Uden () is a town and former municipality in the province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

, in the Netherlands. Since 2022 it has been part of the new municipality of Maashorst.

History

Uden was first recorded around 1190 as "Uthen". However, earlier settlements have been found in the areas of modern-day Moleneind, Vorstenburg and Bitswijk and evidence of

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

settlements has been found near the hamlet of Slabroek. From 1324 Uden was ruled by the Valkenburg house and became a part of the . After 1397 it became a part of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

duchy of Cleves The Duchy of Cleves (; ) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire which emerged from the medieval . It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the towns of Wesel, Kalkar, Xanten, Emme ...

. Uden was hardly affected by the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

and gained religious freedom in 1631. A result of this was the establishment in the municipality of the Crosiers, who fled from Protestant Dutch oppression in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

in 1638. After the peace of Munster in 1648, Uden remained outside the

Dutch republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

and was a haven of religious tolerance, and Catholics from the nearby towns of

Veghel Veghel () is a town and a former municipality in Southern Netherlands. On 1 January 2017 Veghel, together with Schijndel and Sint-Oedenrode, merged into a new municipality called Meierijstad. This created the largest municipality of the provi ...

, Nistelrode and Erp were able to build churches at the municipality's boundaries. The period of 1648–1795 saw an increase in prosperity due to the weekly markets, however, the town was almost destroyed by a fire in 1746. The Dutch folk-hero Kobus van der Schlossen was locally active at this time. In 1795, Uden was taken by French troops and incorporated into the Dutch republic and has been a part of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...

since 1810. After that time Uden's wealth diminished, mainly due to competition from the neighbouring Brabant towns, resulting in immigration to the Midwestern United States. In 1848, The Dominican Catholic missionary Father Theodore J. van den Broek led a group of Dutch Catholics from Uden to Little Chute, Wisconsin, beginning a pattern of immigration to northeast Wisconsin that would last until the early twentieth century. That region of Wisconsin remains largely populated by descendants of Dutch Catholic immigrants from the Uden area. The Midwest was selected for its fairly similar landscape, which allowed the East Dutch immigrants, who were primarily farmers, to continue the same agricultural practices in the United States. On 12 June 1840, a

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

weighing approximately 720 grams fell into a field just outside Uden. It narrowly missed a group of laborers digging for

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

nearby. In 1855, the village of Volkel founded its own parish. Uden began to specialise in the growth of cherries from 1860 onwards. In 1886, the old Petrus-church was demolished by fire and replaced by a new larger one. During World War I (in which the Netherlands stayed neutral) North Brabant had many Belgian refugees. A refugee camp was erected at Vluchtoord in Uden, which housed several thousand Flemish refugees until 1918. In the 1920s, people started to cultivate the extensive heathlands in the eastern part of the municipality, called "De Peel". In 1922, a new village was built, called Terraveen and later renamed Odiliapeel. After Uden was struck by a devastating cyclone in 1925, it was visited by Wilhelmina, queen of the Netherlands. Since the 1950s, Uden has become a regional centre of development, providing much needed economic growth. Due to its growth, very little is left of the old town's character. Sint Petrus

Population centres

* Odiliapeel *Uden * Volkel

Places of interest

Notable people

* Theodorus Verhoeven (1907–1990), missionary and archaeologist *

Gerrit Braks Gerardus Johannes Maria "Gerrit" Braks (23 May 1933 – 12 July 2017) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and agronomist. Braks applied at the Wageningen Ag ...

(1933–2017), politician and agronomist * Theodore J. van den Broek, Dominican Catholic Missionary who led a wave of Dutch emigration to the American Midwest, primarily Wisconsin. *

Gerrit van Dijk Gerrit van Dijk (5 December 1938 – 4 December 2012) was a Dutch animator, film maker, actor and painter. Biography Gerrit van Dijk was born in a Catholic family in the village of Volkel, in the municipality of Uden. He studied as a fifteen- ...

(1938–2012), animator, filmmaker, actor, and painter * Cilia van Dijk (1941–2023)), film producer * Addy van den Krommenacker (born 1950), fashion designer * Sultan Günal-Gezer (born 1961), politician, municipal councillor and alderman of Uden * Martin van Drunen (born 1966),

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

vocalist * Nikkie de Jager (born 1994), makeup artist and beauty vlogger

Sport

Para-cycling German championships and Europe Cup 2016 132

* Theo Willems (1891–1960), archer, team gold medallist at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

* Wilma van den Berg (born 1947), sprinter, competed at the

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

(which she left in the middle, in sympathy with the Israelis after the Munich Massacre) *

Earnie Stewart Earnest Lee Stewart Jr. (born March 28, 1969) is an American former Association football, soccer player who played as a Forward (association football)#Forward, forward or midfielder. His career spanned 17 years from 1988 until his retirement in ...

(born 1969), American retired soccer player * Laura de Vaan (born 1980), Paralympian who competes in handcycle events * Cheryl Maas (born 1984), snowboarder, competed at three Winter Olympics * Maud van der Meer (born 1992)m swimmer, competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

International relations

Uden is twinned with

Gallery

File:NL-Uden-City Hall (2).jpg, Uden-City Hall File:NL-Uden-Urban Art-Penthouses.jpg, Uden-Urban Art-Penthouses File:NL-Uden-Zuid-Groen op zuid-Fietspad.jpg, Uden-Zuid-Groen op zuid-cycle path File:Groene hond - panoramio.jpg, Groene hond File:NL-Uden-Zuid-Riviertje.jpg, Uden-Zuid-Riviertje

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Former municipalities of North Brabant Populated places in North Brabant Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2022 Geography of Maashorst