Dendermonde

Dendermonde
Dendermonde City Hall, Belfry
Flag Coat of arms
Dendermonde Location in Belgium
Coordinates: 51°02′N 04°06′E / 51.033°N 4.1°E / 51.033; 4.1
Country	Belgium
Region	Flemish Region
Community	Flemish Community
Province	East Flanders
Arrondissement	Dendermonde
Government
– Mayor	Piet Buyse (CD&V/N-VA)
– Governing party/ies	CD&V/N-VA, SP.A-Spirit
Area
– Total	55.67 km2 (21.5 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2010)[1]
– Total	44,095
– Density	792.1/km2 (2,051.5/sq mi)
Demographics
– Foreigners	1.52% (7 January 2005)
Postal codes	9200
Area codes	052
Website	www.dendermonde.be
Map of Dendermonde

Dendermonde (French: Termonde) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde proper and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde, and Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde. As its name implies, Dendermonde is located at the mouth of the river Dender, where it flows into the Scheldt.

The current Mayor of Dendermonde is Piet Buyse (Christian Democratic and Flemish).

History

Origins to the 15th century

Some interesting La-Tène artifacts were found in Appels, proof that this region of the Scheldt was inhabited in prehistory. Grave sites from the 2nd and 6th century also attest to dense settlement in Gallo-Roman and Merovingian times. In 843, the Treaty of Verdun placed Dendermonde in Lotharingia. After the Norman invasions of 883, however, Baldwin II took over the region and incorporated it into the German part of the newly founded County of Flanders.

Brussels Gate

Otto II built a fort here in the 10th century, encouraging further settlements in the area. The town received its city charter in 1233 and grew quickly after that thanks to a thriving cloth industry. Several cloisters, chapels and churches, and a fortified defensive wall were built as well. A cloth hall and belfry were erected on the market square in the mid 14th century. The town’s prosperity, however, gave rise to severe competition with cities such as Ghent and to occasional attacks and plunders by neighbours. In 1384, the whole area came under the control of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy

16th century until today

Dendermonde on the Ferraris map (around 1775)

The 16th century saw a decline in Dendermonde’s fortunes. In 1572, the Spanish troops under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, took over the city and mostly destroyed it. A decade later, the Spaniards built their own fortress between the Dender and the Scheldt. In 1667, it was France’s turn to advance on the city, but the allied troops of the Netherlands and England, under the Duke of Marlborough, caused the heaviest damage in 1706. The city was then fortified by the Austrians against further French ambitions. After a last siege by Louis XV, the city could finally breathe to the point that the fortifications were dismantled a few decades later.

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. Today, the city is an administrative, commercial, educational, and medical centre for the surrounding region.

Places of interest

Dendermonde beguinage

• The béguinage is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.
• The city hall and belfry have also been designated a World Heritage Site since 1999. The belfry houses a carillon and was formerly part of the Cloth Hall.
• Dendemonde has a Benedictine abbey right in the centre of town.
• The Dendermonde-Puurs Steam Railway is a heritage railway, running 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) from Dendermonde to Puurs.

Gallery: de Grote Markt

• 

  monumental building: het Vleeshuis

• 

  town hall

• 

  pubs and town hall

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.

On August 19, 2006, 28 prisoners managed to escape Dendermonde prison. Seven of them were captured within hours. A few have been found in Italy & Russia. They managed to escape because the lock was old & rusty. They simply walked away, tied all their sheets together, climbed over the wall, jumped on a phone booth and ran away.

Main article: Dendermonde nursery attack

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.^[2] Italian singer Luciano Ligabue dedicated to the victims a song, Quando mi vieni a prendere? (Dendermonde 23/01/09) inserted in his 2010 album, Arrivederci, Mostro!.^[3]

Famous inhabitants

• Polydore de Keyser, Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London in 1887
• Alwin de Prins, competitive swimmer (b. 1978)
• Pierre-Jean De Smet, missionary among the Native Americans (1801–1873)
• James Oliver Van de Velde, bishop of Chicago and, later, of Mississippi (1795–1855)
• Geert De Vlieger, Belgian international soccer player (b. 1971)
• Jan De Vos, mayor of Antwerp (1844–1923)
• Emmanuel Hiel, poet and prose writer (1834–1899)
• Fernand Khnopff, painter (1858–1921)
• Kim Kay (pseudonym of Kim Van Hee) (Dendermonde, 27 February 1978) is a Belgian singer.
• Caroline Maes, tennis player (b. 1982)
• Johannes Ockeghem, composer, was said to be born in Dendermonde (c. 1410-1497)
• Ivo Van Damme, middle distance runner (1954–1976)
• Pat Van Den Hauwe, Welsh international soccer player, former husband of Mandy Smith (b. 1960)
• former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was born and raised in Dendermonde (b. 1953), as was his younger brother the political scientist Dirk Verhofstadt (b. 1955).
• Frans Courtens, painter, born in Dendermonde (1854–1943)
• Jaak Vanderperren, pilot in the Royal Air Force during WWII, was born in Dendermonde (1920–1944) but killed in action during a close air support mission against the German Army with his Supermarine Spitfire XIV
• Jan Verhas, painter (1834–1886).
• Franz Verhas, painter (born circa 1827-died circa 1897)
• Remi Vermeiren (b. Dendermonde, 23 February 1940), businessman.
• Vanessa Chinitor, singer, born in Dendermonde 13 October 1976.

Twin cities

•  Netherlands: Geldrop
•  Germany: Nienburg, Lower Saxony
•  Bulgaria: Blagoevgrad

References

1. ^ Population per municipality on 1 January 2010 (XLS; 221 KB)
2. ^ "Five dead in knife attack at Belgian creche". Telegraph.co.uk. Jan 23, 2009. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/4322233/Five-dead-in-knife-attack-at-Belgian-creche.html. Retrieved May 17, 2010. 
3. ^ "Quando mi vieni a prendere? (Dendermonde 23/01/09)" (in Italian). Ligachannel. April 26, 2010. http://www.ligachannel.com/?q=node/2323. Retrieved May 17, 2010. 

External links

• Official website - Only available in Dutch
• Cultural website about Dendermonde - Only available in Dutch
• Youth community site for Dendermonde - Only available in Dutch