Breda (Netherlands)

Information about Breda (Netherlands)

For other uses see Breda (disambiguation).
Breda
Enlarge picture
Location of Breda
Country Netherlands
Province North Brabant
Area (2006)
 - Municipality 129.15 km  (0 sq mi)
 - Land 126.87 km (0 sq mi)
 - Water 2.28 km (0 sq mi)
Population (1 January, 2007)
 - Municipality 170,491
 - Density 1344/km (0/sq mi)
 Source: CBS, Statline.
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)


Enlarge picture
Grote Kerk (main church) or Onze Lieve Vrouwe Kerk (Church of Our Lady).


Breda ( (helpinfo)) is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa ('broad Aa') and refers to the place where the rivers Mark and Aa come together. Breda's Urban Area has around 200.000 - 300.000 people.

Population centres

  • Breda (~170,000)
  • Ginneken (former village absorbed by city agglomeration)
  • Princenhage (former village absorbed by city agglomeration)
  • Zandberg (former hamlet absorbed by city agglomeration)
  • Prinsenbeek (~11,500) (added at the municipal redividing in 1997)
  • Bavel (~7,000) (added at the municipal redividing in 1997)
  • Teteringen (~6,500) (added at the municipal redividing in 1997)
  • Ulvenhout (~4,700) (added at the municipal redividing in 1997)
As well as these small hamlets:
  • De Rith
  • Effen
  • Eikberg
  • Hoeveneind
  • Kerkhoven
  • Kerkeind
  • Lies
  • Roosberg
  • Strikberg
The rest of this article deals with the city of Breda alone.

The city of Breda

History

Breda was a fortified city of strategic significance in the Netherlands. Many events transpired in the city. In the 11th century, Breda was a direct fief of the Holy Roman Emperor, its earliest known lord being Henry of Brunesheim (1080 - 1125).

In 1327 Breda was sold by Adelheid of Gaveren to John III, Duke of Brabant. In 1350, the fief was resold to John II of Wassenaar (d. 1377). In 1403 the heiress of his line, Johanna of Polanen (1392 - 1445), married Engelbert I of Nassau (1370 - 1442).

Henceforth it remained in the house of Nassau, passing ultimately to William I of Orange (1533 - 1584), the first stadtholder of the Netherlands. Thus the baron of Breda was also count of Nassau, Germany, Prince of Orange and stadtholder of the Dutch Republic (from 1572-1650, 1672-1702, 1747-1795). Breda remained part of the barony Breda until it was extinguished by French revolutionary forces in 1795.

Enlarge picture
Surrender of Breda, by Diego Velázquez.


The city of Breda obtained a municipal charter in 1252. After that Breda had the rights to build fortifications with brick walls and roman style gates.

In the 15th century the citie's welfare grew rapidly. A great church was built in Brabantine Gothic style with a gallant 97m high tower, called Grote Kerk (main church) or Onze Lieve Vrouwe Kerk (Church of Our Lady). In 1534 the modest medieval fortifications were impressively rebuilt by Henry III of Nassau-Breda and remained an impregnable stronghold of the line of fortresses in the Netherlands.

In the same period Breda became a royal city which attracted lots of noblemen who built large residences in the old city. The most impressive one, a palace, was built by the Italian architect Thomas Vincidor de Bologna - the first renaissance style built palace north of the Alps. It became the place where the first Dutch princes resided.

In 1534, however, Breda also suffered a huge fire which destroyed about 1300 houses, churches and chapels along with the town hall. Only 150 houses were left after the fire along with the main church.

During the Eighty Years' War Breda was captured by surprise by the Spaniards in 1581, but in 1590 it fell again into the hands of Maurice of Nassau, 68 picked men contriving to get into the town concealed under the turf in a peat-boat, a daring plan of Adriaen van Bergen. The Spaniards Hole marks the spot where the peat-boat allegedly laid, although this is not historically proven.

The surrender of Breda in 1625, after a ten months siege, to the Spaniards under Spinola was inmortalized by Diego Velázquez. In 1637 Breda was recaptured by Frederick Henry of Orange after a four months siege, and in 1648 it was finally ceded to the Dutch Republic by the Treaty of Westphalia.

The exiled Stuart pretender Charles II of England resided in Breda during most of his exile during the Cromwellian Commonwealth and Protectorate, thanks to the proximity of Charles's sister Mary, Princess Royal, the widow of Prince William II of Orange.

Based mostly on suggestions by Parliamentarian General George Monck, Charles II's Declaration of Breda (1660) made known the conditions of his acceptance of the crown of England which he was to accept/resume later in the same year.

The Treaty of Breda was signed in the city, July 31, 1667, bringing to an end the Second Anglo-Dutch War in which the Dutch faced the same Charles II who had been their guest.

Enlarge picture
Van Slobbe, the Mayor of Breda, giving a welcome speech to the Polish 1st Armoured Division.


During the World War II the city was under German occupation. It was liberated following a successful outflanking manouevre planned and performed by forces of 1st Polish Armoured Division of Gen. Maczek on October 29, 1944.

