Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel was an ilag that was set up by the German occupiers during World War II in the Ruwenberg boarding school and the Beekvliet minor seminary in Sint-Michielsgestel .
22-550: On 4 May 1942, Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel, located in the Beekvliet minor seminary in Sint-Michielsgestel , was opened. The first inhabitants were 460 prominent Dutch individuals arrested that day, including politicians, mayors, professors, clergy, lawyers, writers, and musicians. Until the end of 1944, hundreds of notable Dutch citizens were held hostage. The Nazis believed that by holding these people as hostages, they could control
44-501: A group of people, by calling the police. They became local heroes after this. Amongst the prisoners were writers Simon Vestdijk and Anton van Duinkerken . Political prisoners were Wim Schermerhorn (Prime Minister 1945-1946), Willem Banning , Pieter Geyl and Jan de Quay , all post-war politicians. The Petrus Dondersplein is the central square of the village, close to the Dommel. It has two major monuments. The Oude toren (old tower)
66-424: A number of villages and rural areas just south and south east of 's-Hertogenbosch. Most inhabitants are commuters preferring to live in these quite villages, while working elsewhere. There is little industrial activity in the villages, but the agricultural sector is certainly important. Sint-Michielsgestel and Gemonde are in the drainage basin of the river Dommel . Den Dungen, Berlicum and Middelrode are in that of
88-693: A solidarity among them that was later called the "Ghost of Gestel" ( Dutch : Geest van Gestel ). Seventeen men led by Wim Schermerhorn formed the Heeren Zeventien (Gentlemen Seventeen), named after the leadership of the Dutch East India Company . It included Day von Balluseck , Willem Banning , Ton Barge , Louis Einthoven , Pieter Geijl , Marinus van der Goes van Naters , Dolf Joekes , Max Kohnstamm , Hendrik Kraemer , Piet Lieftinck , Nicolaas Okma , Jan de Quay , Maan Sassen , Teun Struycken and Frans Wijffels . This group discussed
110-574: Is a nice 15th century church tower made with alternating rows of brick and tuff stone. The Protestant church was built in 1808, when the Protestant minority had to return the big church to the Catholics. After the main church connected to the Oude toren had to be demolished, a new St. Michael's was built on Nieuwstraat. This is a well preserved example of 1930s church architecture. The imposing former institute for
132-584: Is a village in the municipality of Sint-Michielsgestel , Netherlands . The 120 km long river Dommel flows north from a well near Peer in Belgium. Just north of 's-Hertogenbosch it is joined by the Aa and joins the Meuse as Dieze . It currently divides Sint-Michielsgestel in two parts. In the past the Dommel was important as a transport axis and had crucial influence on the village's history. Archeological finds near
154-673: Is located near the central transport axis in the Netherlands, between 's-Hertogenbosch and Eindhoven . Nowadays this axis is dominated by the A2 motorway , but towards 's-Hertogenbosch, the village has an even more direct access via the N617.The village has grown by suburbanization . A major employer in Sint-Michielsgestel is Kentalis [ nl ] , a resource centre for sensory and communicative disabled people formerly known as Institute for
176-414: Is that the village Sint-Michielsgestel and the surrounding hamlets do not have a major attraction. Instead it has to rely on nature, and the cultural history reflected in castles and farms. This makes that the municipality wants to focus on all kinds of healthy outdoor activities. Meanwhile these outdoor activities, like cycling, running, horse-riding are already popular with the locals. Sint-Michielsgestel
198-499: The Aa (Meuse) and the Zuid-Willemsvaart . It makes that there are very few roads connecting these two groups of settlements. The current municipality Sint-Michielsgestel was created in 1996. That year the municipalities of Sint-Michielsgestel , Den Dungen (est. 1810) and Berlicum (est. 1238) were merged. The entire village of Gemonde, which had previously been part of Boxtel, Sint-Michielsgestel, Sint-Oedenrode and Schijndel,
220-575: The People's university . Dutch society before World War II was highly pillarised , which meant that Protestants, Catholics, liberals and socialists had separate social institutions and organisations and thus rarely came into contact with each other. But because the Germans had taken notables hostage from all these social groups, their notables came into contact in Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel. This created
242-426: The 15th century, there were references to 'Gestel near Herlaar'. The economic center of the parish was in the current hamlet Halder, with its water mills. In Halder was also the ruined motte-and-bailey castle of Oud Herlaer , which probably dates from the 11th or 12th century. The associated Lords of Herlaer start to get mentioned from 1079. During medieval times a surprising number of castles and other moated sites
