Tegelen
Encyclopedia
Tegelen is a village in the province of Limburg
in the Netherlands
. It was an independent municipality until 2001, when it was merged into the municipality of Venlo
.
(part of the Pleistocene
) is derived from Tegelen because of the many fossil
s found there from this era in the local clay.
and monasterial
archives dating back to the year 800. Because of its strategic location, various castle
s and reinforced farm
s were soon established. The most important of these were the Castle of Holtmühle and the Munt. During the Middle Ages
, there were several battles in and around Tegelen, because of its proximity to the walled city of Venlo
. Over time, a barracks
was established in Venlo, and a fortification
in neighbouring Blerick. As a result, from the 16th century until the 18th century Tegelen was regularly visited by plundering armies.
For centuries Tegelen was part of the Duchy of Jülich
, while neighbouring Venlo belonged to the Duchy of Guelders. So literally, according to the people of Tegelen Venlo was "abroad" and vice versa. This explains the differences between the local dialects of the neighbouring towns and the rivalry between these parts of the city that persists to this day. The black, uncrowned lion on a golden ground, in the coat of arms and the flag of Tegelen can be found in the coat of arms of the Duchy of Jülich
.
For Jülich it was very important to have access to the Meuse
river. Tegelen, with its harbour at Steyl
, was the most northern one, the other one being Urmond
near Sittard
. In Napoleonic times, the former duchy of Jülich became part of the Roer department. Tegelen, Sittard and Urmond were ceded to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
in 1815, resulting in the Netherlands finally obtaining complete control of the river from Maastricht
northward.
was added to the mix. Pottery and related industries were very successful in Tegelen from 1750 until World War II
.
Economic and social life before that war was dominated by a small number of factory-owning families that would scratch each other's backs. One infamous episode illustrating the way they treated their work force and how they controlled their lives occurred during World War I
. The producers of clay products claimed that the embargo on Germany brought them to the brink of bankruptcy, and the only way they could survive was to drastically reduce wages. The work force went on strike but soon the strike fund was depleted. The local clergy helped negotiate a settlement allowing labourers to return to work for a salary that barely exceeded subsistence levels. It later transpired that there had never been any risk of any of the producers going bankrupt, and that this drastic reduction in labour cost had allowed them to make exorbitant profits. This is still evident from the gigantic villas in which these families lived and of which a number are still standing.
After the war, the number of factories in Tegelen steadily decreased. All smelters, including Globe, known throughout the Netherlands for providing drainage covers, disappeared. There are still three operating factories producing clay products, but all of these are now in foreign ownership. One chimney
, previously owned by a stone cutter named Canoy Herfkens, is still standing as a reminder of Tegelen's industrial heyday.
In 2001 Tegelen was merged into the municipality of Venlo.
Tegelen has several theater, music and choral organisations. It is internationally famous for its Passion Play
held every five years in the years that are divisible by 5, in Openluchttheater De Doolhof. These always attract many visitors. The same open air theater hosts Tegelen's Bluesrock Festival every year.
.
More locally famous, before the Second World War, were the pub owners "Joës en Petatte Nelke", Gustaaf Schreurs and Petronella Muller, who had a song written about them and a statue erected for them in the market square.
Translation:
Limburg (Netherlands)
Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
in 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...
. It was an independent municipality until 2001, when it was merged into the municipality of Venlo
Venlo
Venlo is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands, next to the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg.In 2001, the municipalities of Belfeld and Tegelen were merged into the municipality of Venlo. Tegelen was originally part of the Duchy of Jülich centuries ago,...
.
Tiglian
The name of the glacial era of TiglianTimeline of glaciation
There have been five known ice ages in the Earth's history, with the Earth experiencing the Quaternary Ice Age during the present time. Within ice ages, there exist periods of more severe glacial conditions and more temperate referred to as glacial periods and interglacial periods, respectively...
(part of the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
) is derived from Tegelen because of the many fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s found there from this era in the local clay.
History
During excavations in Tegelen Roman pottery and tile ovens were found. The Sint-Martinus church is mentioned in diocesanDiocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
and monasterial
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
archives dating back to the year 800. Because of its strategic location, various castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
s and reinforced farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
s were soon established. The most important of these were the Castle of Holtmühle and the Munt. During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, there were several battles in and around Tegelen, because of its proximity to the walled city of Venlo
Venlo
Venlo is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands, next to the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg.In 2001, the municipalities of Belfeld and Tegelen were merged into the municipality of Venlo. Tegelen was originally part of the Duchy of Jülich centuries ago,...
