Geffen, Netherlands

Geffen
Geffen
Village
	Tower of the Church of Maria Magdalena
	Coat of arms
	Geffen Location in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands Geffen Geffen (Netherlands)
	Coordinates: 51°44′21″N5°27′50″E / 51.73917°N 5.46389°E
Country	Netherlands
Province	North Brabant
Municipality	Oss
Area
• Total	11.03 km2 (4.26 sq mi)
Elevation	6 m (20 ft)
Population (2021)
• Total	4,995
• Density	450/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	5386
Dialing code	073

Last updated December 29, 2024

Geffen had been an independent municipality in the Dutch province of North Brabant until 1993, when it became a part of the newly formed municipality Maasdonk. This lasted until 2015, when Maasdonk was dissolved and Geffen became part of Oss.

Archeological findings show that the area had been inhabited since the Stone Age (2000 B.C.). The date of settlement is not known. The first time Geffen was mentioned in official documents was on the October 1, 1246. There have been many different names for Geffen, including Ghiffen and Gheneffen. Gheneffen most probably had been created as a fusion between "gen" + "effa", which means "on the water's edge". In the year 1298, Duke Jan II of Brabant granted the town of Geffen rights for peat harvesting.

In the following centuries, Geffen became a fiefdom. The Vassal of Geffen resided in the castle of Geffen close to the border of Nuland. During a French raid in the 18th century this castle was destroyed and at this time only the ditch and its fortifications can be found.

After the Second World War

Up until the Second World War things did not really change in Geffen; it maintained a population of roughly 1,200. In 1956 the first planned neighbourhood began construction. During this time, neighbouring Oss started to become a true city and many facilities moved away. Geffen itself grew in every direction except north; this is mainly because of the railway embankment which protects Geffen from flooding from the Meuse. With the creation of the A50 highway, a dig site was opened at the border of Oss, Heesch and Geffen. After the construction of the highway was completed this area was reformed into a swimming point (the Geffenseplas) and a small forest.

Education

There are two schools in Geffen, both are Catholic schools. The Aloysiusschool, which can be found between town hall and the local supermarket, and the Mariaschool, which lies next to the church and has a more religious background. In March 2009, the building of a new school started. The former Aloysius- and Mariaschool have merged into one multifunctional building, containing the new school, called De Wissel.

Religion

Around 1450 the bell tower of the Maria Magdalena Church was built. The church survived numerous fires and floods, even the burning of Geffen by Charles II, Duke of Guelders in 1487. At the end of the Second World War, the German military tried to blow up the church like they did with the churches of Nuland, Heesch and Vinkel [ nl ]. At the ceiling level, the marks of this are still visible.

One of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in North Brabant can be found in Geffen. As early as 1693 the archives speak of this cemetery and until 1908, 20 years after the founding of a new regional cemetery, it was in use. Over 300 people are buried here, including many forefathers of the van den Bergh, Hartog and van Zwanenberg families.

Present

Geffen is a typical town of east Brabant with close to 5,000 inhabitants. The biggest sports club is Nooit Gedacht Geffen, a football club founded in 1929. Every year a farmers' market is organized under the name of 'effe noar geffe'. Every year more people visit this festival and in 2004 more than 35,000 people were welcomed. Because of mismanagement of funds, among other problems, integration into Oss and Den Bosch has been approved, and the dissolution of the village, one part into Den Bosch, another part to Oss, is to be effective as of January 1, 2015.^[3]

Famous Geffenaren

Simon van den Bergh (1819), industrial magnate, father of Samuel van den Bergh, co-founder of Unilever
Ruud van Nistelrooy (1976), football player, born in Oss

The van Geffen family

Literature

Jacob Becker: Het smouse Kerkhof te Geffen, 1693-1903, Stichting Iacobus Judeaus, Uden 1987

Related Research Articles

's-Hertogenbosch, colloquially known as Den Bosch, is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest city by population. The city is south of the Maas river and near the Waal.

