Persingen is a village situated in the municipality of Berg en Dal in the province of

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

. In 2021, Persingen had 105 inhabitants. The village claims to be the smallest village of the Netherlands for tourist reasons, however there are many more contestants who are much smaller; the former island of

Schokland Schokland () is a former island in the Dutch Zuiderzee, in the municipality of Noordoostpolder. Schokland was an elongated strip of peat land which ceased to be an island when the Noordoostpolder was reclaimed from the sea in 1942. It is now just ...

and the former squatter village of

Ruigoord Ruigoord () is a village in the Houtrak polder in North Holland, Netherlands, situated within the municipality of Amsterdam (municipality), Amsterdam. Until the 1880s, it was an island in the IJ (Amsterdam), IJ bay, which was turned into a land r ...

have the best credentials.

History

It was first mentioned in the 13th century as Persingen, and means "settlement of the people of Perso (person)". In the 13th century, a chapel was built at Persingen, and in the 15th century, it was replaced by a church. In 1444, the castle "Huys Persingen" was first mentioned. In 1526, it was destroyed by the citizens of

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

. It was rebuilt in 1529, and was set on fire in 1613, and only a ruin remained. The last traces were destroyed in a 1809 flood. Up to 1818, the village was part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. In 1840, it was home to 24 people.

Gallery

File:Leuthsestraat 13 totaal links.jpg, Farm in Persingen File:Tussen Persingen en Nijmegen, straatzicht langs het Meertje IMG 2961 2019-11-30 11.49.jpg File:Tussen Persingen en Wercheren, bomen aan de Sint Hubertusweg IMG 2966 2019-11-30 12.07.jpg File:Persingen, bomen aan de Leutschestraat IMG 2973 2019-11-30 12.23.jpg

References

Populated places in Gelderland Geography of Berg en Dal (municipality) {{Gelderland-geo-stub