. Over time, a barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
was established in Venlo, and a fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
in neighbouring Blerick. As a result, from the 16th century until the 18th century Tegelen was regularly visited by plundering armies.
Part of Jülich
Duchy of Jülich
The Duchy of Jülich comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay left of the Rhine river between the Electorate of Cologne in the east and the Duchy of Limburg in the west. It had territories on both sides of the river Rur, around its capital...
, while neighbouring Venlo belonged to the Duchy of Guelders. So literally, according to the people of Tegelen Venlo was "abroad" and vice versa. This explains the differences between the local dialects of the neighbouring towns and the rivalry between these parts of the city that persists to this day. The black, uncrowned lion on a golden ground, in the coat of arms and the flag of Tegelen can be found in the coat of arms of the Duchy of Jülich
Duchy of Jülich
The Duchy of Jülich comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay left of the Rhine river between the Electorate of Cologne in the east and the Duchy of Limburg in the west. It had territories on both sides of the river Rur, around its capital...
.
For Jülich it was very important to have access to the Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
river. Tegelen, with its harbour at Steyl
Steyl
Steyl is a village in the municipality of Venlo in the Netherlands and is best known as a monastery village.-Location:Steyl is on the right bank of the Limburgic river Meuse. A ferry connects Steyl with Baarlo. Steyl in the past has often had to deal with flooding, due to the high level of the...
, was the most northern one, the other one being Urmond
Urmond
Urmond is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Stein.Urmond was a separate municipality until 1982, when it was merged with Stein.-External links: Map of the former municipality, around 1868....
near Sittard
Sittard
Sittard is a city in the Dutch province of Limburg, which is the southernmost province of the Netherlands.On the east Sittard borders on Germany . It has some 48,400 inhabitants . Sittard is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen...
. In Napoleonic times, the former duchy of Jülich became part of the Roer department. Tegelen, Sittard and Urmond were ceded to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
in 1815, resulting in the Netherlands finally obtaining complete control of the river from Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
northward.
Industrial activities
Early in the 19th century Tegelen developed into a regional centre of industry. At first, tile and pottery factories were established, and later that century, metallurgy and tobacco factories. After 1900 agricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
was added to the mix. Pottery and related industries were very successful in Tegelen from 1750 until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Economic and social life before that war was dominated by a small number of factory-owning families that would scratch each other's backs. One infamous episode illustrating the way they treated their work force and how they controlled their lives occurred during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The producers of clay products claimed that the embargo on Germany brought them to the brink of bankruptcy, and the only way they could survive was to drastically reduce wages. The work force went on strike but soon the strike fund was depleted. The local clergy helped negotiate a settlement allowing labourers to return to work for a salary that barely exceeded subsistence levels. It later transpired that there had never been any risk of any of the producers going bankrupt, and that this drastic reduction in labour cost had allowed them to make exorbitant profits. This is still evident from the gigantic villas in which these families lived and of which a number are still standing.
After the war, the number of factories in Tegelen steadily decreased. All smelters, including Globe, known throughout the Netherlands for providing drainage covers, disappeared. There are still three operating factories producing clay products, but all of these are now in foreign ownership. One chimney
Flue gas stack
A flue-gas stack is a type of chimney, a vertical pipe, channel or similar structure through which combustion product gases called flue gases are exhausted to the outside air. Flue gases are produced when coal, oil, natural gas, wood or any other fuel is combusted in an industrial furnace, a power...
, previously owned by a stone cutter named Canoy Herfkens, is still standing as a reminder of Tegelen's industrial heyday.
In 2001 Tegelen was merged into the municipality of Venlo.
Culture
The centuries old expertise in ceramics and pottery is kept alive by courses held in the ceramic center of Tiendschuur.Tegelen has several theater, music and choral organisations. It is internationally famous for its Passion Play
Passion play
A Passion play is a dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death. It is a traditional part of Lent in several Christian denominations, particularly in Catholic tradition....
held every five years in the years that are divisible by 5, in Openluchttheater De Doolhof. These always attract many visitors. The same open air theater hosts Tegelen's Bluesrock Festival every year.
