Groede () is a village 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

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

. It is located about 5 km north of

Oostburg Oostburg (Zeelandic Flemish: ''Wòstburg'') is a city in the south-western Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Sluis, in the province of Zeeland. As of 1 January 2015, its population is 4731, down from 5008 in January 2005. It receiv ...

in the municipality of

Sluis Sluis (; ; ) is a city and municipality located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western Dutch province of Zeeland. The current incarnation of the municipality has existed since 1 January 2003. The former municipalities of Oostb ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1133 as Groede, and means "land accretion". The oldest village was lost in a flood in 1375. It was later polder, but

inundate A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

d in 1583. In 1604, the area was conquered by the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

. In 1612, it was a rediked, and a planned settlement with a large square containing the church in the middle was constructed. The Dutch Reformed church is a three-aisled church with 13th century elements. The church was severely damaged during the inundation of 1583 to 1613. Restoration started in 1619. From 1618 until 1808, the southern part of the church was a

Walloon church A Walloon church (French: ''Église Wallonne''; Dutch: ''Waalse kerk'') describes any Calvinist church in the Netherlands and its former colonies whose members originally came from the Southern Netherlands (what is now Belgium) and northern Franc ...

. The tower was struck by lightning in 1949 and restored in 1950. Groede was home to 2,408 people in 1840. The village was spared during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, because it was a

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

village. Groede was a separate municipality until 1970.Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, "Repertorium van Nederlandse gemeenten", KNAW, 2006. In 2003, Groede became part of the municipality of

. The Slijkstraat in the centre of the village was transformed into a Flemish heritage street in 1985.

Gallery

Image:Groede, kerk foto4 2011-08-21 11.04.JPG, Groede, church: de Grote Kerk Image:Groede, Rooms Katholiek kerk foto5 2011-08-21 11.31.JPG, Groede, catholic church Image:Groede, monumentaal pand aan de Markt 2 RM31517 foto3 2011-08-21 11.20.jpg, Groede, monumental houses

Notable people

* Jochem van Bruggen (1881–1957), Dutch and Afrikaans author and poet, four-time winner of the

Hertzog Prize The Hertzog Prize (or Hertzogprys) is an annual award given to Afrikaans writers by the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (South African Academy for the Sciences and Art), formerly the South African Academy for Language, Literature ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Zeeland Former municipalities of Zeeland Sluis