Deurne, Netherlands

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Deurne


mapsize = 280px
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Netherlands
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = North Brabant
area_footnotes = (2006)
area_total_km2 = 118.37
area_land_km2 = 117.10
area_water_km2 = 1.27
population_as_of = 1 January, 2007
population_note = Source: CBS, [http://statline.cbs.nl/ Statline] .
settlement_type = Municipality
population_total = 31856
population_density_km2 = 272
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST = CEST
utc_offset_DST = +2

Deurne (pronunciation|185 Deurne.ogg) is a rural municipality in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. Including the villages of Liessel, Vlierden, Neerkant, Helenaveen and Walsberg, Deurne has a population of almost 32.000 on an area of 118.02 km².

History

First recorded as "Durninum" (with thorns: Thorn / Thorne) in a deed of gift from the Frankish Lord Herelaef to bishop Willibrord in 721 Deurne remained a collection of subsistence farming hamlets stretching (North to South) along the Peel peat moor until the 2nd half of the 19th century, when a newly built railroad and a canal enabled the commercial exploitation of the moor. Although the peat industry did not yield much of a profit in the era of coal powered industries, the cultivation of the newly cleared land, in the 1930's also by forced labour, gave a boost to agriculture, farming, and settlement alike. Today only tiny pieces of this former peat moor remain, some reflooded as mini wetlands, scattered along the fault line that once brought about its very existence.

External links

* [http://www.deurne.nl website of the Municipality of Deurne]