Geldrop is a town 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 in the municipality of Geldrop-Mierlo, around 5km east of

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

's city centre. Geldrop was a separate municipality until 2004, when it merged with Mierlo. As of 2023, Geldrop has a population of approximately 29.245 residents. Geldrop is noted for having a neighbourhood with streets named after characters and elements from the works of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

Geography

Geldrop is situated near the city of Eindhoven, making it part of the Eindhoven metropolitan area. The village is characterized by its picturesque settings, surrounded by natural landscapes including forests and meadows which are part of the larger Strabrechtse Heide, an extensive heathland area. The A67 motorway (part of European route E34) links Geldrop with Eindhoven. Geldrop railway station is on the Eindhoven–Weert line.

History

Geldrop has proven a fertile ground for

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

digs, with finds from various historical and prehistorical eras. Through the years, several archaeological finds were made which testify to

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 ...

occupants. Finds in the south of

Zesgehuchten Zesgehuchten was a municipality in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It existed until 1921, when it became part of Geldrop. In 1972, part of its former territory was transferred to Eindhoven. The name ''Zesgehuchten'' means "six hamlets", re ...

(a district of Geldrop) indicate small settlements from the New Stone Age (about 3000 BC). Finds from the

Roman Period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

and the early

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 ...

have been found off Genoenhuis and Hoog Geldrop (districts in Geldrop). In the autumn of 1989, archaeological diggings at the nearby 't Zand Cemetery found four settlements from the late Roman Period and the Middle Ages: a period which covers the years between 350 and 1225 AD. The history of Geldrop itself dates back to the Middle Ages, and it was first mentioned in historical records in 1296. Over the centuries, it developed from a small

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

community into a more industrially oriented village by the 19th century, with

textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

becoming a significant industry.

Economy

While historically reliant on the textile industry, modern Geldrop has diversified its economy. Today, it hosts a variety of businesses and services, with significant contributions from the

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

, and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

sectors. Geldrop benefits economically from its close proximity to the technological and industrial hub of Eindhoven.

Gallery

File:Sint-Brigidakerk (Geldrop) P1060767.JPG, Geldrop, church: Sint Brigidakerk Image:Geldrop, molen 't Nupke RM16032 foto13 2016-10-16 17.06.jpg, Geldrop, windmill: korenmolen 't Nupke File:Centrum Geldrop P1060740.JPG, Centre of Geldrop File:Centrum Geldrop P1060758.JPG, Building at Heuvel, 6 File:Legolas_and_Celeborn_street_in_Geldrop_(Netherlands).png, Legolas and Celeborn street in Geldrop File:Geldrop Vier Heemskinderen Guus Hellegers.jpg, Statue of the steed Bayard

Famous people from Geldrop

Dries van Agt Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (; 2 February 1931 – 5 February 2024) was a Dutch politician, jurist and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 19 December 1977 until 4 November 1982. He was a prominent leader o ...

(born 1931), former prime minister * Ernest Faber (born 1971), footballer for PSV and the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNV ...

* A. F. Th. van der Heijden (born 1951), writer * Jeffrey Herlings (born 1994), motocross world champion *

Pieter van den Hoogenband Pieter Cornelis Martijn van den Hoogenband (; born 14 March 1978) is a Dutch retired swimmer. He is a triple Olympic champion and former world record holder. Early life Born in Maastricht, Limburg, he is the son of Cees-Rein van den Hoogenb ...

(born 1978), swimmer, Winner Olympic Gold * Viktor Horsting (born 1969), fashion designer *

Guido Imbens Guido Wilhelmus Imbens (born 3 September 1963) is a Dutch-American economist whose research concerns econometrics and statistics. He holds the Applied Econometrics Professorship in Economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business at Stanf ...

(born 1963), Economist, Winner of the

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (), commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics(), is an award in the field of economic sciences adminis ...

* Roos van Montfort (born 1989), Playboy model *

Cas Mudde Cas Mudde (born 3 June 1967) is a Dutch political science, political scientist who focuses on Extremism, political extremism and populism in Europe and the United States. His research includes the areas of political parties, extremism, democracy, ...

(born 1967), political scientist * Lara Stone (born 1983), model * Art Rooijakkers (born 1976), television presenter * Kelly van Santvoort (born 1992), communicator * Mithat Kamer (born 1993), CEO of NKON B.V.

References

External links

Website GeldropWebsite Geldrop Centrum (Dutch)
{{Authority control Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2004 Former municipalities of North Brabant Populated places in North Brabant Geldrop-Mierlo