Aalten () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and a town in the eastern

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The former municipalities of

Bredevoort Bredevoort ( Low Saxon: ) is a small city with city privileges of about 1600 inhabitants in the municipality of Aalten, Netherlands. It is between the towns of Aalten and Winterswijk. Bredevoort has presented itself as ''Bredevoort boekenstad'' ...

(1818) and

Dinxperlo Dinxperlo (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a town and former municipality in the eastern Netherlands (Achterhoek region), situated directly at the Germany-Netherlands border. Since 1 January 2005, Dinxperlo has been part of the municipality of Aalten. ...

(2005) have been merged with Aalten. Notable inhabitants of Aalten include

Angus Young Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, schoolbo ...

, guitarist of the Australian rock band AC/DC, and

Robert Gesink Robert Gesink (born 31 May 1986) is a Dutch professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His major victories include the 2012 Tour of California, the 2011 Tour of Oman and the 2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. Gesink also ...

, a professional road bicycle racer. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, 51 of Aalten's 85 Jews were hidden by local non-Jews, and thereby survived the war. According to the War and Resistance Museum in Aalten, the village had the highest number of people in hiding during

. The village of approximately 13,000 residents hid some 2,500 people.http://www.marline.nl/verzet.html 'Marline: de infozine v/d Achterhoek'

Population centres

Transportation

Aalten railway station Aalten is a railway station located in Aalten, Netherlands. The station is on the Winterswijk–Zevenaar railway and the station opened on 15 July 1885. The building began construction in 1884 and was finished in 1885. It was rebuilt in 1919 and h ...

serves Aalten and the surrounding area. There is a half-hourly service between

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

and

Winterswijk Winterswijk (; also known as ''Winterswiek'' or ''Wenters'') is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. It has a population of and is situated in the Achterhoek, which lies in the easternmost part of the province of Gelderland in th ...

, which stops at this station. Arnhem railway station has services to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Amsterdam Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

, Nijmegen,

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

, Breda,

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

and to cities in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Aalten also has an hourly bus service to Ruurlo and to

Zelhem Zelhem is a town in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It has approximately 11,000 inhabitants. Zelhem is located in the municipality of Bronckhorst, about 7 km northeast of Doetinchem. Zelhem was a separate municipality until 2005, when it ...

Notable people

Hendrickje Stoffels Hendrickje Stoffels (1626 – 21 July 1663) was the longtime partner of Rembrandt. The couple were unable to marry because of the financial settlement linked to the will of Rembrandt's deceased wife Saskia, but they remained together until Hendri ...

(1626 in Bredevoort – 1663) the longtime partner of Rembrandt * J.T. Wamelink (1827 in Aalten – 1900) a prominent musician and composer in Cleveland, Ohio * Vinus van Baalen (1942 in Dinxperlo – 2012) a Dutch swimmer, competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics * Nout Wellink (born 1943 in Bredevoort) a Dutch economist and former central banker

Gallery

File:Aalten, de Sint Helenakerk in straatzicht RM6847 foto9 2015-08-23 15.17.jpg Image:Aalten 015.JPG Image:Aalten-station.JPG Image:Prinsenstraat 4 Aalten.jpg

References

External links

* * Municipalities of Gelderland Populated places in Gelderland Achterhoek The Holocaust in the Netherlands {{Gelderland-geo-stub