's-Hertogenbosch

's-Hertogenbosch (, , ;  ), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 152,968. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant.

History

The city's official name is a contraction of the (archaic) Dutch des Hertogen bosch—"the Duke's forest". The duke in question was Henry I of Brabant, whose family had owned a large estate at nearby Orthen for at least four centuries. He founded a new town located on some forested dunes in the middle of a marsh. At age 26, he granted 's-Hertogenbosch city rights and the corresponding trade privileges in 1185. This is, however, the traditional date given by later chroniclers; the first mention in contemporaneous sources is 1196. The original charter has been lost. His reason for founding the city was to protect his own interests against encroachment from Gelre and Holland; from its first days, he conceived of the city as a fortress. It was destroyed in 1203 in a joint expedition of Gelre and Holland, but was soon rebuilt. Some remnants of the original city walls may still be seen. In the late 14th century, a much larger wall was erected to protect the greatly expanded settled area. Artificial waterways were dug to serve as a city moat, through which the rivers Dommel and Aa were diverted.

The birthplace and home of one of the greatest painters of the northern Renaissance period, Hieronymus Bosch, 's-Hertogenbosch suffered a catastrophic fire in 1463, which the then (approximately) 13-year-old Bosch probably witnessed; presumably, this fire provided inspiration for the fiery hell-scapes that would later make Bosch famous.

Until 1520, the city flourished, becoming the second largest population centre in the territory of the present Netherlands, after Utrecht. The city was also a center of music, and composers, such as Jheronimus Clibano, received their training at its churches. Others held positions there: Matthaeus Pipelare was musical director at the Confraternity of Our Lady; and renowned Habsburg copyist and composer Pierre Alamire did much of his work at 's-Hertogenbosch.

Eighty Years' War
The wars of the Reformation changed the course of the city's history. It became an independent bishopric. During the Eighty Years' War, the city took the side of the Habsburg (Catholic) authorities and thwarted a Calvinist coup. It was besieged several times by Prince Maurice of Orange, stadtholder of most of the Dutch Republic, who wanted to bring 's-Hertogenbosch under the rule of the rebel United Provinces. The city was successfully defended by Claude de Berlaymont, also known as Haultpenne.

Thirty Years' War
In the years of Truce, before the renewed fighting after 1618, the fortifications were greatly expanded. The surrounding marshes made a siege of the conventional type impossible, and the fortress, deemed impregnable, was nicknamed the Marsh Dragon. The town was nevertheless finally conquered by Frederik Hendrik of Orange in 1629 in a typically Dutch stratagem: he diverted the rivers Dommel and Aa, created a polder by constructing a forty-kilometre dyke and then pumped out the water by mills. After a siege of three months, the city had to surrender—an enormous blow to Habsburg geo-political strategy during the Thirty Years' War. This surrender cut the town off from the rest of the duchy and the area was treated by the Republic as an occupation zone without political liberties (see also Generality Lands).

Louis XIV to Bonaparte
After the Peace of Westphalia, the fortifications were again expanded. In 1672, the Dutch rampjaar, the city held against the army of Louis XIV of France. In 1794, French revolutionary troops under command of Charles Pichegru took the city with hardly a fight: in the Batavian Republic, both Catholics and Brabanders at last gained equal rights.

From 1806, the city became part of the Kingdom of Holland and from 1810, it was incorporated into the First French Empire. It was captured by the Prussians in 1814.

Kingdom of the Netherlands
The next year, 1815, when the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was established, it became the capital of North Brabant. Many newer and more modern fortresses were created in the vicinity of the city. A new canal was built, the 'Zuid-Willemsvaart', which gave the city an economic impulse. Trade, manufacturing and industry grew. Until 1878, it was forbidden to build outside the ramparts. That led to overcrowding and the highest infant mortality in the kingdom.

At the end of the 19th century, the very conservative city government prevented industrial investment to avoid an increase in the number of workers and the establishment of educational institutions: students were regarded as disorderly. As a result, the relative importance of the city diminished.

World War II and after
One of the few official Nazi concentration camp complexes in Western Europe outside 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 whom about 12,000 were Jews. In the Netherlands, this camp is known as 'Kamp Vught', because the concentration camp was actually located at a heath near Vught, a village a few kilometres south of 's-Hertogenbosch.

It was conquered by the Germans in World War II in 1940 and occupied by them for over four years. The allies struck back - the railway station was bombed by planes of the Royal Air Force on 16 September 1944. The city was liberated between 24–27 October 1944 during Operation Pheasant by British soldiers of Major-General Robert Knox Ross's 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division after Major Donald Bremner of the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, of 158th Infantry Brigade, had already routed the enemy on 23-24 October.

