Hoogstraten
Encyclopedia
Hoogstraten is a municipality
located in the Belgian
province of Antwerp
. The municipality comprises the city of Hoogstraten proper and the towns of Meer, Meerle, Meersel-Dreef, Minderhout and Wortel, (Meersel-Dreef includes the northernmost point
in Belgium.)
Hoogstraten (originally Hoogstraeten), has a population of 18,900, and lies in Flanders
at the northern border of Belgium within an enclave surrounded on three sides by the Netherlands
. Today, over ten percent of the population consists of Dutch people
who have chosen to live in Hoogstraten while working in the Netherlands, while the remaining ninety percent of the population is overwhelmingly Flemish
.
The town is named after the ‘hoge straat’ or’ high road’ – a military
highway that linked the old towns of Bremen
, Lubbecki, (Lübeck
) and 's Hertogenbosch. In the town’s early days, no tradesmen existed. People were either serfs or freemen but they were not tradesmen. Villages and towns produced just enough for their own support. Nothing was ‘sold’ to other areas. Thus, the only travelers along this high road were soldiers and armies.
Originally Hoogstraten probably existed as a small group of thatched cottages with perhaps one, which served as an inn
. Passing travelers would pay for a meal of bread and stew and the opportunity to lie on a straw
pallet
in an upper room for the night while their horse was tended in a stable attached to the cottage. Apart from the innkeeper who probably also sold beer
, most of the men in Hoogstraten labored for the principal landowner while their wives tended to the family, to the garden and perhaps to chickens and a pig
or a sheep that they might own. The animals and children ran free in the town along its earthen street. There was no natural lake
or hill
around which the cottages might have been grouped so the town’s focus was the main street, the "Vrijheid". There was a small river, the Mark, but given the tendency for rivers to overflow in this flat land, townspeople were wise to avoid building too close to it.
The town’s real existence is measured from 1210, when it was granted the title of ‘free town’ (freibrief). This effectively gave it a charter
with certain privileges: perhaps exemption from some taxes or exemption from ecclesiastical territorial sovereignty. Both helped the growth of a town.
A watermill
('het Laermolen') was built outside town on the River Mark. It was already an old mill when it was first mentioned in 1391. In 1380 a Béguijnage was established to house good but poor old women. A very large brick church was built in 1524, and a matching town hall next door was built in 1530 before the church was completed in 1546.
By 1564, a drawing shows the town still consisted of houses on both sides of the wide unpaved Vrijheid. Cattle and dogs still ran freely along its length. The number of houses had grown to more than a hundred and they were no longer thatched but were fine upstanding wooden buildings some three stories high. The church, St. Catherine’s Church, formed the center of the town.
Behind the church on a slight hill a few kilometers distant stood the castle of the Count who owned all the land for miles around.
Under the ownership of Count Antoon de Lalaing (1480–1540) and his wife, Countess Elisabeth van Culemborg (1475–1555), the ‘Land van Hoogstraten’ became a county, a title bestowed by Margaretha of Austria. The ‘county’ encompassed the whole the Count’s land in which several villages existed. It is now marked by the boundaries of his property, one of three bulges of northern Belgium each of which are almost surrounded by The Netherlands.
While Hoogstraten lies within modern Belgian Flanders, between roughly 1000 and 1400 the town was in Brabant
since old Flanders reached no further North West than Antwerp.
Hoogstraten remained in the hands of the Lalaing-Culemborg family until 1709 after which the town was transferred to the Salm-Salm family. In 1740 Hoogstraten was elevated to a Duchy
by Emperor Charles VI, but barely half a century later, during French rule, it lost its titles of ‘town’ and ‘duchy.’ The status of a town often depended on whether the townspeople were considered supporters or not, so one might infer that the area was seen to have anti-French feeling.
Over two hundred years later, in 1977, Hoogstraten was combined, as it had been in the past, with a mixture of dependent municipalities: the villages of Meer, Meerle, Meersel-Dreef, Minderhout and Wortel, which clustered around its edges, none of these villages was more than 15 kilometers from each other. Since 1985 Hoogstraten has also been entitled to call itself a ‘stad’ - a town - once more.
Some inhabitants prefer to think of the title as referring to a city (grote stad). There is some argument about this. The town has, after all, a cathedral and while almost any minor accumulation of homes is either a village or a town, Hoogstraten is more important to the locality since it administers the area.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
located in the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
province of Antwerp
Antwerp (province)
Antwerp is the northernmost province both of the Flemish Region, also called Flanders, and of Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands and the Belgian provinces of Limburg, Flemish Brabant and East Flanders. Its capital is Antwerp which comprises the Port of Antwerp...
