However, no more
novices were allowed to be hired, which still happened secretly. In
1732 this monastery was also closed and the sisters left for
Deursen. Art treasures from the Nuenen monastery are still present
in Deursen.
The Catholics were initially dependent on the
Border Church between Maarheeze and Weert, which was not in
Staats-Brabant, but in the County of Horn. Mass was allowed to be
celebrated again from 1671 and the first barn church was probably
established in 1695. The chapter of Kortessem still held the tithing
rights of the now Protestant church, but hardly paid for the
maintenance of the church. In 1779, lightning struck the church
tower and part of it collapsed. In 1795 the chapter was dissolved by
the French and in 1798 the church was returned to the Catholics, but
in 1800 a storm destroyed the church beyond repair.
The noble
landownership was partly liquidated because it was no longer
profitable. The first town hall was built in 1734 in Nuenen.
The wars continued because the region was located in a buffer zone.
First they had to deal with soldiers of the Bishop of Münster in
1666 and with French who expelled these troops. Between 1672 and
1678 they were French troops of Louis XIV. This was called the Dutch
War. French troops arrived again during the Nine Years' War that
lasted from 1688 to 1679. The French and the subsequent State troops
had to be paid by the population. Then there was the War of the
Spanish Succession of 1702-1713, in which the Republic fought
against France and Nuenen and its environs suffered from marauding
English troops. Then came the War of the Austrian Succession of
1740-1748, in which the Republic provided support to Austria and
admitted troops, for which the population had to pay the bill.
In 1794 the French troops, commanded by Pichegru, reached
Nuenen, where the population had to support the troops. In 1810 the
Republic was incorporated into France.
The introduction of modern government by the French meant the
creation of municipalities in the modern sense. In 1810 Nuenen and
Gerwen formed a municipality, in 1821 Nederwetten was added.
The castle at Opwetten and the monastery at Soeterbeek were
destroyed. In 1835 a mansion was built in Soeterbeek by the textile
manufacturer family Smits van Oyen. Here a garden was laid out which
is still there. The Eindhovens Kanaal has been running through the
municipality since 1846. The first railway, including the
Nuenen-Tongelre station in Eeneind, was opened in 1866. The first
paved road, from Lieshout via Gerwen and Nuenen to Tongelre, was
completed in 1872. A number of small textile factories were founded
in Nuenen that were partly based on domestic labor. It is important
that Reverend Begemann started a linen factory in 1845. This became
a steam weaving mill in 1871, which, however, already went bankrupt
in 1879. A flour mill was also built, which was put into use in
1884. A butter factory was built in 1917 and an agricultural
machinery factory in 1921. In 1920 a brick factory was built in
Eeneind. None of these companies still exist.
The damaged
church was no longer usable for the Catholics, so they continued to
use the barn church. In 1823 the ruin of the old church was
demolished to restore the barn church with the stones. In 1854 the
Nuenen parish joined the deanery of Eindhoven. Pastor Van Lent took
the initiative to build the current Saint Clemens Church. The
architect was Carl Weber and the church was consecrated in 1872. The
barn church was demolished and the tower of the Old Church was also
demolished in 1885. The Sint-Antonius chapel in Opwetten was
abandoned. In 1887, the Saint Elisabeth asylum of the Sisters of
Charity was built. The buildings in the vicinity of the new church
led to a relocation of the center of Nuenen to the Park. The
reformed congregation was added to that of Mierlo, where a small
church was built in 1812. This was not practical, and in 1824 the
little church on the Papenvoort was built in Nuenen, now known as
the Van Goghkerkje. Vincent van Gogh lived in Nuenen from 1883 to
1885. Attention to his person and work did not come until 1930,
while in 1932 a monument in his honor was unveiled near the lime
tree.
Potato diseases led to crop failures from 1845. This
led to poverty and tithe riots. The medieval tithing rights, which
had been in the hands of the Domains or private persons since 1810,
have been bought off.
In the first half of the twentieth
century, the Nuenen population doubled. The proportion of factory
workers increased. Originally a bleaching field for the monastery,
the Park was embellished with a music kiosk in 1904. The Catholic
presbytery was built in 1910 and the Park was created in 1920.
The occupation years during the Second World War, from 1940 to
1944, brought gradually increasing repression and resistance, and
some damage from bombs and a few crashing planes. In September 1944,
Operation Market Garden took place in which an emergency bridge was
constructed by the Americans in Son. The Germans tried to reach this
bridge, could not cross the bridge at Soeterbeek, which is therefore
called Willem Hikspoorsbrug after the gardener of Soeterbeek who
advised the Germans to turn around. In the end a number of British
tanks were able to cross this bridge to advance. Nuenen was
liberated on September 21, 1944. In this battle damage was caused
and some casualties. Gerwen and Nederwetten were also liberated
these days. Even after the liberation, a few German bombs fell that
caused victims.
