Sint-Michielsgestel () is a village in the municipality of Sint-Michielsgestel,

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 ...

Geography

The 120 km long river Dommel flows north from a well near

Peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a ne ...

in Belgium. Just north of

'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 ...

it is joined by the Aa and joins the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

as Dieze. It currently divides Sint-Michielsgestel in two parts. In the past the Dommel was important as a transport axis and had crucial influence on the village's history.

Contemporary Sint-Michielsgestel

Sint-Michielsgestel is located near the central transport axis in the Netherlands, between

and

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,A2 motorway, but towards 's-Hertogenbosch the village has an even more direct access via the N617. No wonder that the village grew when the

suburbanization Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...

process started, and it still does. A major employer in Sint-Michielsgestel is Kentalis (nl), a resource center for sensory and communicative disabled people formerly known as ''Institute for the deaf and hearing impaired'' called Instituut voor Doven (nl) aka Viataal. There is little industry in the village. Gymnasium Beekvliet is a popular school that attracts lots of students from outside the village.

History

Antiquity

Archeological finds near the hamlet of Halder prove that the hamlet Halder was probably the most important settlement on the Dommel during the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. Thousands of Roman coins were found in 1962 not far from Nieuw Herlaer

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

. These and other local archeological finds are now on display in the Museum Romeins Halder at Haanwijk.

Medieval times

The current center of Sint-Michielsgestel is not the same as the medieval center. Right into the 15th century, there were references to 'Gestel near Herlaar'. The economic center of the parish was in the current hamlet Halder, with its water mills. In Halder was also the ruined

motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy t ...

Oud Herlaer Oud Herlaer was a castle on the Dommel just east of Vught. All that remains is a farm which incorporates parts of the old castle. While not that much remains of the castle, there are a lot of recent studies about Oud Herlaer and its owners. The f ...

, which probably dates from the 11th or 12th century. The associated Lords of Herlaer start to get mentioned from 1079. During medieval times a surprising number of castles and other moated sites was built in vicinity of Sint-Michielsgestel. The importance of the village Sint-Michielsgestel probably stems from the possibility to safely cross the Dommel. The remains of a wooden 10th century church were found at the foot of the church tower Oude toren in the village. The church of Sint-Michielsgestel is dedicated to the archangel St. Michael, and this was already the case in medieval times. Remains of another 10th century church were found in the hamlet Ruimel, between Halder and Herlaer. In the village name, 'Gestel' is a concatenation of , meaning sandy ground at a higher level, and (), meaning forest. In other words an elevated sandy ground in the forest. The prefix 'Sint-Michiels' comes in handy, because in Brabant there are multiple places named Gastel/Gestel. The first certain reference to the village (Sint-Michiels)gestel dates from 1281. Its name was first mentioned when the estates or heerlijkheden (nl) Herlaer and Gestel were joined in approx. 1314 AD.

Kingdom of the Netherlands

The French period would prove disastrous for the many castles and manors. For the Catholics in the area it brought freedom of religion, and in 1799 they established a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

in what was left of Nieuw-Herlaer Castle. When the Netherlands regained their independence, a preparatory small seminary was founded in the village in 1815. It is the precursor of Gymnasium Beekvliet.

World War II

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

this facility was used as prison-camp, along with the grootseminarie (nl) in Haaren. On 4 May 1942 the Germans imprisoned 460 Dutch men in Beekvliet. All prisoners were politically involved or otherwise important to the Dutch people. Luuk van Driel, father of the famous Tim and Dirk, also known as 'grote spelers', got to escape along with a group of people, by calling the police. They became local heroes after this. Amongst the prisoners were writers

Simon Vestdijk Simon Vestdijk (; 17 October 1898 – 23 March 1971) was a Dutch writer. He was nominated for the Nobel prize in literature fifteen times. Life Born in the small Frisian town of Harlingen, Vestdijk studied medicine in Amsterdam, but turned t ...

and

Anton van Duinkerken Wilhelmus Johannes Maria Antonius Asselbergs (2 January 1903 in Bergen op Zoom – 27 June 1968 in Nijmegen), better known under his pseudonym Anton van Duinkerken, was a Dutch poet, essayist, and academic. Asselbergs considered a career as a pr ...

