Raamsdonk is a village in the province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the w ...

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 ...

. It is located in the municipality of

Geertruidenberg Geertruidenberg () is a city and municipality in the province North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands. The city, named after Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, received city rights in 1213 from the count of Holland. The fortified city prospered un ...

, about 15 km northeast of Breda.

Toponymy

Raamsdonk (as "Dunc") is mentioned for the first time in 1253 as ''Ramesdunc'' and 1330 as ''Raemsdonc''. A "dunc" or "dark" is a sand hill in a marshy area. The " Raams " prefix may indicate the presence of a certain type of plant, the wild garlic. However, it may also be the name of a person.

History

In 1609, the St. Lambert church became part of the Reformed Church. In 1611, the first

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

came. The

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

people were allowed, in 1690, to establish a church in a barn. In the hamlet Waspikse the Benedenkerk. In 1787, another church in a barn was installed in Raamsdonk. This church was dedicated to Saint-Bavo and was in Bergenstraat. In 1798, however, Catholics demanded to return to the St. Lambert church. They did not succeed but received a sum of money in compensation. The barn church served the community until 1888. Then a new monumental St. Bavo Church, was built according to the plans of the architect Carl Weber. It is located in the present village. At Raamsdonk until about 1850 existed a small French community. Raamsdonk was a separate municipality until 1997, when it became part of

Gallery

Raamsdonk plaatsnaambord.jpg, Entrance Wielstraat, view Raamsdonk-Dorp and Church of Saint-Bavo Image:Ontmoetingscentrum P1070326.JPG, Ontmoetingscentrum

References

{{Commons category, position=left Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 1997 Populated places in North Brabant Former municipalities of North Brabant Geertruidenberg