Hansweert is a village in the southwest

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is located on the

Zuid-Beveland Zuid-Beveland (; "South Beveland") is part of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands north of the Western Scheldt and south of the Eastern Scheldt. Topography It is a former island, now peninsula, crossed by the Canal through Zuid-Bevelan ...

peninsula, in the municipality of Reimerswaal,

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 ...

.ANWB Topografische Atlas Nederland, Topografische Dienst and ANWB, 2005.

History

The first mention of what later is called Hansweert is made in 1353. Variants of the name include Hannekinswaerde, Hannekijnswaard, and Hanzwartz; the last of those is probably the source for the modern variant Answest. For a long time Hansweert was a small, agrarian community; it was notable only for the Hansweert-Walsoorden ferry, which dates from the 16th century and connects Hansweert in Zuid-Beveland to Walsoorden in

Zeelandic Flanders Zeelandic Flanders ( ; ; )''Vlaanderen'' in isolation: . is the southernmost region of the province of Zeeland in the south-western Netherlands. It lies south of the Western Scheldt that separates the region from the remainder of Zeeland and th ...

. In 1866, however, when the

Canal through Zuid-Beveland The Canal through Zuid-Beveland (Dutch: ''Kanaal door Zuid-Beveland'') in the southwest Netherlands is the westernmost of two canals crossing the Zuid-Beveland peninsula. It connects the Western Scheldt near Hansweert (to the south of the cana ...

opened up, the village flourished; the canal ran right through the middle of the village (dividing it into eastern and western parts) where

sluice A sluice ( ) is a water channel containing a sluice gate, a type of lock to manage the water flow and water level. There are various types of sluice gates, including flap sluice gates and fan gates. Different depths are calculated when design s ...

s were located, bringing commercial traffic with it. Hansweert in those days knew a disproportionately large number of bakeries, butchers, and cafes, and came to be called "Small Antwerp". For a long time, Hansweert was an important stop on the shortest shipping route between the busy ports of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

and

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, but all that changed when the

Scheldt–Rhine Canal The Scheldt–Rhine Canal (Schelde-Rijnkanaal) in Belgium and the Netherlands connects Antwerp with the Volkerak, and thereby the Scheldt with the Rhine. Route The canal starts close to the Scheldt river, at the port of Antwerp, and generally ...

opened up and became the quicker route. Hansweert's economy collapsed, and so did the village. The eastern part of the village was torn down to make way for a harbor; further renovation moved the canal farther from the village. In 2010 Hansweert had a population of 1685. While the village has declined since the opening of the Scheldt–Rhine Canal, there is still an active community life. In 2005, the old ferry to

Perkpolder Perkpolder is a hamlet in the southwestern Netherlands, situated in the municipality of Hulst, Zeeland. It is known as the departure point for the ferry Kruiningen-Perkpolder that connected Zuid-Beveland and Zeelandic Flanders. Polder The hamlet i ...

was restored; it now sails during the summer months for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Events

* Answester Dweildag: an event where a few ''dweilbands'' give a concert on different places through the village; it is on the last Sunday of September. * Cycle race of Hansweert: an annual event on the last Saturday of August.

Gallery

File:Hansweert, kerk foto1 2009-09-25 14.24.JPG, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Onbevlekt Ontvangen church in Hansweert File:Narrow gauge steam locomotive of Orenstein and Koppel sold as Decauville N°842 or N°843 to Tramway Hansweert-Vlake.jpg, Decauville tramway between Hansweert and Vlake File:Hansweert, verkeersplein 2009-09-25 14.30.JPG, Roundabot in Hansweert

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Zeeland Reimerswaal (municipality)