North Brabant, also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the west, and the Flemish provinces of Antwerp and Limburg to the south. The northern border follows the Meuse westward to its mouth in the Hollands Diep strait, part of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. North Brabant had a population of about 2,626,000 as of January 2023. Major cities in North Brabant are Eindhoven, Tilburg, Breda, its provincial capital 's-Hertogenbosch, and Helmond

The Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch was one of the four parts of the Duchy of Brabant, the others being the Margraviate of Antwerp, the County of Brussels and the County of Leuven/Louvain. Located in the current-day Netherlands, it acquired its name from the bailiff of 's-Hertogenbosch, who administered the area in the name of the Dukes of Brabant. The Meierij roughly corresponds to the larger province of North Brabant.

Oss is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant, situated between Nijmegen and 's-Hertogenbosch.

Bernheze is a municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. It was formed as a rename of Heesch in 1995. The municipalities of Heeswijk-Dinther and Nistelrode had merged into Heesch in 1994.

Heusden is a municipality and a city in the south of the Netherlands. It is located between the towns of Waalwijk and 's-Hertogenbosch. The municipality of Heusden, including Herpt, Heesbeen, Hedikhuizen, Doeveren, and Oudheusden, merged with Drunen and Vlijmen in 1997, giving the municipality its current form.

Ravenstein is a city and a former municipality in the south of the Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. The former municipality covered an area of 42.68 km². In 2003 it was incorporated into the city of Oss.

Heeswijk is a Dutch village. It is located in the province of North Brabant, in the south of the Netherlands.

Beek en Donk is a town in the province North Brabant, Netherlands. There are 10,028 inhabitants. The spoken language is Peellands.

Dirck Gorisszen Storm was an early colonial American who recorded the first official history of the Dutch community at Sleepy Hollow. His book Het Notite Boeck der Christelyckes Kercke op de Manner of Philips Burgh is a rare document of life in colonial times. Sometimes referred to as Het Notite Boeck, the five-part book is one of the few surviving records of Dutch Colonial American village life in English-occupied New York province.

Nistelrode is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Bernheze, about 8 km south of Oss.

Nuland is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located about 8 km (5 mi) east of 's-Hertogenbosch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedictus Buns</span>

Benedictus Buns, Benedictus à sancto Josepho, was a Carmelite priest and composer.

Carnival in the Netherlands is a festival held mainly in the Southern and Eastern regions of the Netherlands with an emphasis on role-reversal and the suspension of social norms, as part of celebrations of Carnival. The feast was assimilated by the Catholic Church, taking elements from ancient pagan spring festivals and is celebrated in the three days preceding the Christian holidays of Ash Wednesday and Lent.

Nijnsel is a village in the province of North Brabant, located in the Meierij of 's-Hertogenbosch. Nijnsel is a parish of the municipality of Meierijstad.

Het Noordbrabants Museum is an art museum in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

SV OSS '20 is a football club from Oss, Netherlands.

Dhoraso Moreo Klas is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Suriname national team.

Boxmeer Castle is an originally 13th century castle in Boxmeer, North-Brabant, Netherlands. It is situated on a former island in the Meuse.

Geertruidenberg Castle was a major medieval castle in Geertruidenberg, then part of County of Holland now in North-Brabant, Netherlands

References

1 2 3 "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2021". Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
↑ "Postcodetool for 5386AA". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
↑ "The F59 Fast Cycle Route ʼs-Hertogenbosch – Oss". 26 November 2014.

External links

Media related to Geffen at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[stat-1] 1 2 3 "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2021". Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 18 April 2022.

[AHN-2] "Postcodetool for 5386AA". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 18 April 2022.

[3] "The F59 Fast Cycle Route ʼs-Hertogenbosch – Oss". 26 November 2014.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Populated places in the municipality of Oss
Towns	Oss Berghem Megen Ravenstein
Villages	Demen [ nl ] Dennenburg [ nl ] Deursen [ nl ] Dieden [ nl ] Geffen Haren Herpen Huisseling [ nl ] Kessel Lith Lithoijen Macharen Maren Maren-Kessel [ nl ] Neerlangel [ nl ] Neerloon [ nl ] Oijen [ nl ] Overlangel [ nl ] Teeffelen [ nl ]
Hamlets	Het Wild
List of cities, towns and villages in North Brabant

Authority control databases
National	Israel
Geographic	MusicBrainz area