. Political prisoners were

Wim Schermerhorn Willem "Wim" Schermerhorn (17 December 1894 – 10 March 1977) was a Dutch politician who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 25 June 1945 until 3 July 1946. He was a member of the now-defunct Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) ...

(Prime Minister 1945-1946),

Willem Banning Willem Banning ( Makkum, 21 February 1888 – Driebergen, 7 January 1971) was a Dutch theologian, philosopher, sociologist and politician, who played an important role in Dutch 20th-century politics. Personal life Banning was born the son of Jan ...

, Pieter Geyl and Jan de Quay, all post-war politicians.

Attractions

Sint Michielsgestel, de Dommel 2010-04-10 17

The Petrus Dondersplein is the central square of the village, close to the Dommel. It has two major monuments. The (old tower) is a nice 15th century church tower made with alternating rows of brick and

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

stone. The Protestant church was built in 1808, when the Protestant minority had to return the big church to the Catholics. After the main church connected to the Oude toren had to be demolished, a new St. Michael's was built on Nieuwstraat. This is a well preserved example of 1930s church architecture. The imposing former institute for the deaf is on the western side of the Dommel at Theerestraat. It dates from 1908, and as institute for the deaf it is a rare building. Sint-Michielsgestel and surroundings are best known for the many (former) castles and manors. * Little remains of the great castle at

, but it will be a museum in the future. * Nieuw-Herlaer Castle was a true castle. It is now a manor with a 15th century stair tower, and an 18th century wing. * Haanwijk is a well preserved 16th century manor, which includes some other buildings, and the small Museum Romeins Halder. * The Grote Ruwenberg near Ruimel was a moated manor, later a school, and now a conference venue. The tower is part of the original manor. * The Kleine Ruwenberg is a 19th century mansion which replaced a 15th century manor. The above attractions do not attract many visitors to Sint-Michielsgestel, even while many spend the night in the village in order to visit the tourist magnate 's-Hertogenbosch. The challenge is that the village Sint-Michielsgestel and the surrounding hamlets do not have a major attraction. Instead it has to rely on nature, and the cultural history reflected in castles and farms. This makes that the municipality wants to focus on all kinds of healthy outdoor activities. Meanwhile these outdoor activities, like cycling, running, horse-riding are already popular with the locals.

Transport

Sint-Michielsgestel is located near the central transport axis in the Netherlands, between

and

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,A2 motorway, but towards 's-Hertogenbosch, the village has an even more direct access via the N617.The village has grown by

Services

A major employer in Sint-Michielsgestel is Kentalis (nl), a resource centre for sensory and communicative disabled people formerly known as ''Institute for the deaf and hearing impaired'' called Instituut voor Doven (nl) aka Viataal. There is little industry in the village. Gymnasium Beekvliet is a popular school that attracts many students from outside the village.

Sport

Sint-Michielsgestel is a major venue for Cyclo-cross. Stichting Wielerbelang Sint-Michielsgeste
(SWG)
organizes major cyclo-cross events in the village since 1974. The absolute highlight was the 2000

UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships The UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships are the world championships for cyclo-cross organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Starting in 2020, six events are organized each year – men's elite, women's elite, men's under 23, wome ...

won by local

Richard Groenendaal Richard Marinus Anthonius Groenendaal (born 13 July 1971) is a Dutch former professional cyclo-cross cyclist. Groenendaal won the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 2000 and the overall titles in the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup 1997–1998, ...

. The Dutch National Cyclo-cross Championships have been held in the village five times.

Notable people

Gerrit Braks Gerardus Johannes Maria "Gerrit" Braks (23 May 1933 – 12 July 2017) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and agronomist. Braks applied at the Wageningen Ag ...

(1933–2017) a Dutch politician and agronomist * Cas Wouters (born 1943) a Dutch sociologist who embraces figurational sociology * Anneke van Giersbergen (born 1973) a Dutch singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist; IMDb Database
retrieved 30 March 2020 formerly of The Gathering

Sport

* Ronald Jansen (born 1963) a former field hockey goalkeeper, gold medallist in the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

and

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

* Kees Akerboom Jr. (born 1983) a retired Dutch basketball player * Tom van Weert (born 1990) a footballer with more than 350 club caps, currently playing at Volos F.C. , Greece

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{Authority control Sint-Michielsgestel Populated places in North Brabant