Vught
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Vught | |
 |
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| Country | Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Province | North Brabant |
| Area (2006) | |
| - Total | 34.46 km² (13.3 sq mi) |
| - Land | 33.50 km² (12.9 sq mi) |
| - Water | 0.96 km² (0.4 sq mi) |
| Population (1 January 2007) | |
| - Total | 25,257 |
| - Density | 754/km² (1,952.9/sq mi) |
| Source: CBS, Statline. | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Website: www.vught.nl | |
Vught (pronunciation ) is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It is a town where lots of commuters live and has recently been named "Best place to live" by the Dutch magazine Elsevier.
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[edit] Population centres
- Cromvoirt, 797 people
- Vught, 24.442 people
[edit] Politics
The mayor of the town is Roderick van de Mortel. There are several (local) political parties active in Vught. The major (but not the only) parties are: Gemeentebelangen (4 seats), VSA (4 seats), VVD (4 seats), CDA (3 seats), Fractie van Erp (1 seat).
[edit] World War II
Vught is known for its transit/concentration camp (Herzogenbusch) built by Nazi-Germany during World War II. It was part of camp Herzogenbusch, but usually better known as "Kamp Vught" (Camp Vught). The camp held male and female prisoners captured in Belgium and the Netherlands. The guard staff included SS men and a few SS women, headed by Oberaufseherin Margarete Gallinat. The Nazis initially used this location as a transit camp to gather prisoners for classification and transportation to Poland and other camps. But, even here several horrific stories took place. One notorious story describes the punishment that a group of women received for standing up for another female prisoner. Seventy-four women were pushed into a cell room of barely nine square meters for over fourteen hours. Ten of the women died and several suffered permanent physical or mental damage. The camp commander, being responsible for this tragedy, was degraded by Himmler to being an 'ordinary' soldier and was sent to the Hungarian front; there he died in 1945.
Dutch underground members Corrie and Betsie ten Boom were held at Vught in 1944, before being sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp.
Vught was liberated by the Canadians at the end of the war, but only after German guards killed several hundred prisoners held there.
[edit] Camp in post-war times
After World War II, the camp was first used as a prison for Germans and "wrong" people, such as collaborators. Later, the barracks of Camp Vught were made available to Indonesian Moluccans, for use as their living quarters. The former barracks were first converted into a number of home units. A prison was built, on the terrain of Camp Vught, which was first used for young offenders, but is now used for criminals requiring a high security unit. This high security wing of the prison is called the "EBI" (Extra Beveiligde Inrichting/high security unit) and is the only unit of its kind in the Netherlands. The 'EBI' houses the top criminals of The Netherlands.
[edit] Landmarks and Nature
Just outside the town border lies the lake IJzeren Man (literally translated Iron Man). It was named after the machine that dug it in the years 1890 to 1915. The sand was needed as fill for the expansion of the nearby city of 's-Hertogenbosch. The lake is about 2 kilometers long, has a small island and is now mainly used for recreation. Vught has a castle, called Maurick, its history goes back till 13th century. In 1629 the castle was occupied by Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. Frederick Henry wanted to have the castle as his headquarter for his besiege of 's-Hertogenbosch. Nowadays the castle is a restaurant awarded with a Michelin Star.
[edit] Ewald Marggraff
In the town of Vught lived a well-to-do nobleman, Ewald Marggraff. Ewald, a hermit, who had studied law and owned a large amount of land and buildings, was constantly at war with the local authorities, mostly over land issues. Ewald chose to let all his possessions deteriorate, which was of course frowned upon by the authorities. Nature however liked it; animal species were living there that had disappeared elsewhere. Unfortunately his land holdings in and around the town of Vught were never accessible to the general public. On December 7, 2003 Ewald's life ended tragically; Ewald's manor(Zionsburg) burned down and Ewald was found later in the entrance hallway, near the front door. Ewald's land is now owned by a non-profit organization Marggraff stichting, founded by Ewald's sisters. The organisation has opened up the land for public access, allowing people from all around Vught to hike in the forests that were always there but were never accessible before. There are plans to rebuild the Ewald manor. In cooperation with SIX Architects BNA from Zeist, The Netherlands, a plan was made to reconstruct the building. These plans are now under consideration by the local authorities.
[edit] Department of corrections
Vught has a prison with the status of a high security unit (Dutch: EBI). Amongst the criminals imprisoned there are:
- Mohammed Bouyeri, murderer of Theo van Gogh (film director)
- Johan Verhoek nicknamed 'de hakkelaar', drug dealer
- Willem Holleeder, one of the perpetrators in the kidnapping of Freddy Heineken
- Samir Azzouz, terrorist with ties to Hofstad Network
[edit] Transportation
Vught has a railway station with connections to Amsterdam/Utrecht via 's-Hertogenbosch, Maastricht via Eindhoven, Tilburg and Nijmegen. Two highways, A2 and A65/N65 are connected to Vught.
[edit] Famous people associated with Vught
- Joost Prinsen, actor
- Erna Spoorenberg, soprano
- Frank Houben, former governor of the province North Brabant
- Corrie ten Boom, Christian Holocaust survivor who housed Jewish families in her home
- Betsie ten Boom, Corrie ten Boom's sister
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Kamp Vught
- SIX ARCHITECTS BNA, rebuilding Marggraff's estate
- ''Between Heaven and Hell, living in camp vught' is a documentary that interviews survivors of Camp Vught
- Vughts Historisch Museum
- Ewald Marggraff's private life with historical stories en precious images,music and historical movies
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