's Hertogenbosch
's-Hertogenbosch (literally "Duke's Woods" in Dutch; translated in French as Bois-le-Duc), unofficially also called Den Bosch, is a municipality in the Netherlands, the capital of the province of North Brabant. It is located in the south of the Netherlands, some 80 km south of Amsterdam.
Population centres
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Bokhoven, Crevecoeur, Deuteren (former village), Dieskant, Empel, Engelen, Gewande, 's-Hertogenbosch, Hintham, Kruisstraat, Maliskamp, Meerwijk, Orthen (former village), Oud-Empel & Rosmalen.
The city of 's-Hertogenbosch
History
The city owes its official name to des hertogen bosch - the duke's woods. The duke in question was Henry I, Duke of Brabant. At age 26, he granted 's-Hertogenbosch city rights and the corresponding trade privileges in 1185. His reason for doing so was to protect his own interest against Gelre and Holland.
Until 1520, the city flourished, after that it came under Spanish rule for 50 years, while it was besieged several times by Prince Maurice of Orange, who wanted to put 's-Hertogenbosch under rule of the United Provinces. The town was finally conquered by Frederik Hendrik of Orange in 1629, cutting the town off from the rest of the duchy. In 1794, French troops under the command of Charles Pichegru took the city; it was captured by the Prussians in 1814. The next year, when the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was established, it became the capital of North Brabant.
Places of interest
's-Hertogenbosch was founded as a fortified city and that heritage can still be seen today. In contrast to cities like Rotterdam, 's-Hertogenbosch survived the second World War relatively unscathed. Much of its historic heritage remains intact and there are always renovations going on in the city to preserve the many old buildings, fortifications, cathedrals and statues for later generations. In 2004 the city has been awarded the title Fortified city of the year. 's-Hertogenbosch also has the oldest brick building of the Netherlands 'de Moriaan'; it was built in the beginning of the 13th century.
The old city of 's-Hertogenbosch is surrounded by a city wall. On the south side this wall still borders on an old polder that stretches all the way to Vught. These city walls are currently undergoing renovations. Hidden below the old city is a canal network called the Binnendieze that spanned 22 kilometers. It started out as a regular river running through the city in medieval times but due to lack of space in the city, people started building their houses and roads over the river. In later times if functioned as a sewer and fell into disrepair. Over the last decade about a third of the old waterway system has been renovated and it is possible to take a guided boat trip around them.
's-Hertogenbosch is also home to the Saint John's Cathedral (Sint Jan's kathedraal in Dutch) which is said to be one of the most beautiful cathedrals in The Netherlands, arguably in western Europe. The Cathedral dates from circa 1220 and is best known for its gothic design and the many sculptures of craftsmen that are sitting on almost every arc and rim along the outside of the cathedral. At the time of writing the cathedral is being extensively renovated to undo the damage of many years of wear-and-tear and acid rain.
The painter Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 - 1516) probably remains the best known citizen of 's-Hertogenbosch.
Contemporary 's-Hertogenbosch
The city of 's-Hertogenbosch has become a centre of industry, education, administration and culture. It is currently the 4th city of Noord Brabant. It is home to many national and international businesses such as Heineken, Tyco International and many others. As a cultural centre it is also home to a variety of events such as theatre festival Boulevard, Jazz in Duketown, the start of the Tour de France (1996), Tour Feminine (1997) and the Davis Cup. There are also over 350 restaurants, pubs and café's to be found in the city.
Saint Catherine's church 1915
WWII concentration camp
One of the few official Nazi concentration camp complexes in western Europe located outside of Germany and Austria was named after 's-Hertogenbosch. It operated from January, 1943, to September, 1944 and was known to the Germans as Herzogenbusch, see: List of subcamps of 'Herzogenbusch'. About 30,000 inmates were interned in the complex during this time, of which about 12,000 were Jews. NOTE: The concentration camp was actually located in Vught, a few kilometers south of 's-Hertogenbosch.
External links
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