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#1732854517407264-1122: The Dutch East Indies and mostly held prominent positions. In early 1943, the Indische hostages were transferred to Ruwenberg, one and a half kilometers from Beekvliet, but still part of Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel. The hostages had relatively more freedom there. On 15 August 1942, five notable hostages were killed as reprisal for a failed bombing in Rotterdam on a train of the German army. They were Willem Ruys , Robert Baelde , Otto Ernst Gelder, Christoffel Bennekers , and Alexander Schimmelpenninck van der Oye . A second execution of fifteen notable hostages took place in October 1942, again in retaliation for acts of resistance. The notable hostages, many of whom were intellectuals, organised seminars for each other on subjects such as history, philosophy, drawing, and economics. Because of these activities, some hostages nicknamed it
286-903: The Dutch resistance and stated that they would be executed in the event of unrest in the country. In May 1942, the Indische hostages were also transferred to Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel. Most of the Indische hostages were Dutch people on leave from the Dutch East Indies and were taken hostage in July 1940 as retaliation for the imprisonment of Germans in the Dutch East Indies. The men were initially interned in Kamp Schoorl , Buchenwald concentration camp and Kamp Haaren , and finally ended up in Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel. On 7 October 1940, an additional 116 men were added to this group in Buchenwald, although they were not from
308-543: The deaf and hearing impaired called Instituut voor Doven . There is little industry in the village. Gymnasium Beekvliet is a popular school that attracts many students from outside the village. Sint-Michielsgestel is a major venue for Cyclo-cross . Stichting Wielerbelang Sint-Michielsgestel (SWG) organizes major cyclo-cross events in the village since 1974. The absolute highlight was the 2000 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships won by local Richard Groenendaal . The Dutch National Cyclo-cross Championships have been held in
330-426: The deaf is on the western side of the Dommel at Theerestraat. It dates from 1908, and as institute for the deaf it is a rare building. Sint-Michielsgestel and surroundings are best known for the many (former) castles and manors. The above attractions do not attract many visitors to Sint-Michielsgestel, even while many spend the night in the village in order to visit the tourist magnate 's-Hertogenbosch. The challenge
352-554: The future of the Netherlands after the war. One of the legacies of the political activities was the founding of the Nederlandse Volksbeweging and later the Labour Party (PvdA). The hostages had however underestimated the firmness of the pillars and the anticipated breakthrough failed to materialize. Sint-Michielsgestel Sint-Michielsgestel ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈsɪnt miˌxilsˈxɛstəl] )
374-494: The hamlet Ruimel, between Halder and Herlaer. In the village name, 'Gestel' is a concatenation of Geest , meaning sandy ground at a higher level, and ( Loo ), meaning forest. In other words an elevated sandy ground in the forest. The prefix 'Sint-Michiels' comes in handy, because in Brabant there are multiple places named Gastel/Gestel. The first certain reference to the village (Sint-Michiels)gestel dates from 1281. Its name
396-527: The hamlet of Halder prove that the hamlet Halder was probably the most important settlement on the Dommel during the Roman era . Thousands of Roman coins were found in 1962 not far from Nieuw Herlaer castle . These and other local archeological finds are now on display in the Museum Romeins Halder at Haanwijk . The current center of Sint-Michielsgestel is not the same as the medieval center. Right into
418-776: The village five times. Sint-Michielsgestel (municipality) Sint-Michielsgestel ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈsɪnt miˌxilsˈxɛstəl] ) is a municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands . It is named for the village of Sint-Michielsgestel located within its boundaries. Smaller townships, also part of Sint-Michielsgestel, are: Besselaar, Doornhoek, Haanwijk , Hal, Halder , De Bus, De Hogert, De Loofaart, Heikantse Hoeve, Hersend, Hezelaar, Hoek, Kerkeind, Laar , Maaskantje , Middelrode [ nl ] , Nijvelaar, Plein, Poeldonk [ nl ] , Ruimel, Tielse Hoeve, Wielsche Hoeven, Wamberg [ nl ] and Woud. The municipality consists of
440-457: Was built in vicinity of Sint-Michielsgestel. The importance of the village Sint-Michielsgestel probably stems from the possibility to safely cross the Dommel. The remains of a wooden 10th century church were found at the foot of the church tower Oude toren in the village. The church of Sint-Michielsgestel is dedicated to the archangel St. Michael, and this was already the case in medieval times. Remains of another 10th century church were found in
462-416: Was first mentioned when the estates or heerlijkheden Herlaer and Gestel were joined in approx. 1314 AD. The French period would prove disastrous for the many castles and manors. For the Catholics in the area it brought freedom of religion, and in 1799 they established a seminary in what was left of Nieuw-Herlaer Castle . When the Netherlands regained their independence, a preparatory small seminary
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#1732854517407484-571: Was founded in the village in 1815. It is the precursor of Gymnasium Beekvliet . During World War II this facility was used as prison-camp , along with the grootseminarie [ nl ] in Haaren . On 4 May 1942 the Germans imprisoned 460 Dutch men in Beekvliet . All prisoners were politically involved or otherwise important to the Dutch people. Luuk van Driel, father of the famous Tim and Dirk, also known as 'grote spelers', got to escape along with
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