Breda was the site of one of the first panopticon prison establishments. This prison housed the only German war criminals ever to be imprisoned in the Netherlands for their war crimes during the Second World War. They were known as the 'Breda Four (and later three)'. They were Willy Paul Franz Lages who was released in 1966 due to serious illness, Joseph Johann Kotälla who died in prison in 1979, Ferdinand Hugo aus der Fünten and Franz Fischer who both were released in 1989.

Administration

The city has the following suburban neighbourhoods: Princenhage (former village), Ginneken (former village), de Haagse Beemden, de IJpelaar, Heusdenhout, Brabantpark, Heuvelkwartier, Tuinzigt, Blauwe Kei, Belcrum, and de Hoge Vucht.

Economy

Economic activities were mainly industrial. Breda was a center of the food- and drinking industry. Company's like Hero (lemonade ao), Van Melle (Mentos ao), De Faam (liquorice) and Kwatta (chocolate) were famous throughout Western Europe. Breda also had a sugar factory, supplying its best-known products. Breda also used to house the biggest brewery in the Netherlands (Oranjeboom). Interbrew, the Belgian owner of the brewery, has closed down the brewery in 2004. The decline of industrial activity did not harm the city's economy. The main economic activities now are business and trade. When the new Central Station is built circa 2008, Breda will be connected by high-speed trains to the main European cities.

Enlarge picture
Begijnhof (Béguinage).
Enlarge picture
Chassé Theater (Chassé Theatre) Breda.

Sights

Breda has a city centre with beautiful old buildings and singels (moats). The shops and a shopping mall are located here. The city is also home to a museum devoted to General Stanisław Maczek and the Polish 1st Armoured Division. There is also a Polish military cemetery, where general Maczek is buried.

Transportation

Breda has train stations Breda and Breda-Prinsenbeek, providing connections with Zuid-Holland (Dordrecht - Rotterdam - Den Haag) and Tilburg - Eindhoven, and from station Breda also to Roosendaal with connection to Vlissingen and Antwerp. In addition, trains also head north from Breda to Amsterdam and east to Den Bosch - Nijmegen.

Moreover, from 2007 onward there will be a high-speed shuttle connection to Rotterdam - The Hague / Amsterdam and Antwerp - Brussels, on the HSL-Zuid line.

Miscellaneous

  • The Dutch Royal Military Academy, Koninklijke Militaire Academie, is located in Breda.
  • Breda's popular soccer club, NAC Breda, plays in the highest Dutch league, the Eredivisie.
  • Breda's athletics club, A.V. Sprint, is the largest club of its kind in the Netherlands.
  • Colonel Tom Parker, the manager of Elvis Presley, was born in Breda as Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk.
  • Breda is also home to DJ Tiesto, an international trance music artist.
  • Breda has one of the most famous Dutch choirs, the Sacramentskoor. It is a male choir (boys and men), semi-professional.
  • Breda is the birthplace of former Olympic swimmer Karin Brienesse and former field hockey player Remco van Wijk, who twice won the gold medal at the Summer Olympics with the Dutch National Team: 1996 and 2000.
  • The Dutch soccer international Pierre van Hooijdonk was raised in Breda. Other formerly international Dutch football players from NAC Breda were Rat Verlegh, Kees Rijvers, Kees Kuijs, Leo Canjels, Daan Schrijvers, Frans Bouwmeester, Nico Rijnders, Ad Brouwers, Bertus Quaars, Martin Vreysen and Ton Lokhoff.
  • BREDA beer is a world renowned drink that is made in this region.

External links

  •  • [ e] North Brabant Province
Aalburg | Alphen-Chaam | Asten | Baarle-Nassau | Bergeijk | Bergen op Zoom | Bernheze | Best | Bladel | Boekel | Boxmeer | Boxtel | Breda | Cranendonck | Cuijk | Deurne | Dongen | Drimmelen | Eersel | Eindhoven | Etten-Leur | Geertruidenberg | Geldrop-Mierlo | Gemert-Bakel | Gilze en Rijen | Goirle | Grave | Haaren | Halderberge | Heeze-Leende | Helmond | 's-Hertogenbosch | Heusden | Hilvarenbeek | Laarbeek | Landerd | Lith | Loon op Zand | Maasdonk | Mill en Sint Hubert | Moerdijk | Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten | Oirschot | Oisterwijk | Oosterhout | Oss | Reusel-De Mierden | Roosendaal | Rucphen | Schijndel | Sint Anthonis | Sint-Michielsgestel | Sint-Oedenrode | Someren | Son en Breugel | Steenbergen | Tilburg | Uden | Valkenswaard | Veghel | Veldhoven | Vught | Waalre | Waalwijk | Werkendam | Woensdrecht | Woudrichem | Zundert
Netherlands | Provinces | Municipalities| map
 •  • [ e]
Seventeen Provinces (1477) — Burgundian Circle (1512)
StatesArtois | Brabant | Drenthe | Flanders | Friesland | Groningen | Guelders | Hainaut | Holland | Limburg | Luxembourg | Mechelen | Namur | Overijssel | Utrecht | Zeeland | Zutphen
Dependent territoriesAntwerp | Besanon | Breda | Burgundy
Coordinates:
Breda may refer to the following:
  • Breda a city in southern Netherlands
  • Breda a municipality in Selva (comarca), Girona (province), Catalonia, Spain.
  • Breda is a city in Iowa, United States.

