Gierle 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 ...

of about 4,428 inhabitants in the

Antwerp Province Antwerp Province (; ; ; ), between 1815 and 1830 known as Central Brabant ( , , ), is the northernmost Provinces of Belgium, province both of the Flemish Region, also called Flanders, and of Belgium. It borders on the North Brabant province of t ...

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

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 ...

. It is part of the municipality of

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. Characterised by its 19th-century village centre, which has an unusual circular shape, it is more known for its recreation park called "De Lilse Bergen" and its festival called " Sjock". A famous inhabitant of Gierle was

Louis Neefs Louis Neefs (born Ludwig Adèle Maria Jozef Neefs, 8 August 1937 – 25 December 1980) was a Belgian singer and presenter, known for his participation in the Eurovision Song Contests of 1967 and 1969. Early career Neefs was training for a career ...

, who was the Belgian contestant for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

twice. He has a statue in the centre of Gierle. Another famous inhabitant is

Walter Meeuws Walter Meeuws (born 11 July 1951) is a Belgian former football player and manager. Playing career During his career Meeuws played for K. Beerschot V.A.C., Club Brugge, Standard Liège, Ajax, K.V. Mechelen. He earned 46 caps for the Belgium nat ...

, a retired football player who played for a few clubs in the Belgian first division and also for

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

. He has 46 caps for the Belgium national team and was in the squad of

UEFA Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams ...

where they reached the final. After his playing career, he has been a coach for teams all over the world. Through history, Gierle was connected to the neighbouring village

Tielen Tielen is a village in the province of Antwerp in Flanders, Belgium. It is part of the municipality of Kasterlee. The nearest city is the neighbouring city of Turnhout. Other neighbouring towns are Vosselaar, Lichtaart, , Lille, Belgium, Lille a ...

because they shared both lord and priest.

References

Populated places in Antwerp Province Lille, Belgium {{Antwerp-geo-stub