Dongelberg () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

and a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of the municipality of

Jodoigne Jodoigne (; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Jodoigne had a total population of 12,440. The total area is which gives a population density of . The municipalit ...

, located in the province of

Walloon Brabant Walloon Brabant ( ; ; ) is a province located in Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the province of Flemish Brabant (Flemish Region) and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut. Walloon Br ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. The name means ''dark mountain''.

History

Dongelberg appears as ''Donglebert'' in a text dated 1079 and ''Dungelberge'' in the 12th century. In the Middle Ages the settlement was a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

of several families, including the Dongelberg family until 1305, before falling entirely under the control of , the half brother of

John II, Duke of Brabant John II (27 September 1275 – 27 October 1312), also called John the Peaceful, was Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg (1294–1312). He was the son of John I of Brabant and Margaret of Flanders. John II succeeded his father in 1294 ...

. It was an independent municipality until 1977, when it was placed within Jodoigne as part of the

fusion of the Belgian municipalities The fusion of the Belgian municipalities (French: ''fusion des communes'', Dutch: ''fusie van Belgische gemeenten'') was a Belgian political process that rationalized and reduced the number of municipalities in Belgium between 1964 and 1983. In 1 ...

. In time of the

German occupation of Belgium during World War II The German occupation of Belgium (, ) during World War II began on 28 May 1940, when the Belgian army surrendered to German forces, and lasted until Belgium's liberation by the Western Allies between September 1944 and February 1945. It was ...

, in 1942–1945, the Germans operated an internment camp for British, Australian and South African women in Dongelberg.

People born in Dongelberg

Marc Wilmots Marc Robert Wilmots (born 22 February 1969) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is the sporting director of Standard Liège. During his club career as an attacking midfielder, he won trophies with KV Mechelen, Stand ...

(footballer)

References

Jodoigne Former municipalities of Walloon Brabant {{WalloonBrabant-geo-stub