Veghel | |
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Town and formermunicipality | |
     _War_memorial.JPG)   From top down, left to right: market square of Veghel, formercantonal court andtown hall,Klondike villa, Sacred Heart statue, Wiebenga silo, Airborne Monument, Saint Lambert Church, formerSynagogue of Veghel | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Veghel Location in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands Show map of North Brabant Veghel Veghel (Netherlands) Show map of Netherlands | |
| Coordinates:51°37′N5°33′E / 51.617°N 5.550°E /51.617; 5.550 | |
| Country |  Netherlands |
| Province |  North Brabant |
| Municipality | Meierijstad |
| Incorporated | 1310 |
| Market rights | 1719 |
| Merged | 2017 |
| Area | |
• Town | 43.06 km2 (16.63 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 10 m (33 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
• Town | 32,585 |
| • Density | 756.7/km2 (1,960/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Veghelaar |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postcode | 5460–5469 |
| Area code | 0413 |
| Website | www |
Veghel (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈvɛxəl]ⓘ) is atown and a formermunicipality in SouthernNetherlands. On 1 January 2017 Veghel, together withSchijndel andSint-Oedenrode, merged into a new municipality calledMeierijstad. This created the largest municipality of theprovince ofNorth Brabant in terms of land area.[3]
The first known settlements date toRoman times and were established near theRiver Aa. The oldest written record of Veghel dates from 1225. It is a document of theAbbey of Berne, written inLatin on a piece ofparchment, and describes several properties owned by the abbey. Among those is anestate located in the settlement of "Vehchele".
In 1310, John II of Brabant granted the inhabitants the right to use common grounds. For some decades in the 16th and 17th century, the municipality was ruled by the Lords Van Erp; they resided at their castle of Frisselsteijn in Veghel.
In 1648 Veghel became part of theRepublic of the Seven United Netherlands. As a former part of theDuchy of Brabant, Veghel is situated in theMeierij of's-Hertogenbosch.
Like all the other areas of Brabant andLimburg which were transferred to the Netherlands by thePeace of Westphalia), Veghel was a Catholic town. It suffered economic and religious oppression from the Protestant Dutch and was part of the military buffer zone of the Dutch Republic.
In 1719 Veghel became amarket town, when it was grantedmarket rights by theStates General of the Netherlands. This gave it the privilege of holding weeklymarkets and fourannual fairs. However, it was not until the French wars of 1795 that Veghel formally received freedom of religion again and received a guarantee of full common rights from the Dutch government.
In 1810 Veghel became part of theKingdom of the Netherlands. From the middle of the 19th century, the agrarian market town began to industrialize as a consequence of the opening of theSouth Willem's Canal. The wealth generated by new industries helped support the construction of large-scale buildings, such as the neogothicchurch byPierre Cuypers and the neoclassicaltown hall, dates from that period. Monastic orders developed Veghel as a regional centre of health care and education, which it remains to this day.
In 1940 Veghel was occupied byGerman troops. With the beginning ofOperation Market Garden in 1944, Veghel was one of the dropping-sites for Alliedparatroops owing to its strategic location.
The period since the 1950s has seen much growth, with the development of new industries. Also several international companies (e.g.Mars, Incorporated,FrieslandCampina,DMV International,Agrifirm,Kuehne + Nagel,DHL Supply Chain,Alliance Healthcare,ThyssenKrupp andVanderlande Industries) have established centers in Veghel.
Its shopping centre and marketplace earned the town the name of "Pearl of the Meierij". Veghel is an educational centre for the surrounding district: it has several secondary schools, a senior secondary vocational school, and the Pedagogic Academy, founded in 1872 and one of the oldest higher vocational schools in the area.
Since 1994, Veghel and the neighbouring town ofErp have formed a single municipality.
Population figures as of 1 January 2015, ranked by size:[4]
| Town | Population | Density |
| Veghel (nl) | 31,032 | 730/km2 |
| Erp | 6,743 | 189/km2 |
Population figures as of 1 January 2015, ranked by size:[4]
| Urban core | Population | Density |
| Veghel | 26,491 | 1063/km2 |
| Erp | 4,761 | 239/km2 |
| Zijtaart | 1,727 | 173/km2 |
| Mariaheide | 1,449 | 355/km2 |
| Eerde | 1,365 | 387/km2 |
| Keldonk | 1,204 | 112/km2 |
| Boerdonk | 778 | 157/km2 |
The language spoken by the native population is North Meierijs (anEast Brabantian dialect, which is very similar to colloquialDutch).[5]
Compared to other towns in the region, the ethnic makeup of Veghel is relatively diverse.[6] More than 22% of the town's population, or 17% of the municipality's population, is of foreign origin.[7] In total, Veghel is home to people of more than a hundred different nationalities.[8] About 90% of the municipality's total foreign population lives inside thetown proper of Veghel.[9]
Every November sees the celebration of the entry of St Nicholas (Sinterklaas).Every two years in June or July, the Slokdarmfestival takes place.On 1 September the harbour festival takes place.In February or March the traditionalcarnival is held.
Veghel istwinned with:
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Media related toVeghel at Wikimedia CommonsPlaces adjacent to Veghel | |
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