Deinze () is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

in the Belgian province of

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of

Astene Astene is a village and ''deelgemeente'' (sub-municipality) in the municipality of Deinze in the Belgium, Belgian province of East Flanders. The village is located along the Leie River and about south-west of Ghent. History The village was fir ...

, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree,

Nevele Nevele () is a village and former municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Hansbeke, Landegem, Merendree, Nevele proper, Poesele and Vosselare. In 2018, the municipality of Nevel ...

, Petegem-aan-de-Leie, , Sint-Martens-Leerne, Vinkt, Vosselare, Wontergem, and Zeveren. On 1 January 2022, Deinze had a population of 44,315. The municipality's total area is , giving a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

of 342 inhabitants per km². On 1 January 2019, the municipality of

was merged into Deinze.

History

In 1695, during the Nine Years' War, an English force garrisoned in the town under the command of the Irish general

Francis Fergus O’Farrell Major General Francis Fergus O’Farrell 1650 to 1712, was an Irish-born professional soldier who served in the Dutch States Army under William III until 1689, when he transferred into the English Army. During the Nine Years' War in 1695, he wa ...

was forced to surrender to French forces.

Postal history

The DEYNZE post office opened in 1836 with the postal code 31 (before 1864), then 94 prior to 1874. The only other office in the area before 1910 was PETEGHEM (not to be confused with PETEGHEM-LEZ-AUDENAERDE), which opened 1 June 1874. Postal codes in 1969Liste des Numéros Postaux, Administration des Postes, Bruxelles 1969. (before the merger of municipalities in 1977): * 9800 Deinze * 9801 Astene * 9802 Petegem-aan-de-Leie * 9803 Gottem * 9804 Grammene * 9805 Wontergem * 9806 Vinkt * 9807 Zeveren * 9852 Sint-Martens-Leerne * 9853 Bachte-Maria-Leerne * 9854 Meigem

Sports

Deinze is the starting location of the

cycling race Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling ...

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late March on the last Sunday before the Tou ...

. It is also the operational base of the Ineos Grenadiers

cycle racing Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in ...

team, formally Team Sky.

Places of interest

* Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek, a museum dedicated to arts and folk objects created in the

Leie The Lys () or Leie () is a river in France and Belgium, and a left-bank tributary of the Scheldt. Its source is in Pas-de-Calais, France, and it flows into the river Scheldt in Ghent, Belgium. Its total length is . Historically a very pollute ...

region * Ooidonk Castle, a castle dating from the 16th century

Famous inhabitants

Dirk van Braeckel Dirk van Braeckel (born 19 February 1958 in Deinze), is a Belgian car designer. He is known for the designing of various models for Volkswagen Group, especially for the Bentley brand. Career Born in Deinze, after leaving school, van Braeckel s ...

, head of design at Bentley Motors * Karel Justinus Calewaert, Roman Catholic bishop * Raoul De Keyser, painter *

Rudy Dhaenens Rudy Dhaenens (10 April 1961 – 6 April 1998) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer who is most famous for winning the World Cycling Championships in 1990 as a member of the Belgian national team. Dhaenens excelled several times ...

, cyclist,

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in 1990 * Poppo of Deinze, saint *

Jacques Rogge Jacques Jean Marie Rogge, Count Rogge (, ; 2 May 1942 – 29 August 2021) was a Belgian sports administrator and physician who served as the eighth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. In 2013, Rogge beca ...

, president of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

* Charles Felix Van Quickenborne, founder of

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

in St. Louis, Mo., USA * Karel Van Wijnendaele, founder of the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and orga ...

Tanneke Sconyncx Tanneken Sconyncx (1560 – 2 June 1603) was an alleged witch from Gottem in the County of Flanders. Her case is among the most notable of the period in Belgium. Case Sconyncx was described as a wealthy, beautiful merchant. She was accused of wi ...

, alleged

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have u ...

* Rose Bertram, fashion model

Gallery

File:Deinze, Belgium ; Ferraris map.jpg, Deinze on the Ferraris map (around 1775) File:Deinze, de Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk oeg38013 foto4 2013-05-12 15.30.jpg, Deinze, church: de Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk File:Bachte Maria Leerne, de Blauwe Poort (toegangspoort kasteel van Ooidonk) oeg38122 foto2 2013-05-12 16.02.jpg, Bachte Maria Leerne, de Blauwe Poort (entrance gate to castle: kasteel van Ooidonk) File:Bachte Maria Leerne, kerk van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw en Sint-Jan-Baptist.jpg, Bachte Maria Leerne, church: de parochiekerk Sint Petrus en Paulus

References

External links

Deinzeonline.be
- Available in Dutch
Official website
- Available in Dutch, French, German and English
Local radio station website
{{Authority control Municipalities of East Flanders Populated places in East Flanders