Elst is a town in the municipality of

Overbetuwe Overbetuwe () is a municipality in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 January 2001 as a merger of three former municipalities: Elst, Heteren and Valburg. Overbetuwe is bordered in the north by the river Rhine and ...

in the

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 ...

province of

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

. It is situated in the

Betuwe Betuwe (), also known in English as Batavia ( ), is a historical and geographical region in the Netherlands, forming large fertile islands in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, river delta formed by the waters of the Rhine (Dutch: ''Rijn'') and ...

, between the cities of

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

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 ...

. In January 2022 the town had 22,509 inhabitants. Elst is known for its

Roman 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 ...

temples, which are situated under St Martin's (or the St Werenfried) church. Elst was a separate municipality until 2001, when it became a part of Overbetuwe. ''

Elstar The Elstar apple is an apple cultivar that was first developed in the Netherlands in Elst in the 1950s by crossing Golden Delicious and Ingrid Marie apples. It quickly became popular, especially in Europe and was first introduced to America in ...

'' is an apple cultivar that was developed in Elst in the 1950s.

History

A number of archeological finds have been made in Elst. In 1947, while repairing war damage, the remains of two Roman temples were discovered under St Martin's Church, including one of the largest found north of the Alps. Further Roman buildings have since been found in the town, as have prehistoric items. The missionary Saint Werenfried of Elst, was buried in Elst in circa 780. In the middle ages his tomb attracted pilgrims, as his

intercession Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of prayer, praying on behalf of others, or Intercession of saints, asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others. The Apostle Paul's exhortation to Saint Timothy, Timothy speci ...

was believed to cure disorders, especially those related to

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

. In September 1944, Elst was the scene of fighting between Allied and German troops during Operation Market Garden. During this, the tower of St Martin's Church was used as an observation post, and was largely destroyed by shelling. The church was rebuilt after the war. The municipality of Elst has existed since 1812. In January 2001 it became a part of the new municipality of Overbetuwe, when it merged with of

Heteren Heteren is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Overbetuwe, about 12 km (7.4 mi) southwest of Arnhem on the south bank of the Rhine. Heteren was a separate municipality until 2001, when it beca ...

and

Valburg Valburg is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Overbetuwe, about 10 km northwest of Nijmegen. Valburg was a separate municipality until 2001, when it became part of Overbetuwe. History It w ...

. Since then, Elst has expanded with the building of new housing and industrial estates.

H. J. Heinz Company The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 186 ...

's sauce factory for the European market is located in Elst. In 2006

Heinz The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. ...

moved production of

HP Sauce HP Sauce is a British brown sauce, the main ingredients of which are tomatoes, malt vinegar and molasses. It was named after London's Houses of Parliament. After making its first appearance on British dinner tables in the late 19th century, HP S ...

here from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England. Seen as a traditional British sauce, the decision received adverse publicity in the UK at the time.

Education

Elst is home to three

high schools A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

: Het Westeraam, Lyceum and Over Betuwe College Elst (OBC Elst).

Sports

There are several

sports clubs A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

in Elst, including: *Spero (

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

) *BCE (badminton) *Elistha (Football) *ETV (tennis) *EZ & PC (

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

) *Gaviiformes (scuba diving) *Gemini (

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

) *HCOB (

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

) *Unlimited (

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

) *Budo vereniging (martial arts)

The Linge near Elst

The river

Linge The Linge is a river in the Betuwe that is 99.8 km long, which makes it one of the longest rivers that flow entirely within the Netherlands. The river starts near the village of Doornenburg near the German border. A legend tells us that i ...

flows just north of Elst. File:Elst, de Linge vanaf de Welsh Guardsbrug IMG 2607 2019-09-21 19.22.jpg, The Linge from the Welsh Guardsbrug File:Bij Elst, ochtendtzicht op de Linge in de herfst IMG 2936 2019-11-30 10.11.jpg, The Linge in the autumn File:Tussen Elst en Arnhem, de Linge bij de stuw IMG 8072 2021-02-13 09.34.jpg, The Linge in the winter File:Elst, viaduct over de spoorlijn bij de weg naar Arnhem IMG 8742 2021-04-01 20.04.jpg, The Linge near the viaduct across the railway File:Elst, de Linge bij de 1e Weteringswal IMG 2426 2019-09-15 07.41.jpg, The Linge near the first Weteringswal File:Elst, boerderij aan de 2e Weteringswal IMG 8443 2021-03-24 08.27.jpg, The Linge at the second Weteringswal File:Bij Elst, de Linge bij Romeins Lint Oost in de mist IMG 2875 2019-11-24 10.27.jpg, The Linge in the fog near Romeins Lint Oost File:Bij Elst, de Linge vanaf de Raaijebrug in de mist IMG 2843 2019-11-24 09.32.jpg, The Linge from the bridge (the Raaijebrug) File:Elst, de Linge bij de Raaijebrug IMG 9472 2019-05-12 16.07.jpg, The Linge near the bridge (the Raaijebrug) File:Elst, de Linge vanaf de Langstraatbrug IMG 9481 2019-05-12 16.23.jpg, The Linge from the bridge (the Langstraatbrug)

People born in Elst

Pierre Kartner Petrus Antonius Laurentius Kartner (11 April 1935 – 8 November 2022) was a Dutch musician, singer-songwriter and record producer who performed under the stage name Vader Abraham (''Father Abraham''). He wrote around 1600 songs. Early life an ...

(1935–2022), singer and composer * Frits Kuipers (1899–1943), footballer *

Paul Kuypers Paul Herman Felix Kuypers (4 June 1939, Elst (Overbetuwe), Gelderland - d. near Ierapetra, Crete, Greece, 9 September 1971) was a Dutch agriculture expert, widely known in Ierapetra as the "Dutchman". He is credited with introducing new planting t ...

(1939–1971), agricultural scientist * Henk "Henkie" Leeuwis (1945–2022), singer * Jeffrey Leiwakabessy (born 1981), footballer *

Dirk Proper Dirk Wanner Proper (born 24 February 2002) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eredivisie club NEC. Club career Born in Elst, Gelderland, Proper started playing football at amateur club SV Spero before joining the N ...

(born 2002), footballer *

Hans Weijs Hans Weijs Jr. (born 19 December 1986) is a Dutch rallying, rally driver. He has won two rounds of the Junior World Rally Championship, finishing runner-up in the standings in 2010. His father, Hans Weijs, Sr., is also a rally driver and runs hi ...

(born 1986), rally driver * Peter J. Williamson (1823–1907), architect, American Civil War adjutant to General William T. Sherman * Jan Zwartkruis (1925–2013), footballer

Transportation

Elst railway station Elst is a railway station located in Elst, Netherlands. The station was opened on 15 June 1879 and is located on the Arnhem–Nijmegen railway. The station is operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen, with the service towards Tiel operated by Arriva. J ...

References

{{Coord, 51, 54, 56, N, 5, 50, 16, E, display=title, region:NL_source:nlwiki Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2001 Populated places in Gelderland Former municipalities of Gelderland Overbetuwe