Dendermonde
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Dendermonde | ||
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Location in Belgium
Location of Dendermonde in East Flanders Region Flemish Region | | |
Province | East Flanders | |
Arrondissement | Dendermonde | |
Government | ||
• Mayor | Leen Dierick (CD&V) | |
• Governing party/ies | CD&V, N-VA | |
Area | ||
• Total | 56.52 km2 (21.82 sq mi) | |
Population (2018-01-01)[1] | ||
• Total | 45,673 | |
• Density | 810/km2 (2,100/sq mi) | |
Postal codes | 9200 | |
NIS code | 42006 | |
Area codes | 052 | |
Website | www.dendermonde.be |
Dendermonde (Dutch pronunciation:
The city is an administrative, commercial, educational, and medical centre for the surrounding region. The current mayor of Dendermonde is
History
Origins to the 15th century
Some interesting
16th to 20th century
The 16th century saw a decline in Dendermonde's fortunes. In 1572 Dendermonde was conquered by
The second half of the 18th century was generally prosperous, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and a local cotton industry. After 1800, the port facilities were modernized and the first railways were laid down, allowing other industries (oil, shoe, leather…) to move in.
The onset of World War I in September 1914 was disastrous for the city as more than half of its housing and the city archives were either bombed or burned down.
21st century
On August 19, 2006, 28 prisoners managed to escape Dendermonde prison. Seven of them were captured within hours. A few were later found in Italy and Russia. They managed to escape because the lock was old and rusty. They simply walked away, tied all their sheets together, climbed over the wall, jumped on a phone booth and ran away.
On 23 January 2009, a 20-year-old Flemish man named Kim De Gelder attacked a children's daycare centre in the village of Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde, stabbing three people to death and wounding as many as twenty. One of the school teachers and two babies, aged 8 and 9 months, died in the attack.[3] Italian singer Luciano Ligabue dedicated a song to the victims: Quando mi vieni a prendere? (Dendermonde 23/01/09), in his 2010 album, Arrivederci, Mostro!.[4]
Main sights
- The central market square (Grote Markt)
- The Town Hall, housing an art collection
- The Butcher's Hall (Dutch: Vleeshuismuseum), a museum with an archeological and historical collection. From the prehistory of the region to the 21st century
- The Church of Our Lady (Dutch: Onze Lieve-Vrouwekerk) with two paintings by Anthony van Dyck
- The UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.[5]
- The city hall and belfry have also been designated a World Heritage Site since 1999.[6] The belfry houses a carillon and was formerly part of the Cloth Hall.
- The Benedictine abbey famous for its library containing an original manuscript of Hildegard of Bingen, called the 'Dendermonde Codex'.[7]
- The Dendermonde-Puurs Steam Railway is a heritage railway, running 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) from Dendermonde to Puurs.
- Jazz Center Flanders, archive, documentation center and museum[8]
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Dendermonde beguinage
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Monumental building: het Vleeshuis
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Market square with pubs and town hall
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Brussels Gate
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Tournai font in the Onze Lieve-Vrouwekerk
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The courthouse
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The Church of Our Lady (Onze Lieve-Vrouwekerk)
Events
Dendermonde likes to be known for its decennial procession, featuring the heroic horse: Ros Beiaard. Legend has this horse saving his master and his three brothers from capture by Charlemagne. The annual Parade of the three Giants of the Guilds Indian, Mars and Goliath, have the title of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. This parade takes place on the last Thursday of August.
Sport
Dendermonde is home to
Notable people
- Vanessa Chinitor (born 1976), singer, born in Dendermonde
- Rosiana Coleners (ca.1500–after 1571), poetess
- Franz Courtens (1854–1943), painter, born in Dendermonde
- Polydore de Keyser (1832–1898), Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London, 1887/8
- Pierre-Jean De Smet (1801–1873), missionary among Native Americans
- Jan De Vos (1844–1923), mayor of Antwerp
- Philippe Geubels (born 1981), stand-up comedian
- Emmanuel Hiel, poet and prose writer (1834–1899)
- Kim Kay (pseudonym of Kim Van Hee) (born 1978), Belgian singer, born in Dendermonde
- Willem Kerricx (1652–1719), sculptor
- Fernand Khnopff (1858–1921), painter
- Clément Loret (1833–1909), organist and composer, naturalized French
- Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1410–1497), composer, said to be born in Dendermonde
- Chicagoand, later, of Mississippi
- Michael Pauluzen Van der Voort (ca.1615–1690), early resident of New Amsterdam
- Annelies Verbeke (born 1976), author
- Frans Verhas (ca.1827 – ca.1897), painter
- Jan Verhas (1834–1886), painter
- Dirk Verhofstadt (born 1955), political scientist, born and raised in Dendermonde, brother of Guy Verhofstadt
- Guy Verhofstadt (born 1953), former Belgian prime minister, born and raised in Dendermonde, brother of Dirk Verhofstadt
- Remi Vermeiren (born 1940), businessman, born in Dendermonde
- Cornelis Columbanus Vrancx (1529–1615), writer
Sport
- Laurens De Bock (born 1992), footballer
- Alwin de Prins (born 1978), competitive swimmer
- Geert De Vlieger (born 1971), Belgian international soccer player
- Thomas Kaminski (born 1992), Belgian international goalkeeper
- Caroline Maes (born 1982), tennis player
- Bob Straetman (born 1997), footballer
- Ivo Van Damme (1954–1976), middle distance runner
- Pat Van Den Hauwe (born 1960), Welsh international soccer player
Twin cities
- Geldrop, Netherlands
- Nienburg, Germany
- Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
- Târgu Neamț, Romania
See also
- Inverted Dendermonde, the most valuable Belgian stamp
References
- ^ "Wettelijke Bevolking per gemeente op 1 januari 2018". Statbel. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 645.
- ^ "Five dead in knife attack at Belgian creche". Telegraph.co.uk. Jan 23, 2009. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
- ^ "Quando mi vieni a prendere? (Dendermonde 23/01/09)". Ligachannel (in Italian). April 26, 2010. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
- ^ "Flemish Béguinages". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ "Belfries of Belgium and France". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ "Dendermonde Codex in doctoraatsthesis". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch).
- ^ Muziekcentrum Vlaanderen, Jazz Centrum Vlaanderen (in Dutch)
External links
- Media related to Dendermonde at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website - only available in Dutch
- Youth community site for Dendermonde - only available in Dutch