Geography

Population centres 
The population centres in the municipality are: Bokhoven, Crevecoeur, Deuteren (former village), Dieskant, Empel, Engelen, Gewande, 's-Hertogenbosch, Hintham, Kruisstraat, Maliskamp, Meerwijk, Orthen (former village), Oud-Empel, and Rosmalen.

Climate
Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round.  The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb". (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).

Economy

The city of 's-Hertogenbosch has become a center of industry, education, administration and culture. It is currently the fourth city of Noord Brabant. It is home to many national and international businesses such as Heineken, Epic, Tyco International, SAP and many others.

Culture

's-Hertogenbosch is home to a variety of events such as the theatre festival Boulevard, Jazz in Duketown, and hip hop in duketown, the start of the Tour de France (1996), Tour Feminin (1997), the International Vocal Competition, November Music (a contemporary music festival) and the UNICEF Open (formerly the Ordina Open) grass court tennis tournament (in the nearby town of Rosmalen). There are also over 350 restaurants, pubs and cafés to be found in the city.

's-Hertogenbosch is also home to the European Ceramic Work Centre. This is a juried international ceramic residency where they invite artists, designers and architects from around to the world to explore the medium of Ceramics. This program was initially started in 1991 and continues to this day.

The city has its own food speciality, the Bossche Bol—effectively a giant profiterole, somewhat larger than a tennis ball, which is filled with whipped cream and coated with chocolate.

The spoken language is Maaslands (The variant spoken in 's-Hertogenbosch is called Bosch which is placed among the Central North Brabantian dialects, although other classification systems also describe it as East Brabantian), which is very similar to colloquial Dutch.

De Toonzaal is a music venue for chamber music, improvised music, and experimental music. For popular music there is the venue W2 (or Willem II).

Carnival celebrations

Once a year, 's-Hertogenbosch changes its name to "Oeteldonk". "Donk" is a reference to a dry place in the marsh. The frog is however a symbol often used during Carnival, and it is a symbol of the Oeteldonk Marsh.

This change only lasts for the three days of Carnival even though this original meaning has disappeared to the background. The Mayor then hands over his duties temporarily to "Peer vaan den Muggenheuvel tot den Bobberd" during this three-day festival. "Peer vaan den Muggenheuvel tot den Bobberd" is the host of Prince Carnaval "Prince Amadeiro XXV" when he visits Oeteldonk.

The citizens of 's-Hertogenbosch wear traditional outfits throughout these days. A so-called boerenkiel is worn and every year patches are designed according to that years theme which can then be stitched onto the outfit. The boerenkiel is often combined with a traditional farmers bandana and a long scarf in the colours of Oeteldonk, red - white - and - yellow.

Religion

Attractions

's-Hertogenbosch was founded as a fortified city and that heritage can still be seen today. After World War II, plans were made to modernise the old city, by filling in the canals, removing or modifying some ramparts and redeveloping historic neighbourhoods. Before these plans could come to effect however, the central government declared the city a protected townscape. Most historic elements have been preserved. Because the main ramparts are crucial in keeping out the water, they have never been slighted, their usual fate in the Netherlands. In contrast to cities like Rotterdam, 's-Hertogenbosch also survived the Second World War relatively unscathed. Much of its historic heritage remains intact, and today there are always renovations going on in the city to preserve the many old buildings, fortifications, churches and statues for later generations.

In 2004 the city was awarded the title European Fortress City of the year. It is planned to restore the city defences to much of their old glory in the coming years. 's-Hertogenbosch also has the oldest remaining brick house in the Netherlands, 'de Moriaan', which was built at the beginning of the 13th century. In the 1960s, de Moriaan was renovated to its former glory based on a famous 16th-century Dutch painting called 'De Lakenmarkt van 's-Hertogenbosch' ('The fabric market of 's-Hertogenbosch').

In the north of the old city, the hexagonal powder arsenal, or Kruithuis, still exists, one of only two of its kind in the country. The Townhall is an originally 14th-century Gothic building, transformed in the typical style of Dutch classicism in the 17th century. Around the city itself many other fortresses can still be seen. Until recently it was a major garrison town.

The old city of 's-Hertogenbosch is still almost completely surrounded by continuous ramparts. On the south side, this wall still borders on an old polder, kept intact as a nature reserve, 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 once spanned . It started out as a regular river, the Dommel, 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 it functioned as a sewer and fell into disrepair. In recent decades, the remaining sixth of the old waterway system has been renovated, and it is possible to take several guided subterranean boat trips through it.

