Egem is a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 in the sub-municipality of Bambrugge

Bambrugge

Bambrugge is a sub-municipality of Erpe-Mere in Flanders. It is located in the Denderstreek in the southeast of East Flanders and belongs to Arrondissement of Aalst. It is bordered by the sub-municipalities of Vlekkem, Ottergem, Mere, Aaigem and Burst and the municipality of Sint-Lievens-Houtem...

 in the municipality of Erpe-Mere

Erpe-Mere

Erpe-Mere is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of Aaigem, Bambrugge, Burst, Erondegem, Erpe, Mere, Ottergem and Vlekkem. There is also a hamlet in Bambrugge: Egem. On January 1, 2010 Erpe-Mere had a total...

 in Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

. It is located in the Denderstreek

Denderstreek

The Denderstreek or Denderland is a region in the heart of Belgium. It is named after the river Dender. Though the river stretches over three provinces, Hainaut, East Flanders and Flemish Brabant, the region called after the river is situated in East-Flanders. The Dutch word streek means region....

 within the southeast of East Flanders

East Flanders

East Flanders is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands and in Belgium on the provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant , of Hainaut and of West Flanders...

 and belongs to the Arrondissement of Aalst

Arrondissement of Aalst

The Arrondissement of Aalst is one of the six administrative arrondissements in the Province of East Flanders, Belgium. It forms the Judicial Arrondissement of Dendermonde together with the Arrondissements of Dendermonde and Sint-Niklaas.-History:...

. It is bordered by the sub-municipalities of Bambrugge proper, Vlekkem

Vlekkem

Vlekkem is a sub-municipality of Erpe-Mere in Flanders. It is located in the Denderstreek in the southeast of East Flanders and belongs to Arrondissement of Aalst. The sub-municipality is bordered by the hamlet Egem of the sub-municipality Bambrugge, the sub-municipality Ottergem and the...

 (municipality of Erpe-Mere), Ottergem

Ottergem

Ottergem is a sub-municipality of Erpe-Mere in Flanders. It is located in the Denderstreek in the southeast of East Flanders and belongs to Arrondissement of Aalst. The sub-municipality is bordered by the sub-municipalities of Erondegem, Erpe, Mere, Bambrugge and Vlekkem and the municipality...

 (municipality of Erpe-Mere) and Zonnegem (municipality of Sint-Lievens-Houtem

Sint-Lievens-Houtem

Sint-Lievens-Houtem is a Dutch-speaking municipality of Belgium. It is located in the in the Denderstreek and at the edge of the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the province of East Flanders .It is named after Saint Livinus , a Christian saint believed to have been buried...

). Egem also borders the domain Steenberg. Egem consists of two streets, the Egemstraat and Everdal.

History

Through the centuries Egem has had multiple names. In the oldest documents it was found to be named Heddeghem (1571), later it was also mentioned as Edeghem (1629), Hettegem (1638), Eedegem (1763), Eghem (1779) and Eegem (1842).

Etymologically, Flemish

Flemish

Flemish can refer to anything related to Flanders, and may refer directly to the following articles:*Flemish, an informal, though linguistically incorrect, name of any kind of the Dutch language as spoken in Belgium....

 toponyms ending with –gem refer to a Germanic

Germanic languages

The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...

 compound of –haim, meaning ‘home’ or ‘residence’, and a derivative ending –inga. The first part of the name "Egem" is commonly assigned to the Germanic name of Haid, Hait or Heit. In its totality, the compound Haidingahaim meant ‘residence of the followers or tribal members of Frank Haid’, degenerated into Heddeghem. The locality name belongs to the group of ingahemnames who are older than regular hemnames. Egem was founded in the early centuries of the Merovingian era (6th-7th century), and thus has an older origin than Bambrugge. Egem was probably a secluded homestead which was not too great, and was later absorbed by the rapidly faster developing Bambrugge.

Location

Landmarks

• The Egemmolen or Meuleken Tik Tak was an overshot watermill at Everdal 21 and functioned as a wheat mill. The mill wheel has been removed and the mill has been largely demolished, but there are still remains of this mill and the mill house intact. The mill house is now used as a country cottage.
• The little chappelle at Egemstraat

File:Egemmolen Bambrugge Molenhuis.JPG|Mill house of the Egemmolen at Bambrugge
File:Egemmolen Bambrugge overblijfselen.JPG|Remains of the Egemmolen at Bambrugge
File:Kapel Egemstraat Bambrugge.jpg|The little chappelle at Egemstraat