After the
Liberation, Nuenen is mainly characterized by rapid growth and the
construction of many new homes. Nuenen thus became a commuter town
in Eindhoven.
Due to the expansion of Nuenen, initially in a
westerly direction, a need arose for a second church, the
Sint-Andrieskerk, which was established in 1964 but was disposed of
on July 30, 2006 due to incorrect planning and the coming
secularization. The church was demolished in July 2007 for the
construction of apartments. The church's bells are now serving in a
newly built church in Kabanjahe in North Sumatra.
Housing
construction in Nuenen-South in particular increased the population.
Nuenen-Oost was also built, crossing the Hooitonkse Beek. New
business parks were created, while the old industrial companies on
the Berg disappeared. In 2006 plans were presented for expansion in
a westerly direction, with Boord en Opwetten almost adjacent to the
new building.
A series of celebrations and commemorations took place in Nuenen: the Vincent van Gogh years 1990 and 2003, 700 years of municipal rights in 2000, the 500th anniversary of the Nuenen parish in 1996 and the 350th anniversary of the reformed municipality of Nuenen in 1998. These events were accompanied by manifestations, the issue of memorial books, and the unveiling of monuments such as the statue of John II of Brabant.
The Catholic
parish of Nuenen split from the parish of Nuenen-Gerwen in 1496. The
500th anniversary of this event was celebrated in 1996 with the
publication of a commemorative book: 'Five centuries of church
village Nuenen'.
In addition to the Clemenskerk, a second
parish church was consecrated in 1964, the St. Andrew's Church. It
was designed by Jan de Jong and is an example of the Bossche School
architecture. It was a sober brick church building with fixed
numerical ratios, namely 3: 4. Due to incorrect planning, in
addition to the general secularization, the building was taken out
of use on December 31, 2003 and in 2007 the Sint-Andrieskerk was
demolished. Hugo Brouwer's triptych was moved to the church of
Odiliapeel, which is also a church of the Bossche School. The
tabernacle will also find a place in this church. A multifunctional
building with a community school and apartments has been built on
the site of the Andrieskerk.
The three parishes Nuenen,
Gerwen and Nederwetten were merged on April 1, 2013 under the name
Parish Heilig Kruis Nuenen.
The Nuenen Reformed Congregation
was founded in 1648, at the Peace of Münster. The 350th anniversary
of this event was celebrated in 1998, also with the publication of a
memorial book: 'From brush to rainbow: a painting of 350 years of
Protestantism in Nuenen'. The reformed community of Nuenen, together
with that of Geldrop, is at the cradle of the Samen op Weg process
that led to the church merger from which the PKN emerged. Since the
end of 1974, a cooperation between the Reformed and the Reformed had
already existed in Nuenen, then called the Reformed Congregation
Nuenen (RGN) and now called the Protestant Congregation Nuenen
(PGN).
Contrary to the national trend, the number of
Protestants in Nuenen grew, mainly as a result of imports and the
growth of the population. This led to the Van Goghkerkje becoming
too small and, after several years of emergency solutions, the
ecclesiastical center 'De Regenboog' was built.
Collaboration
between Roman Catholics and Protestants also got off the ground
early in Nuenen. Joint consultation and joint services have been
held several times in Nuenen.
The old core of the village of Nuenen is formed by a triangular square, called 'De Berg', which continues to a larger triangular park, 'Het Park'. The latter was built in the nineteenth century and one can find here the music kiosk, a monument to Vincent van Gogh and a monument that commemorates the Sisters of Charity. This part of Nuenen is a protected village view.
Windmill 'De
Roosdonck'. A round stone belt mill of the type 'Bovenkruier'. Built
in 1884 and only completed after a tragic accident occurred: the
mill collapsed during construction, resulting in a fatality. The
mill is still in use every week as a flour mill. The mill has been
captured on canvas seven times by Vincent van Gogh.
Opwettense
watermill. Watermill in the Kleine Dommel, whose history dates back
to the eleventh century. The current buildings date from 1743. The
interior, including a stamping work for pressing linseed, is still
there. A miller's house from the 17th or 18th century completes the
picture. This undercut mill has the largest water wheel in North
Brabant, with a diameter of 9.30 m. Vincent van Gogh depicted this
mill repeatedly.
Hooydonk mill. Located north of Nederwetten.
This water mill belonged to the Hooydonk women's monastery and takes
its name from the fact that the mill was built at the highest point
in the area. After the original mill was destroyed during the Eighty
Years' War, the mill was rebuilt with a full mill because of the
emerging textile industry.