's-Hertogenbosch is also home to Saint John's Cathedral (Sint Jans kathedraal in Dutch), which dates from c. 1220 and is best known for its Brabantine Gothic design and the many sculptures of craftsmen that are sitting on almost every arc and rim along the outside of the cathedral. In 2010 an extensive restoration was completed, undoing the damage of many years of wear-and-tear and acid rain.

Museums are the Stedelijk Museum 's-Hertogenbosch, Noordbrabants Museum, Jheronimus Bosch Art Center and Museum Slager.
The painter Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516) remains probably the best known citizen of 's-Hertogenbosch.

The city is also the location of the Bolwoningen complex, an array of fifty experimental spherical houses designed by Dries Kreijkamp.

Sport
The city has one professional football club, FC Den Bosch (first club of Dutch international player Ruud van Nistelrooy), and is also the home to top field hockey club HC Den Bosch, basketball team New Heroes Den Bosch and 2008 national rugby champion The Dukes. The city is also host to the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, a combined ATP Tour and WTA Tour grass court tennis event played two weeks before the Wimbledon Championships.

The World Archery and Para Championships will be held here in June 2019. During these combined World Championships two separate venues will be used: the Parade and the rugby fields of The Dukes. All finals will take place in the arena at the Parade. The venue The Parade is a historic square surrounded by high trees, situated at the foot of the nearly seven hundred-year-old Saint John's Cathedral in the attractive centre of ’s-Hertogenbosch.

Transport

Like most Dutch cities, 's-Hertogenbosch is well adapted to the high number of cyclists. A large network of bike paths make it convenient to cycle to various destinations and within the town the bike is the most popular mean of transportation. In 2011, the city was chosen as Fietsstad 2011 — the top bike city of the Netherlands for 2011.

As for trains, 's-Hertogenbosch has three railway stations:
's-Hertogenbosch
's-Hertogenbosch Oost
Rosmalen

As for buses, Arriva buslines serve the city and most of its suburbs.

Education
The AKV St. Joost is an art academy in 's-Hertogenbosch.

The Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS), located at the Mariënburg Campus in the center of 's-Hertogenbosch, provides a number of data science programs at graduate (MSc) and post-graduate level (PhD).

Notable residents

Public thinking & Public Service 

 Erasmus (1484-1497), priest and humanist scholar
 Macropedius (1487–1558), a Dutch humanist, schoolmaster and Latin playwright
 John Slotanus (died 1560) a Dutch Roman Catholic polemical writer 
 Johannes Chrysostomus vander Sterre (1591–1652) an ecclesiastical writer and abbot
 Johan Bax van Herenthals (1637–1678) the governor of the Dutch Cape Colony 1676/1678
 Petrus Josephus Johannus Sophia Marie van der Does de Willebois (1843–1937) a Dutch jonkheer, politician  and Mayor of 's-Hertogenbosch
 Joseph Sweens (1858–1950) an RC missionary bishop in South Nyanza in German East Africa
 Christiaan Cornelissen (1864–1942) a Dutch syndicalist writer, economist and trade unionist
 Henk Sneevliet (1883-1942) a Dutch Communist, active in both the Netherlands and the Dutch East-Indies
 Frans Teulings (1891–1966) a Dutch politician and economist
 Pieter Godfried Maria van Meeuwen (1899–1982) a Dutch judge and a politician
 Jan de Quay (1901–1985) a politician and psychologist; Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1959/1963
 Bert Röling (1906–1985) a Dutch jurist and founding father of polemology, the study of war
 Louis van de Laar (1921–2004) a Dutch politician and historian
 Bram Stemerdink (born 1936) a retired Dutch politician and army officer
 Don Burgers (1932–2006) a Dutch politician, Mayor of 's-Hertogenbosch 1989 to 1996
 Marco Kroon (1970), soldier with the Korps Commandotroepen
 Matthijs van Miltenburg (born 1972) a politician, municipal councillor 2010/2014 and MEP 2014/2019

