Hamont-Achel (; ) 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

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in the Belgian province of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

. It was founded in 1977 by a fusion of the city Hamont and the village Achel. On January 1, 2020, Hamont-Achel had a total population of 14.294. The total area is 43.66 km² which gives a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 315 inhabitants per km². The municipality houses the

Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious o ...

Abbey of Achel, part of which is

Brouwerij de Achelse Kluis Achel Brewery or Brouwerij der Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse Kluis was a Belgium, Belgian Trappist brewery, (the smallest of the Belgian Trappist breweries) until January 2021. It continues to operate as a brewery but is no longer Trappist, as ...

, one of the 11

Trappist breweries Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain— produce beer, but the ''Authentic Trappist Product'' label is assigned ...

. The professional tennis player

Elise Mertens Elise Mertens (; born 17 November 1995) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She became List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles on 10 May 2021, the third Belgian to hold the top ranking in either singles or ...

lives in Hamont-Achel.

Demographics

Languages

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

in Hamont-Achel is often spoken with a distinctive Limburgish accent, which should not be confused with the Limburgish language. *

Limburgish Limburgish ( or ; ; also Limburgian, Limburgic or Limburgan) refers to a group of South Low Franconian Variety (linguistics), varieties spoken in Belgium and the Netherlands, characterized by their distance to, and limited participation ...

(or ''Limburgian'') is the overlapping term of the tonal dialects spoken in the Belgian and Dutch provinces of Limburg. The

Hamont-Achel dialect Hamont-Achel dialect (, ) or Hamont-Achel Limburgish is the city dialect and variant of Limburgish spoken in the Belgian city of Hamont-Achel alongside the Dutch language (with which it is not mutually intelligible). Native speakers of the d ...

is only one of many variants of Limburgish.

Deadly explosion

On 18 November 1918, the municipality was the site of one of the worst train explosions in history, when two German munitions trains caught fire and exploded. Not only were the trains destroyed, but three German ambulance trains were also wiped out, along with most of the town. More than 1,000 individuals were killed.

Tumulus on Haarterheide

Hamont - Achel - Haarterheide - grafheuvel

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Website about Hamont-Achel

The Pessimist's Guide to History

sporza.be report on Jelle Vanendert's return home after the 2011 Tour de France
{{Authority control Municipalities of Limburg (Belgium)