Characters
Tegelen has had its fair share of colourful characters. By far the most famous of these is "Baron" Joachim von Glasenapp, a Prussian aristocrat who inherited the castle Holtmuhle in the 18th century. He loved the army life so much that he owned a privately financed army corps that fought in the Seven Years' WarSeven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
.
More locally famous, before the Second World War, were the pub owners "Joës en Petatte Nelke", Gustaaf Schreurs and Petronella Muller, who had a song written about them and a statue erected for them in the market square.
En as weej wir nao Tegele gáon,
dèn gáon weej nao Petatte-Nelke.
Dao drinke weej ’n sjöpke beer,
en hebbe weej ouch vuël plezeer!
En Joes, dae haet zô’n lollig vrouwke,
die duit t’r sôkker in, die duit t’r sôkker in.
Al in det beer, al in det beer,
die duit t’r sôkker al in det beer!
Translation:
As we go back to Tegelen
We'll go and see Potato Nelke
Where we'll knock back a pint of beer
and have some good old fashioned cheer
And Joës's lady is a joker,
She puts some sugar in, she puts some sugar in
Our pint of beer, our pint of beer
She puts some sugar in our beer.
Former mayors
- 1798-1806 G.J. Antoon Thijssen (function formerly known as Agent and after that, Maire)
- 1807 Balthasar Hasenbach
- 1807-1808 Willem Houba (Maire provisoire)
- 1808-1815 Jean Guillaume Kamp (Maire)
- 1815-1817 No mayor; PrussianKingdom of PrussiaThe Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
- 1817-1830 Jean Guillaume Kamp (function formerly known as Maire and after that, Schout)
- 1831-1836 Jan Josef Ronck (function is called Mayor from now on)
- 1836-1848 Peter van Leipsig
- 1848 Peter Kurstjens (acting Mayor)
- 1848-1852 Gerardus Johannes de Rijc
- 1852-1862 Louis Pierre Quillaume Hubert de Rijk
- 1862 Jan van Leipsig (acting Mayor)
- 1862-1868 Jacob Beelen
- 1888-1906 Karel de Rijk
- 1906-1921 W.R. Carel van Basten Batenburg
- 1921-1927 Martin Willem J. Coenders
- 1927-1944 Mr. Felix Marie Casper Pesch
- 1944-1945 Ortsgruppenführer Potthof
- 1945-1960 Mr. Felix Marie Casper Pesch
- 1961-1979 Mr. Eugène G.G.M. Rutten
- 1979-1981 Niek Goossens (Deputy MayorDeputy MayorDeputy mayor is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official in many local governments. Many elected deputy mayors are members of the city council who are given the title and serve as acting mayor in the mayor's absence...
) - 1981-2000 Drs. Piet J.M. Visschers, final mayor
Born in Tegelen
- Toine Ambaum (*1941), Teacher, compiler of Dutch-Tegels dictionary
- Carla BeurskensCarla BeurskensCarolina Alwina Hubertina Beurskens was one of Holland's most prominent female long distance runners from the second half of 1970s until far into 1990s, including all distances from 3000 metres until the marathon...
(*1952), Dutch athlete - Huub Beurskens, Dutch writer
- Chantal Janzen (*1979), Musical star and actress
- Huub Stapel, Dutch actor
- Ben VerbongBen VerbongBen Verbong is a Dutch film director and screenwriter. He has directed 18 films since 1981. His debut film The Girl with the Red Hair was entered into the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:...
, Dutch film director - André van den Heuvel, Dutch actor
- Frans Pollux, Lead Singer of Neet oet Lottum
- Theo Thurlings, Dutch politician
- Caspar Franssen, Dutch architect
- Mariet Verbong (1939–2006), Dutch writer and sister of Ben Verbong
- Sjors Verdellen, professional football player VVV-Venlo
- Myra Ward (1916–1990), Dutch actress
Sources
- A.J. Welschen 2000-2005: Course Dutch Society and Culture, International School for Humanities and Social Studies ISHSS, Universiteit van Amsterdam
External links
- Korte geschiedenis van Tegelen
- Website van de gemeente Venlo
- Website van keramiek centrum De Tiendschuur
- Enkele foto's
- statue of pub owners Map in 1868 and satellite image in 2006.