Science & Business 

 Gerardus Mercator (ca.1520–1530), a geographer, cosmographer and cartographer 
 Wilhelm de Raet (ca.1537-1583) a Dutch hydraulic engineer and master builder, worked in Lucca  
 Willem 's Gravesande (1688–1742) a Dutch academic, mathematician and natural philosopher, developed the laws of classical mechanics
 Gerard Troost (1776–1850) a Dutch-American medical doctor, naturalist and mineralogist
 Jacob Moleschott (1822–1893) physiologist and writer on dietetics and scientific materialism
 Diederik Korteweg (1848–1941) a mathematician, co-wrote the Korteweg–de Vries equation 
 Jacob R. H. Neervoort van de Poll (1862–1924) an entomologist specialising in Coleoptera  
 Peter Reijnders (1900–1974) a photographer and film director; co-founded the theme park Efteling 
 Frans de Waal (born 1948), primatologist, ethologist and academic

The Arts 

 Hieronymus Bosch (ca.1450–1516), painter of the Early Netherlandish painting school.
 Hubert Gerhard (ca.1540–1620), a Dutch sculptor
 Abraham van Diepenbeeck (1596–1675) a Dutch painter of the Flemish School  
 Theodoor van Thulden (1606–1669) a painter and engraver of altarpieces and portraits. 
 Quirinus van Amelsfoort (1760–1820) a Dutch painter of allegories, history and portraits
 Karel Sluijterman (1863–1931) a Dutch architect, furniture designer, interior designer, illustrator, ceramist, book binding designer and professor
 Anton Sistermans (1865–1926) a Dutch baritone, he sang lieder and oratorios
 Sophie van der Does de Willebois (1891–1961) a Dutch ceramist
 Charles Bolsius (1907–1983), painter and woodworker
 Willem van den Hout (1915–1985) a Dutch writer of the Bob Evers series of children's books
 Jos van Veldhoven (born 1952) a Dutch choral conductor
 Leon de Winter (1954), writer and columnist 
 Oscar van Dillen (born 1958) a Dutch composer, conductor and instrumentalist
 Thomas Verkuijlen (born 1994) stage name Thomas Newson, is a DJ and record producer
 Sophie Bongers (born 1998) stage name Sophie Francis, is a record producer, DJ and musician

Sport 

 Henri Smulders (1863–1933) a sailor and team silver medallist at the 1900 Summer Olympics
 Sjef van Run (1904–1973) a Dutch footballer, appeared 359 times for PSV Eindhoven
 Wim van Heumen (1928–1992) a field hockey coach and municipal councillor 1970/1992
 Gijs van Heumen (born 1952) a retired field hockey coach, son of Wim
 Cees Schapendonk (born 1955) a former football striker with over 510 club caps
 Sophie von Weiler (born 1958) a retired Dutch field hockey forward, team gold and bronze medallist at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics
 Arnold Scholten (1962), a retired football midfielder with over 440 club caps 
 Marcel Brands (born 1962) a former professional footballer, Director of Football at Everton F.C. 
 Fred van der Hoorn (1963), a Dutch former footballer with over 500 club caps
 Manon Bollegraf (born 1964) a former professional female tennis player
 Annemarie Verstappen (born 1965) a female former freestyle swimmer, team silver and double bronze medallist at the 1984 Summer Olympics
 Mijntje Donners (1974), field hockey player, with 234 caps for the Dutch National Women's Team, and team silver and bronze medallist at three Summer Olympics 
 Anthony Lurling (1977), a Dutch former footballer with 587 club caps
 brothers Geert-Jan Derikx (born 1980) & Rob Derikx (born 1982) field hockey players, team silver medallists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
 Henri van Opstal (1989), a Dutch kickboxer
 Robin van Roosmalen (1989), a Dutch kickboxer and mixed martial artist
 Maikel Scheffers (1982), wheelchair tennis player, bronze medallist at the 2008 Summer Paralympics 
 Andy Souwer (1982), a Dutch welterweight shoot boxer and mixed martial artist
 Maartje Goderie (born 1984) a Dutch field hockey player, twice team gold medallist at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics 
 Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel (born 1987) is a Dutch field hockey player, team gold and silver medallist at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics 
 Marianne Vos (1987), a Dutch cyclo-cross, road, track and mountain bicycle racer
 Kenny van Gaalen (born 1988) a Dutch sidecarcross rider
 Toon Greebe (born 1988) a Dutch darts player
 Patrick van Aanholt (1990), a Dutch professional footballer with over 280 club caps
 Michiel van der Heijden (born 1992) a Dutch mountain biker and Cyclo-Cross Rider.

References and notes

Literature

External links

Official website

 
Category:1185 establishments in Europe
Category:Cities in the Netherlands
Category:Municipalities of North Brabant
Category:Populated places in North Brabant
Category:Provincial capitals of the Netherlands
Category:Holocaust locations in the Netherlands