Oosteeklo (formerly Oost-Eekloo) is a historic village in the

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, which since 1977 has been a

subdivision Subdivision may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Subdivision (metre), in music * ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009 * "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2) * ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005 * "Subdivisions" (song), by Rush ...

of the municipality of

Assenede Assenede () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Assenede proper, , Boekhoute and Oosteeklo. On 1 January 2021, Assenede had a total population of 14,369. The total area is ...

. The village is situated 9 km east of

Eeklo Eeklo () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises only the city of Eeklo proper. The name ''Eeklo'' comes from the cont ...

and 17 km north of

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, about 9 km from the border with the

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 ...

, and lies approximately 9 metres above sea-level. A craft brewery, Den Tseut, is established in the village.

Heritage

From 1217 until 1577 Oosteeklo Abbey, a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

nunnery A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...

, was located in the village, but the community relocated to Ghent for safety during the hostilities of the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, exc ...

. The monastery did maintain some property rights in the village, and a guesthouse once owned by the nuns is now listed built heritage. So are a manor house, the parish church, a number of farmhouses, a war memorial and multiple

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

German bunkers. An 18th-century windmill was demolished in 1949. Historically, the kermesse of Oosteeklo fell on the Sunday after the

Feast of the Assumption The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of whether Mary died or whether she was ra ...

History

The oldest mention of the village is in a charter of 1226. In 1264

Ename Abbey Ename Abbey (1063–1795) was a Benedictine monastery in the village of Ename, now a suburb of Oudenaarde, East Flanders, Belgium. It was founded by Adele of France, Countess of Flanders, Adele of France, wife of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, and ...

owned a stretch of marshland in the area. The soil was sandy and the landscape low-lying

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

, granted to Oosteeklo Abbey and sublet to tenant farmers. Pasturage was supplemented with woodland and a limited acreage of arable land on which mostly rye and buckwheat were grown. Flax was grown for the production of linen. In the 18th century, the village was part of the lordship of the manor of Boekhoute.Frans De Potter and Jan Broeckaert, ''Geschiedenis van de gemeenten der provincie Oost-Vlaanderen'', 2nd series, vol. 3 (Ghent, 1872), pp. 1-12. From 1801 to 1977, Oosteeklo was an independent municipality. In 1801 the population was 1,528. During the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

, Oosteeklo saw action in 1577 and 1645. During the wars of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

troops were frequently billeted in the village. On 18 October 1790 a corps of volunteers from Oosteeklo was sworn into the army of the

United Belgian States The United Belgian States ( or '; ; ), also known as the United States of Belgium, was a short-lived confederal republic in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) established under the Brabant Revolution. It existed from January to Dece ...

in Ghent.

Gallery

File:Onroerenderfgoed 76348 Oosteeklo2012.jpg, Heilig Kruis en Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Church File:Onroerenderfgoed 76354 Oosteeklo2012.jpg, Former rectory File:Voormalige herberg - Oosteeklo-Dorp - Oosteeklo - januari 2021.jpg, Former inn File:Onroerenderfgoed 76313 Oosteeklo2012.jpg, Estate in Oosteeklo

References

{{Reflist Assenede Populated places in East Flanders