. The municipality comprises the city of Hoogstraten proper and the towns of Meer, Meerle, Meersel-Dreef, Minderhout and Wortel, (Meersel-Dreef includes the northernmost point
Geography of Belgium
Belgium is a federal state located in Western Europe, bordering the North Sea. Belgium shares borders with France , Germany , Luxembourg and the Netherlands...
in Belgium.)
Hoogstraten (originally Hoogstraeten), has a population of 18,900, and lies 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...
at the northern border of Belgium within an enclave surrounded on three sides by the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Today, over ten percent of the population consists of Dutch people
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
who have chosen to live in Hoogstraten while working in the Netherlands, while the remaining ninety percent of the population is overwhelmingly 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....
.
The town is named after the ‘hoge straat’ or’ high road’ – a military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
highway that linked the old towns of Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Lubbecki, (Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
) and 's Hertogenbosch. In the town’s early days, no tradesmen existed. People were either serfs or freemen but they were not tradesmen. Villages and towns produced just enough for their own support. Nothing was ‘sold’ to other areas. Thus, the only travelers along this high road were soldiers and armies.
Originally Hoogstraten probably existed as a small group of thatched cottages with perhaps one, which served as an inn
INN
InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
. Passing travelers would pay for a meal of bread and stew and the opportunity to lie on a straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
pallet
Pallet
A pallet , sometimes called a skid, is a flat transport structure that supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, pallet jack, front loader or other jacking device. A pallet is the structural foundation of a unit load which allows handling and storage efficiencies...
in an upper room for the night while their horse was tended in a stable attached to the cottage. Apart from the innkeeper who probably also sold beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, most of the men in Hoogstraten labored for the principal landowner while their wives tended to the family, to the garden and perhaps to chickens and a pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
or a sheep that they might own. The animals and children ran free in the town along its earthen street. There was no natural lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
or hill
Hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills...
around which the cottages might have been grouped so the town’s focus was the main street, the "Vrijheid". There was a small river, the Mark, but given the tendency for rivers to overflow in this flat land, townspeople were wise to avoid building too close to it.
The town’s real existence is measured from 1210, when it was granted the title of ‘free town’ (freibrief). This effectively gave it a charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
with certain privileges: perhaps exemption from some taxes or exemption from ecclesiastical territorial sovereignty. Both helped the growth of a town.
A watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
('het Laermolen') was built outside town on the River Mark. It was already an old mill when it was first mentioned in 1391. In 1380 a Béguijnage was established to house good but poor old women. A very large brick church was built in 1524, and a matching town hall next door was built in 1530 before the church was completed in 1546.
By 1564, a drawing shows the town still consisted of houses on both sides of the wide unpaved Vrijheid. Cattle and dogs still ran freely along its length. The number of houses had grown to more than a hundred and they were no longer thatched but were fine upstanding wooden buildings some three stories high. The church, St. Catherine’s Church, formed the center of the town.
Behind the church on a slight hill a few kilometers distant stood the castle of the Count who owned all the land for miles around.
Under the ownership of Count Antoon de Lalaing (1480–1540) and his wife, Countess Elisabeth van Culemborg (1475–1555), the ‘Land van Hoogstraten’ became a county, a title bestowed by Margaretha of Austria. The ‘county’ encompassed the whole the Count’s land in which several villages existed. It is now marked by the boundaries of his property, one of three bulges of northern Belgium each of which are almost surrounded by The Netherlands.
While Hoogstraten lies within modern Belgian Flanders, between roughly 1000 and 1400 the town was in Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
since old Flanders reached no further North West than Antwerp.
Hoogstraten remained in the hands of the Lalaing-Culemborg family until 1709 after which the town was transferred to the Salm-Salm family. In 1740 Hoogstraten was elevated to a Duchy
Duchy
A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...
by Emperor Charles VI, but barely half a century later, during French rule, it lost its titles of ‘town’ and ‘duchy.’ The status of a town often depended on whether the townspeople were considered supporters or not, so one might infer that the area was seen to have anti-French feeling.
Over two hundred years later, in 1977, Hoogstraten was combined, as it had been in the past, with a mixture of dependent municipalities: the villages of Meer, Meerle, Meersel-Dreef, Minderhout and Wortel, which clustered around its edges, none of these villages was more than 15 kilometers from each other. Since 1985 Hoogstraten has also been entitled to call itself a ‘stad’ - a town - once more.
Some inhabitants prefer to think of the title as referring to a city (grote stad). There is some argument about this. The town has, after all, a cathedral and while almost any minor accumulation of homes is either a village or a town, Hoogstraten is more important to the locality since it administers the area.