..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"Je maintiendrai"   (French)
"Ik zal handhaven"   (Dutch)
"I shall stand fast"1
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
Provincie Noord-Brabant
Province of North Brabant

Flag Coat of arms

Capital 's-Hertogenbosch
Largest city Eindhoven
Queen's Commissioner J.R.H.
..... Click the link for more information.
Area is a physical quantity expressing the size of a part of a surface. The term Surface area is the summation of the areas of the exposed sides of an object.

Units

Units for measuring surface area include:
square metre = SI derived unit

..... Click the link for more information.
Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to:
  • 1,000,000 m²
  • 100 ha (hectare)
Conversely:
  • 1 m² = 0.

..... Click the link for more information.
square mile is an imperial and US unit of area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. It should not be confused with the archaic miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared.
..... Click the link for more information.
January 1 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining. The preceding day is December 31 of the previous year.
..... Click the link for more information.
20th century - 21st century - 22nd century
1970s  1980s  1990s  - 2000s -  2010s  2020s  2030s
2004 2005 2006 - 2007 - 2008 2009 2010

2007 by topic:
News by month
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
..... Click the link for more information.
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, humans in particular.

Biological population densities


..... Click the link for more information.
Statistics Netherlands is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek and often abbreviated to CBS.
..... Click the link for more information.
time zone is a region of the Earth that has adopted the same standard time, usually referred to as the local time. Most adjacent time zones are exactly one hour apart, and by convention compute their local time as an offset from UTC (see also Greenwich Mean Time).
..... Click the link for more information.
Central European Time (CET) is one of the names of the time zone that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in most European and some North African countries.

Its time offset is UTC+1. During daylight saving time CEST is used instead (UTC+2).
..... Click the link for more information.
UTC+1 is used in the following locations:
  • Central European Time
  • West Africa Time
  • Western European Summer Time*
  • British Summer Time*
  • Irish Summer Time*

..... Click the link for more information.
Daylight saving time (DST; also summer time in British English) is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less.
..... Click the link for more information.
Central European Summer Time (CEST) is one of the names of UTC+2 time zone, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in most European and some North African countries. During the winter, Central European Time (UTC+1) is used.
..... Click the link for more information.
UTC+2 corresponds to the following time zones:
  • Eastern European Time
  • Egypt Standard Time
  • Central Africa Time
  • Israel Standard Time
  • South Africa Standard Time
  • Central European Summer Time
  • West Africa Summer Time

..... Click the link for more information.
municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly referring to a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. A municipality is typically governed by a mayor and a city council or municipal council.
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"Je maintiendrai"   (French)
"Ik zal handhaven"   (Dutch)
"I shall stand fast"1
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
Mark is a river in Belgium and the Netherlands. It rises north of Turnhout, Belgium. It passes through Hoogstraten before crossing the border with the Netherlands. In the city centre of Breda it receives its main tributary Aa/Weerijs.
..... Click the link for more information.
Aa is the name of a large number of small European rivers. The word is derived from the continental common Germanic word aha, cognate to the Latin aqua, meaning water.
..... Click the link for more information.
Princenhage is a neighbourhood in the southwest of the city Breda in the Dutch province of North Brabant.

Until 1942, Princenhage was a separate municipality. The original name of the municipality was "Haage", which was changed to "Princenhage" in 1819.
..... Click the link for more information.
Zandberg is a district of Breda, in the Netherlands.

The Zandberg (or "Sand-mountain") is a district to the South of the City centre of Breda. Like all "mountains" in the Netherlands, it is basically a very flat area, which primarily called mountain because it is a slightly
..... Click the link for more information.
Prinsenbeek
Country Netherlands
Province North Brabant
City Breda
Population (1 January, 2007)
 - Town 11.
..... Click the link for more information.
Bavel is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Breda

Coordinates:

Bavel had its own website. Sorry. Its only in dutch, but you can see many pictures of the small village.
..... Click the link for more information.
Teteringen is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Breda, about 4 km north of the city centre.

Teteringen was a separate municipality until 1997, when it became part of Breda.
..... Click the link for more information.
Ulvenhout is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Breda

Coordinates:
..... Click the link for more information.
defensive wall is a fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements. Generally, these are referred to as city walls or town walls
..... Click the link for more information.
As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100.

In the history of European culture, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages.
..... Click the link for more information.
fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing property granted by a liege lord in return for a form of allegiance, originally to give him the means to fulfill his military duties when called upon.
..... Click the link for more information.
Holy Roman Emperor (German: Römischer Kaiser, Latin: Romanorum Imperator) was the elected monarch ruling over the Holy Roman Empire, a Central European state in existence during the Middle
..... Click the link for more information.

This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.