Dinther is a village in the Dutch province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic 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 ...

. It is located in the municipality of

Bernheze Bernheze () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. It was formed as a rename of Heesch, Netherlands, Heesch in 1995. The municipalities of Heeswijk-Dinther and Nistelrode ...

. Dinther was a separate municipality and town until 1969, when it merged with Heeswijk to form the new municipality of Heeswijk-Dinther. Since the municipal merger, the two towns started to share a marketplace and center. Today the towns form the greater town of Heeswijk-Dinther.

Etymology

The settlement now known as Dinther initially appears as ''Dinthre'' in a document from 1139. The name has an

Old Frankish Frankish ( reconstructed endonym: *), also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 10th centuries. Franks under king Chlodio settled in Roman Gaul in the 5th century. O ...

origin and is a composition of the words "Dint" and "haar". "Dint" (or "dent") means "dent" or "dented" usually it implies a landscape with rolling heights. "Haar" is an old Dutch word for a long-stretched sand dune. There lies a long stretched sand dune between the city of

Berlicum Berlicum is a town in the south of the Netherlands, located in North Brabant's Meierij region near the city of 's-Hertogenbosch and the river Aa. The town was most likely founded between 600 and 700 AD. It was a municipality along with the villa ...

and

Veghel Veghel () is a town and a former municipality in Southern Netherlands. On 1 January 2017 Veghel, together with Schijndel and Sint-Oedenrode, merged into a new municipality called Meierijstad. This created the largest municipality of the provi ...

to the north of Dinther. It seems correct to translate Dinther as: "dented long stretched sand dune" (source: "Grepen uit de geschiedenis van Dinther 1139–1989", J. van der Leest). The current landscape though is green and does not show any signs of dunes or sand.

History

In the early Middle Ages the first acres were cultivated out of fertile woodlands along the river " Aa". In the early Middle Ages Dinther was part of a free territory governed by the Lords of Dinther; as were the nearby towns of Heeswijk and Boxtel. In 1196 half of this territory was granted in use by Knight Albert van Dinther to the Lord of Cuijk. The Lord of Cuijk granted the use to the Duke of Brabant. The Lords of Dinther probably resided in a stronghold on an artificial hill called "Ter Borch". This stronghold was most likely situated near the river Aa, to the south of Dinther. In 1388 the other half of this territory was granted in use by "Willem van der Aa" to "Duchess Johanna van Brabant", which turned it into a part 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 ...

. Dinther was part of the

Meierij The Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch (; Dutch for "Bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch") was one of the four parts of the Duchy of Brabant, the others being the Margraviate of Antwerp, the County of Brussels and the County of Leuven/Louvain. Located in th ...

'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 ...

one of the four administrative parts of the Duchy of Brabant. In 1352 Dinther became an acknowledged town when "Jan van Benthem", Lord of Dinther, granted the inhabitants of the parish the use of the land. In the 14th century the residence of the Lords of Dinther moved from "Ter Borch" to the estate of "Ten Bogaerde". This was situated near the castle Avestein. Avestein was torn down in 1807. After the end of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

in 1648 Dinther became part of the

States of Brabant The States of Brabant were the representation of the three estates (nobility, clergy and commons) to the court of the Duke of Brabant. The three estates were also called the States. Supported by the economic strength of the cities Antwerp, Bruss ...

for the "Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch" became part of the

. The Protestants repressed the catholic faith in Dinther until 1795. Repressing is a strong term. In reality a manner of coexisting between Catholics and Protestants was daily practice. The administrative and political power though remained in the hands of the Protestants. In 1795 the French invaded the Dutch Republic and "freedom of faith" is restored in Dinther. In 1814 Dinther becomes a part of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...

The village

Dinther has never been a significant town but was still a fairly large village. Dinther is situated next to a ford in the river Aa like Heeswijk and Veghel. The centre of Dinther is situated around the church. During the ages several houses or housing blocks have been added to the village. In essence the village is still a rural farm town. There is some industrial activity in an area called "Retsel".

Sights in Dinther

* The '' Killdonk Mill'' . A rare water and wind mill combination. Restored in 2009. * ''Manor Zwanenburg''; a fortified house from the Middle Ages (14th century). * The ''Saint Servatius church''; a monument from 1877 restored in 2006. * The ''Protestant Church'' from 1843.

Landscape

The presence of the river Aa, subsidiaries as Leijgraaf and Oudebeek formed the landscape of Dinther; a typical river landscape. Since Dinther is situated in the Aa valley inundation was a fact of life for the early inhabitants. This caused a lot of damage to cattle and acres. The danger of inundation was removed when the river Aa was forced into a canal.

Places nearby

Heeswijk, Loosbroek,

References

{{Authority control Populated places in North Brabant Former municipalities of North Brabant Bernheze