Aalten () is a

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

and a town in the eastern

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 ...

. The former municipalities of

Bredevoort Bredevoort (West Low German, 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 ''Bredevoor ...

(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 the only continuous member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, schoolboy-u ...

, guitarist of the Australian rock band

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

, and

Robert Gesink Robert Gesink (born 31 May 1986) is a Dutch former cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2007 to 2024. His major victories include the 2012 Tour of California, the 2011 Tour of Oman and the 2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. Gesink als ...

, a professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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'

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 ...

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

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

and

Winterswijk Winterswijk (; also known as ''Winterswiek'' or ''Wenters'') is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, 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 ...

, which stops at this station.

Arnhem railway station Arnhem Centraal railway station is the largest railway station in the city of Arnhem in Gelderland, Netherlands. It was opened on 14 May 1845 and is located on the Amsterdam–Arnhem railway, the Arnhem–Leeuwarden railway and the Arnhem–Nijm ...

has services to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Amsterdam Airport,

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

and to cities in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Aalten also has an hourly bus service to

Ruurlo Ruurlo is a village and former municipality in the province of Gelderland in the eastern part of the Netherlands. The town has a station on the Zutphen to Winterswijk railway line, and is served by trains every half-hour in both directions. In ...

and to

Zelhem Zelhem is a town in the Netherlands, 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 20 ...

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 van Uylenburgh, Saskia, but they remaine ...

(1626 in Bredevoort – 1663) the longtime partner of

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

* 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 The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

* 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

Transportation

Notable people

Gallery

See also

References

External links