Tielen is a village 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 ...

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

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 ...

. It is part of the municipality of

Kasterlee Kasterlee () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Kasterlee proper, Lichtaart and Tielen. In 2021, Kasterlee had a total population of 19,052. The total area is 71.56 km2. T ...

. The nearest city is the neighbouring city of

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

. Other neighbouring towns are

Vosselaar Vosselaar () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Vosselaar proper. In 2021, Vosselaar had a total population of 11,443. The total area is 11.85 km2. The most famous land ...

Lichtaart Lichtaart is a village in Belgium, in the province of Antwerp and municipality of Kasterlee. The village is situated near the town, Antwerp. Lichtaart bordered by the Rivers, Nete and Kaliebeek. In 1977, Lichtaart had an area of 25 km ² and ...

, ,

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

and

Gierle Gierle is a village of about 4,428 inhabitants in the Antwerp Province in Flanders, Belgium. It is part of the municipality of Lille. Characterised by its 19th-century village centre, which has an unusual circular shape, it is more known for its r ...

. The borders of Tielen are marked by two rivers: The Aa and the Kaliebeek. Almost one third of the village is still covered with pine-woods, heath and swamps. Typical for the Kempen area. The rest of this village is mostly used for residential and agricultural purposes.

Inhabitants

With not more than 3,900 inhabitants (3886 - ''2009-01-01''), Tielen still has a strong community even though in the last 50 years

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

has doubled the population as shown below.

Evolution of habitation

The largest part of the inhabitants are upper middle class nowadays, but through history, the largest part of the inhabitants were poor farmers. The most famous inhabitant of Tielen was Baron

Flor Peeters Franciscus Florentinus Peeters, Baron Peeters (4 July 1903 – 4 July 1986) was a Belgian composer, organist and academic teacher. He was director of the Conservatorium in Antwerp, Belgium, and organist at Mechelen Cathedral from 1923 to his dea ...

(an important organist). Less famous is the

bishop of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropol ...

Lucas Van Looy Lucas Van Looy S.D.B. (born 28 September 1941) is a Belgian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Bishop of Ghent from 2004 to 2019. He worked as a missionary in South Korea for more than a decade and held leadership positions with the Salesi ...

Sights

The village has a small center which is triangular. It has a 19th-century church, an old railway station and a beautiful town hall (nowadays the old town hall, since Tielen became a part of

in 1977). Other important buildings in Tielen are the 12th century

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

and the 15th-century castle ( Tielenhof), which was the home of the lords of Tielen and its neighbouring village

until the French Revolution. People visit this village to go walking or bike-riding in nature and to enjoy the countryside. Tielen is a vivid village with local pubs or bars and regular events of all sorts. Far from the industrialised world, Tielen only has one factory. "Het IJsboerke" (The Ice Farmer) manufactures

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

and is the second biggest ice cream producer in Belgium. The factory is worth visiting, but in front of the buildings there are fountains worth seeing as well.

History

The name "Tielen" no longer has a meaning in modern-day Dutch (or Flemish) and it is not sure what it means. It could mean "a moist swampy area covered with small plants", "a river lock" or even "a row of houses next to a river" There's no real date to point out the foundation of Tielen. The oldest documents mentioning the village are from the 13th century, but most historians think the village is actually much older. The characteristics of the oldest settlements prove the village was founded by the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

when they colonized the area. Yet an even earlier settlement could be located where the castle of Tielen stands today. In 1597 there was a battle in Tielen. It was called 'The battle near

' or ' The battle on Tielenheide', this battle was between The Northern

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 ...

and the Spanish occupier of The Southern Netherlands, nowadays where we situate

. The first years after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

had a military base in the village, in the surrounding villages people referred to Tielen as 'Little Britain'. This of course ended when the Belgian 3PARA took over the base. In 1977, Tielen had not enough inhabitants to remain an independent municipality. It was fused into a larger municipality together with

and

Accessibility

There's a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in Tielen and it has direct connections with

and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. The village is near the E34 highway and has several bus connections.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Antwerp Province Kasterlee