Heist-op-den-Berg () 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' ...

located in the Belgian province of

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. The municipality comprises Heist-op-den-Berg proper (including the hamlets: Heist-Goor, Heist-Station, Zonderschot, Heist-Centrum and Bruggeneinde), the villages of (including the hamlet Pijpelheide), , , and .

History

The 48-meter-high hill on which Heist would later be built (hence the adjunct name ''op-den-Berg'' meaning "on the hill") was formed during the early part of the

Ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

. As can be appreciated from the artifacts shown at the regional museum on the town's main square, this area was already populated in

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

times. Soon after the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

yielded this land to the invading

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

in the 3rd and 4th century,

Christianization Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

followed. The village of Itegem, located right on the Nete River, was most likely the first hamlet to be founded, as suggested by a document dating from 976. Chapels in Hallaar and Itegem were built in the 12th century. This century also marked the beginnings of the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries. The Duchy comprised part of the Bu ...

, of which this whole area was a part. Around the year 1200, a military fort was built at the current location of the ''Ter Laken'' castle, on Booischot's territory. Schriek, which was founded in 1125, got its own chapel in 1260 while the main church at Heist was built in 1340. These two religious buildings were heavily damaged during the wars of religion around 1600. During most of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, agriculture was driving the economy and several huge farming domains were built, some of which still subsist today (e.g., ''Wimpelhoeve'' in Wiekevorst, traces of which date from the 12th century, and ''Pandoerenhoeve'' in Schriek, dating from 1624). During the 17th and 18th century, the miraculous wooden statue of the Virgin and Child in the Hallaar church became an object of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

. The current town hall was built in 1844, fourteen years after the foundation of Belgium as an independent country. Today, the town is mostly a residential centre, which offers services to the surrounding communities.

Events

Heistse Pijl The Heistse Pijl is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in June around the municipality of Heist-op-den-Berg, Belgium. Since 2016, the race is organized as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Victor Van Schil, ...

, cycling race *Heist-op-den-Berg is well known for its Sunday morning

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

. * Hestival, every last saturday of August

Sights

*The historical heart of the town is the church square (''Kerkplein''), where one of the town's many old water

pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy. Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...

s can be seen, and where a train museum (''Treinmuseum'') and a regional farming museum (''Heemmuseum'') can be visited. *An old

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

, the last one in the

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

area, churches and chapels, and farms, many with their original water pumps, dot the landscape around the town. *Heist-op-den-Berg (especially Itegem) also houses several castles, most of which are privately owned and therefore not open to the public.

Notable residents

Ivo van Hove Ivo van Hove (born 28 October 1958) is a Belgian theatre director. He is known for his Off-Broadway avant-garde experimental theatre productions. For over twenty years, he served as the director of the Toneelgroep Amsterdam. On Broadway, he has d ...

, theatre director *

Rik Torfs Henri Maria Dymphna André Laurent "Rik" Torfs (born 16 October 1956) is a Belgium, Belgian Canon law of the Catholic Church, canon law scholar and media personality. He is a former List of members of the Senate of Belgium, Senator for the Christ ...

, Rector of the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its main camp ...

Silvy De Bie Silvy De Bie (born 4 January 1981), also known as Sil (stylised as SIL) or Silvy Melody, is a Belgian singer. She is the vocalist for the dance music group Sylver. Career Silvy was born in Heist-op-den-Berg, and became a Flanders child star w ...

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

(b. 1981) *

Leo Laurens Leo Laurens (born 30 July 1952) is a Belgian former professional darts player who competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. At the end of 1993, he was number one in the WDF world rankings after all of the BDO's top players broke away ...

(born 1952), former professional darts player *

Paul Michiels Paul Anna Kamiel Michiels (born 15 June 1948) is a Belgian singer and songwriter who became popular for his work with the Belgian music group Soulsister. He has earned the nickname ''Polle Pap'', a name he inherited from a childhood job as a milk ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

(b. 1948) *

Filip Verlinden Filip Verlinden (born 26 December 1982) is a Belgian kickboxer who competes in the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Verlinden was introduced to the sport at an early age and came to prominence in 2008 when he won the WKA European Super C ...

(born 1982), kickboxer * Anak Verhoeven, (born 1996), rock climber

References

External links