Liezele is a village and ''

deelgemeente A (, literally ''sub-municipality''), or section (), is a subdivision of a municipality in Belgium and, until March 2014, in the Netherlands as well. Belgium Each municipality in Belgium that existed as a separate entity on 1 January 1961 bu ...

'' (sub-municipality) of the municipality of

Puurs-Sint-Amands Puurs-Sint-Amands () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp that arose on 1 January 2019 from the merging of the municipalities of Puurs and Sint-Amands. The merged municipality has an area of 48.99 km ...

in the province of

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 ...

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 ...

. The village is located about south-south-west of the city of

. On the night of 4 to 5 September 1914, the entire village was destroyed by the Belgian Army to deny the Germany Army cover.

History

Liezele was originally located in an area of heaths and forests. The village was first mentioned in 1138 or 1139 as Liensella when it became a parish belonging to

Affligem Abbey Affligem Abbey (, ) is a Benedictine order, Benedictine abbey in the historic village of Hekelgem, now in the municipality of Affligem, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, to the north-west of Brussels. Dedicated in 1086, it was the most important monas ...

. The area was divided by the Lords of

Grimbergen Grimbergen () is a Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium, north of the capital Brussels. The municipality comprises the towns of Beigem, Grimbergen, Hu ...

and the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries. The Duchy comprised part of the Bu ...

. In 1662, the '' heerlijkheden'' (landed estates) of Liezele, Lippelo and became the property of J.F. de la Pierre. In 1795, Liezele became an independent municipality. Liezele used to be an agricultural area. In 1908, construction started on the Fort van Liezele as part of the

National Redoubt A national redoubt or national fortress is an area to which the (remnant) military forces of a nation can be withdrawn if the main battle has been lost or even earlier if defeat is considered inevitable. Typically, a region is chosen with a geogra ...

. The first soldiers were stationed in the fortress in March 1913. On 4 August 1914, Germany invaded Belgium. Due to the speed of their advance, commander Fiévez asked permission to destroy the village of Liezele to deny the German Army cover. On the night of 4 to 5 September, the village, church, castle, and manor houses were burnt and the walls of the buildings were torn down. Antwerp capitulated on 10 October 1914, and the fortress was handed over undamaged. Liezele contains no historic buildings, because all the buildings were constructed after 1914. Liezele remained an independent municipality until 1977, when it was merged into

Puurs Puurs () is a former Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. It is located in the Flanders, Flemish Region. The municipality comprised the towns of Breendonk, Liezele, , Ruis ...

. In 2019, Puurs was merged into the municipality of

Gallery

File:Sint-Jozefskerk Liezele.jpg, St Josef Church File:Fort Liezele - panoramio.jpg, Fort van Liezele File:Panorama Liezele 01.jpg, View on Liezele File:LandhuisLiezele.jpg, Villa in Liezele

References

External links

*
Official site
(in Dutch) {{Authority control Populated places in Antwerp Province Puurs-Sint-Amands