Campine

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the breed of chicken, see
Campine (chicken)
.
Maps of de Kempen (Belgium and the Netherlands)
Nature reservation "de Teut" in the Campine municipality of Zonhoven, on the southern edge of the Campine.
Map showing location of the Hoge Kempen National Park, at the southeastern extremity of the Campine.
The natural regions of Belgium. Campine continues into the Netherlands, not shown here.
  Campine

The Campine (

heath, and wetlands. It encompasses a large northern and eastern portion of Antwerp Province and adjacent parts of Limburg in Belgium, as well as portions of the Dutch province of North Brabant (area southwest of Eindhoven) and Dutch Limburg around Weert
.

The Medieval Latin name Campania, firstly attested in the mid-11th century by a monk of Saint-Trond named Stepelinus, stems from the root kamp- ('field') attached to the suffix -injo, denoting the uncultivated or the virgin fields.[1]

The inhabitants of the Campine region are known as Kempenaars.

Culture

The region, described as a desolate flat land, often appears in the books of the prominent Flemish writer

interbellum Felix Timmermans, Ernest Claes, Stijn Streuvels, Jozef Simons and the poet Jozef De Voght wrote about the Belgian Campine. The painters Jakob Smits (1855–1928) and Frans Van Giel
(1892–1975) painted many Campine landscapes.

The region is rich in folk tales, such as the stories about the Buckriders (Dutch: Bokkenrijders) and those concerning the gnome king Kyrië (Dutch: Kabouterkoning Kyrië).

The Museum Kempenland in Eindhoven has a considerable and historically important art collection of painters, draughtsmen, sculptors, blacksmiths and other craftsmen from this region. Much of the architectural, agrarian and historical and cultural heritage of the Campine can be visited in the open-air museum of

Toxandria
or Taxandria.

Part of the Campine is protected as the Hoge Kempen Nationaal Park (High Campine National Park). It is located in the east of the Belgian province Limburg, between the city of Genk and the Meuse valley and was opened in March 2006.[4] Covering almost 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi), it forms part of the

heathland and pine forest
. In May 2011 it was placed on UNESCO's Tentative List for consideration as a World Heritage Site.

History

The Campine is an area in the Belgian provinces Antwerp, Limburg and the extreme north of the province

Groote Peel, a region which is geographically related to the Campine. The south border is formed by the river Demer, and the east border by the valley of the river Meuse. The Campine plateau is part of the Campine region. The Campine Basin, which extends from Belgium into the Netherlands, is formed by the Devonian and Carboniferous sedimentary rocks on the northern flank of the Brabant Massif
.

Urbanization

Since it was a region with a poor sandy soil, there are only a few old or large cities in the region. Most of those cities are located at the outer rim of the region, such as Hasselt, Diest, Aarschot, Lier (the self-styled gate of the Campine, a title also claimed by the Northern-Brabant Oirschot), Breda, Tilburg, Eindhoven, Maaseik, and Maastricht. Turnhout is an exception. West of Turnhout clay was used for the production of barge, which is one of the reasons why the Noord-Kempens Canal was dug to Antwerp. Also, the Herentals were an historical industrial center for its textile industry of which the Lakenhal on the main market place is a remaining monument. The printing industry in Turnhout is historically important, with companies such as Brepols and more recently Cartamundi.

19th century

The region was sparsely populated, and therefore chosen by monks who were looking for silence, such as those of the abbeys of

silica sand layers in Mol for industrial applications (glass). In 1891, the Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. was founded in Eindhoven (North Brabant). In the 19th and 20th centuries, industry established itself in the region, such as the metallurgy in Balen-Overpelt-Lommel
.

20th century

In the 20th century, the first nuclear installation in Belgium, the

Oostmalle, Weelde and Zutendaal
.

Due to the exploitation of the Campine coal basin, especially after World War II, new industrial activity was established, such as in Geel, Beringen and Genk. The Belgian village of Dessel is called Heart of the Campine, while Westerlo and Kasterlee are called Pearl of the Campine. The most picturesque villages in the Dutch, Northern-Brabant Campine are Oirschot, Eersel and Hilvarenbeek. The other villages have lost much of their historical elements in their course towards industrialisation. In the Dutch Campine eight villages are located which are known under the name acht zaligheden (E: eight blessed ones). The denomination zaligheden has been borrowed from the sel, which is at the end of the name of seven of these eight villages selligheden).

Mechelse Hei (Maasmechelen heath)

Environment

In the Campine there are still a number of bunches,

Prinsenpark (Retie). The natural reserves De Teut in Zonhoven and Ter Haagdoornheide in Houthalen-Helchteren and the Nationaal Park Hoge Kempen. At the border with Belgium in the Dutch part of Campine near Bladel there is natural landscape area with heathland such as Cartierheide and De Pals and Kroonvense Heide. To the North, the area between Boxtel and Oisterwijk
is called Kampina. In a number of villages, one can still see the typical Campine langgevelboerderijen (long-facade farms).

Trivia

  • The Kempenaar singer Louis Neefs released the relatively well known song "M'n dorp in de Kempen" ("My village in the Campine") in 1966.[7]
  • SS. La Campine (2,595
    GRT), was built by Palmers' SB. & Iron Co., Ltd., Newcastle for F. Speth & Co., Antwerp and sailing for the American Petroleum Company. It was a steamship with auxiliary sails, an early oil tanker that was launched in 1892, and was sunk by U-boat UC 50 in North Sea waters (Doggersbank, 56.00 North - 04.57 East) on March 13, 1917, on its way from Rotterdam to New York City.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Bijsterveld & Toorians 2018, p. 40.
  2. ^ Camby, J. (1935) Victor Hugo en Belgique. Paris: L'Ecran du Monde
  3. ^ Bont, Antonius Petrus de (1958) Dialekt van Kempenland 3 Deel [in ?5 vols.] Assen: van Gorcum, 1958-60. 1962, 1985
  4. ^ "First National Park opened – Milestone for Belgium's Countdown 2010". countdown2010. 2006-03-23. Archived from the original on 2011-02-24. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  5. ^ "The National Park Hoge Kempen" (PDF). Eurosite. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  6. ^ Harry De Kok, Het Turnhout Van Toen, Publ. Marc Van de Wiel, Bruges, 1987, p.112
  7. ^ "Mijn dorpje in de Kempen". muziekarchief.be.
  8. ^ "Tanker la Campine - Ships hit by U-boats - German and Austrian U-boats of World War One - Kaiserliche Marine - uboat.net".

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kempen (region).
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Kempen.

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