Bergen op Zoom is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands.
Population centres
- Bergen op Zoom
- Halsteren
- Heimolen
- Kladde
- Klutsdorp
- Lepelstraat
The city of Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom was granted city status in 1347.
The Markiezenhof palace, built in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, houses a cultural centre and a museum with a picturesque courtyard, paintings, period rooms, and temporary exhibitions.
GE Plastics operates a major manufacturing facility at its European headquarters in Bergen op Zoom.
Bergen op Zoom historically has been a place of residence for circus/funfair (kermis) performers and families.
Places to Visit
- The Markiezenhof
- The Centrum
Lepelstraat
Lepelstraat (population: 2,342) is a small community six kilometers north of the city of Bergen op Zoom. 30 percent of the municipality consists of farmland. Its earliest records of history date back to 1298 when in a manuscript of landrights it was mentioned as "Den Leepel Straet."
Lepelstraat has always been an important part in its region's religious history. From 1612 to 1875 there was a little church in the attic of a farmhouse that was kept from the knowledge of authorities because publicly practicing Roman Catholicism was forbidden at that time.
In 1875 Lepelstraat got its first real church, one with a tower having a height of 68 meters. This tower got blown up during World War II by retreating German troops. The tower has never been rebuilt.
During Holland's "Great Flood" in 1953 all of the land around Lepelstraat became flooded, costing hundreds of lives. The water did not reach Lepelstraat itself, making it a safe haven for the unlucky people who lost their homes, friends, and families.
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