Hoensbroek () is a Dutch town in the municipality of

Heerlen Heerlen (; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the f ...

. It is situated in the southeast of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

, a province in the southeast of the Netherlands. Until 1982, Hoensbroek was a separate municipality. Hoensbroek is known for its medieval castle, Kasteel Hoensbroek, named after Knight Hoen, a member of the Hoen Family. It dates from around 1250. Hoensbroek is also known for the fair on

Ascension Day The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ (also called the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday) commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It ...

( Hemelvaartsdag). The fair brings as many as 100,000 people to the town, every year. In medieval times, the town was known under the name of Gebrook, meaning as much as "Swampy Landscape", and belonged to the Family Hoen. Their family name eventually mingled with the original one, resulting in the name ''Hoensbroeck'' for the location and Van Hoensbroeck as the family name. The spoken dialect, Gerbrooker Plat, refers to the ancient name of Gebrook.

Recent history

Coal mining The town remained modest until the early 20th century, when several mines were opened (including the Emma), caused a substantial increase in population. This necessitated the construction of new residential areas, with the result that

& Hoensbroek grew closer to each other. Today Hoensbroek &

now form a contiguous and built-up area. Only the tip, the former Oranje Nassau III mine, currently designed as a park, represents a kind of barrier between the towns. The mines in the area are now all closed, but many of the workers before landscaped areas still exist.

Transport

Railway station:

Hoensbroek Hoensbroek () is a Dutch town in the municipality of Heerlen. It is situated in the southeast of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, a province in the southeast of the Netherlands. Until 1982, Hoensbroek was a separate municipality. Hoensbroek is kno ...

. The town can also be reached from Heerlen railway station and

Sittard railway station Sittard is a railway station located in Sittard, Netherlands. The station was opened in 1862 and is located on the Maastricht–Venlo railway and the Sittard–Herzogenrath railway. Train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen and Arriva. ...

. Bus: The town can be reached by bus, in this city there are public buses from Veolia Transport(Limburg)

Notable people

Max van Heeswijk Max Lambert Peter van Heeswijk (born 2 March 1973 in Hoensbroek, Limburg) is a Dutch retired professional road racing cyclist. He finished 15th road race at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 17th in the road race at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Caree ...

, road racing cyclist * Willy Quadackers, footballer * Henk van der Linden, film director *, actress *

Christian Quix Christian Quix (8 October 1773, Hoensbroek – 13 January 1844, Aachen) was a Roman Catholic priest, heimatforscher (local historian) and from 1833 the director of the Stadtbibliothek Aachen, the city library of Aachen. Life The son of a typica ...

, priest, local historian, director of the city library of

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

Fernando Ricksen Fernando Jacob Hubertina Henrika Ricksen (27 July 1976 – 18 September 2019) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a right back and central midfielder. After winning Eerste Divisie titles with Fortuna Sittard and AZ, he joined ...

, Dutch national team footballer *

Simone Simons Simone Johanna Maria Simons (born 17 January 1985) is a Dutch singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, which she joined at the age of seventeen, releasing nine studio albums and touring the world ...

, lead singer of symphonic metal band

Epica Epica or EPICA may refer to: * Epica (band), a Dutch symphonic metal band * ''Epica'' (Kamelot album), 2003 * ''Epica'' (Audiomachine album), 2012 * The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) * The Epica Awards (International Adver ...

* Egidius Slanghen, historian * Lambert Verdonk, footballer * Klaas de Vries, politician and jurist

References

External links

* {{Authority control Boroughs of Heerlen Former municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands) Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands)