Drunen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Overview
2 Economy
3 History
4 Recreation
5 People

[edit] Overview

Drunen is a town with a population of 17,783 (1 January 2008) in the municipality of Heusden in the southern Netherlands. Drunen is part of a region called the Langstraat (long street) which is historically known of its leather and shoe industry. Since 1813, Drunen was a separate municipality, consisting of the towns Drunen, Elshout and Giersbergen.

The centre of Drunen is a plaza surrounded by the Lambertuschurch and the city hall. Furthermore there are some pubs and stores in the centre. Drunen was heavily shelled by British Forces in late 1944 in the days prior to liberation and its main buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed outright. In consequence, there are few historic buildings. Recently the centre, including the plaza, has been modernized.

On 1 January 1997, it was incorporated along with the municipalities of Heusden and Vlijmen into the new, enlarged municipality of Heusden, containing the towns Drunen, Elshout, Giersbergen, Oud-Heusden, Heusden, Vlijmen, Nieuwkuijk and Haarsteeg. Some argued that this enlarged municipality should have been called the municipality of Drunen, being the biggest of the three towns. However due to the historical importance of Heusden, and possibly to avoid ill-feeling in the almost equally large town of Vlijmen, the municipal was named after Heusden.

[edit] Economy

Drunen has an extensive industrial park which includes heavy industry for large ship's propellers, as well as copper and aluminium extrusion. Most recent industries focus on logistics. The biggest employers in Drunen are the propellor factory Wärtsila (previously (John Crane) LIPS) and the aluminium factory of SAPA (previously Alcoa).

[edit] History

1813: Drunen becomes a municipality in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. 1935: Elshout (previously part of the municipality Oud-Heusden) is added to Drunen. 1944: Liberation of Drunen in World War II at which the church tower and many of the historic buildings are destroyed. 1997: The municipality of Drunen is incorporated into the enlarged municipality of Heusden. 2007: The modernized centre of Drunen is officially opened.

[edit] Recreation

Drunen is internationally known of the Loon and Drunen Dunes Loonse en Drunense Duinen, a National Park consisting of dunes and forests that attracts many tourists. To emphasize the link between Drunen and the Dunes, along with the opening of the modernized centre a piece of art was uncovered, that contains fragments of a poem about the dunes.

In the past a car museum (Autotron) was located in Drunen, but this was moved to another town called Rosmalen. The museum, designed by architect Anton Pieck (known from the Efteling) is currently used as a theatre.

A theme park called Land van Ooit was located in Drunen as well. However, on 22 November 2007 the park closed. Subsequently, the property (44 acres) was purchased by the local government for recreational and infrastructional purposes.