Saint Clemens Church. This Roman Catholic church of Carl Weber is
located on the Park. It was built in a combination of Romanesque
Revival and Gothic Revival styles in 1872. It replaced the barn
church. In the characteristic octagonal tower hang some old bells,
one from 1490. The interior of the church was repainted in 1942.
Restorations were carried out in 1998 and in 2003. In the last year
the interior was restored to its original state as much as possible
. The large organ is a Smits organ.
Van Gogh church. This is a
Reformed waterstaat church from 1824. The church is very picturesque
with the greenery of Park Houtrijk, an old villa garden, in the
background. Theo van Gogh, Vincent van Gogh's father, preached here.
Vincent van Gogh has depicted this church on canvas several times.
Today in use for special ceremonies and cultural events.
Ecclesiastical center 'De Regenboog'. The current Protestant church
from 1999 has a glass mosaic in steel by Karel Appel, which comes
from the demolished Reformed Church in Geleen East.
St. Elisabeth
Monastery, built in 1887. The Sisters of Charity used to be housed
here. They left the monastery in 1977. Today it is a cultural
center. It contains the part of the lime tree that was sawn off in
1994.
St. Anthony's Chapel in Eeneind. This chapel from 1987 is
dedicated to Saint Anthony Abbot, who is the patron saint of the
militia guild in Eeneind. It replaces the chapel at Opwetten, which
was built in 1450 and served until 1915. It contains a crucifix from
the original chapel and a wooden statue of Antonius by Omer Gielliet
from Breskens.
Crucifix in the hamlet of Boord, by Hugo Brouwer,
from 1958. In the Memorial of A.M. Frenken is mentioned that a
crucifix also stood here in the 16th century. This crucifix was
created by the parishioners of the Sint-Clemenskerk in Nuenen and in
particular by the residents of Boord, who have taken care of its
maintenance from its foundation. The cross wood is made from beams
of 200 years old.
Buitenplaats Soeterbeek is located on the place
where there used to be a monastery. The country estate has existed
since 1800. There is a park with ponds. The monastery was founded in
1448 and has been located on the grounds of Soeterbeek since 1467.
The nuns had to leave Nuenen in 1732 and settled in Deursen, which
at that time was outside the territory of the Republic of the United
Netherlands. This monastery is also called Soeterbeek and until its
closure in 1997 it still housed a number of utensils from Nuenen.
Secular buildings
Weaver's houses on the Berg in Nuenen,
including the so-called Kostershuisje from 1763.
Reformed rectory
(or: Domineeshuis) on the Berg in Nuenen, from 1764. In this house
lived and live the Nuenen preachers, including Theo van Gogh and his
son Vincent van Gogh, who had a studio here, which is still
partially intact.
't Weefhuis. A former linen factory from 1888,
nowadays an exhibition space for visual art.
Several historic
houses and villas in the village center and its surroundings, mainly
dating from the nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Some
farms of the long facade type.
Old town hall on the Beekstraat,
from 1734, restored in 1986 and a private house since 2012.
House
Nune Ville. Built in 1874 by order of Rev. Willem Begemann. Margot
Begemann lived here, who fell in love with Vincent van Gogh. Her
parents did not approve of this, so she attempted suicide.
Museums
A permanent exhibition about Vincent van Gogh was housed
from 1976 in the restored coach house near the town hall in Nuenen.
Although Nuenen does not own any of Van Gogh's work, the place has
plenty of memories of the Nuenen period of this artist. A museum
called Vincentre aan de Berg in Nuenen opened in 2010.
Vincentre Exhibition about Vincent van Gogh is mainly about his
life
Other sights
Lindeboom. This is a storey that is one
of the oldest and thickest in the Netherlands and was planted in the
seventeenth century. During a storm in 1994, some heavy branches
broke off and serious infestation by the real tinder fungus was
found. In December of that year, the top was sawn off, leaving a
gazebo. An old village pump keeps this tree, which is on the
mountain, company. Part of the hackneyed trunk is now in Cultural
Center Het Klooster. In 2019, in honor of the 25th anniversary of
the removal of the crown, a new lime tree was placed in the hollow
of the old lime tree, to the discontent of the monument committee
and the municipality.
Village farm Weverkeshof. Many dozens of
volunteers work here on a park with numerous animals, where musical
performances and the like are also held and where every year
Sinterklaas also has his residence, with which they gained national
fame, as well as with the unique lease chicken concept. However,
chicken leasing was discontinued in 2008 due to increasing
regulations regarding avian diseases. Every year, the 'Living
Christmas Story' is played by more than 100 volunteers on the site
of the Village Farm. Between 1000 and 1500 visitors come here on the
Saturday before Christmas to experience the Christmas story.