Haaksbergen (Low Saxon: Hoksebarge) is a municipality and village in Twente, in the Dutch province of Overijssel. The municipality has 24,275 inhabitants (August 1, 2020 source: Statistics Netherlands). Haaksbergen is close to Hengelo (11 km) and Enschede (12 km). The total area is 105.55 km² (of which water: 0.27 km²). The municipality of Haaksbergen, which calls itself Ster in Twente, works together with other municipalities in the Twente region.
There are not many, but there are some interesting sights:
The
Sint Pancratiuskerk (Saint Pancratius Church) is located on the market
square in Haaksbergen. Around 900 a first wooden church was built here.
Around the year 1000 it was replaced by a stone church in Romanesque
style (now the rear part of the central nave). Around 1300 it was
extended to the choir. In 1398 Ludolph, Lord of Ahaus, founded a
vicariate in honor of Saint George. A new chapel was built for this
purpose on the right of the front part of the nave. In 1520 the church
was added to the right of the rear part of the nave, resulting in a
two-nave church. The tower was built in 1565 by order of Philip II, the
Spanish king, as a vantage point and point of defense for the upcoming
Eighty Years' War. After the Reformation, the church fell into the hands
of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1646. In 1810 Louis Napoleon, Napoleon's
brother, ordered the church to be returned to the Catholics. In 1888 the
church was rebuilt again: it got a new sacristy, the chancel was
enlarged and the nave was raised. In addition, a third nave with a
chapel was built to the left of the main nave, resulting in a three-nave
hall church.
Behind the Pankratiuskirche you will find the Nederlands
Hervormde Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church). The first church was built
around 1810 because the parish could no longer use the Pancratius
Church. On August 16, 1851, however, the church burned down in a large
village fire. After a large fundraiser, a new church was built, which
was used for the first time at Christmas 1854. In 2009 the interior was
redesigned.
Next to the church is the Richtershuis (Judges' House).
It was built in 1720 by judge Joan Jansen van der Sluys. His family coat
of arms can be seen above the entrance. Justice was administered here
until his death in 1738, after which it came into the possession of the
Reformed Church.
The synagogue from 1828 stands to the left behind
the Pankratiuskirche. It is said to be the smallest in the Netherlands.
On the Spoorstraat is the 'Villa Jordaan', built at the end of the 19th
century for the textile manufacturer Jordaan. His textile factory was on
the left behind the villa (now the library and school) until the 1970s.
Museum Buurtspoorweg operates steam trains between Haaksbergen and
Boekelo (municipality of Enschede) during the summer months.
South of
Haaksbergen you will find the 'Oostendorper Watermolen', a double
watermill from the 16th century.
In the countryside there are various
old Saxon-style farms, the history of which often goes back to the
Middle Ages.
Cultural hub is 'Kulturhus 't Iemenschoer'. Under its
roof are u. a. a theatre, a music school, a course institute and an art
exhibition hall. Theater 'De Kappen' puts on all kinds of performances,
from peasant revues and cabaret to classical music. Works by Haaksberger
and other artists are on display in the 'Kunstzaal Achterom'. There are
also various cultural associations, e.g. B. the Haaksberg revue 'Allo
Jannao', the folk dance group 'De Hakkelklumpkes', the art association
'Kunstkring Haaksbergen' and the historical association 'Historical
Kring'. A museum about the natural as well as the cultural history of
Twente can be found in Enschede, the 'Twentse Welle'.
The municipality of Haaksbergen is located in the
south of Twente. Besides the main town, it consists of the villages
of Buurse and St. Isidorushoeve and a number of hamlets. The
municipality borders in the north on the Overijssel municipalities
of Hof van Twente, Hengelo and Enschede. In addition, the boundary
of Haaksbergen in the southwest simultaneously forms the provincial
boundary with Gelderland and the municipality of Berkelland. The
German municipalities of Vreden and Ahaus are located in the south
and southeast.
South of the village of Haaksbergen is the
Lankheet estate, where the water of the Buurserbeek is purified
using reed filters.
The earliest traces of
habitation within the current municipal boundaries of Haaksbergen
have been found along the Buurserbeek. They probably date from
around 800 BC. The village of Haaksbergen was created much later,
around 800 AD, as an agricultural settlement further downstream on
the Buurserbeek. Remains have been found of a wooden church from
around the year 1000, predecessor of the current St. Pancratius
Church. The first mention of Haaksbergen dates from 1188. In a
12th-century property register, Count Hendrik van Dale, who also
owned Diepenheim and Ahaus, listed property in the parish of
Hockesberghe. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Marches were
created, which continued to exist until the mid-19th century. The
marches Brammelo, Langelo, Eppenzolder / Stepelo, Holthuizen,
Boekelo and Haaksbergen / Honesch belonged to Haaksbergen.
Around 1400 the Buurserbeek, which until then flowed through the
village, was relocated and connected to the Schipbeek south of
Haaksbergen. This created a water connection with the IJssel and the
Hanseatic cities of Deventer, Zwolle and Zutphen could be reached by
water. In the 18th century, a flour mill was built, called De
Korenbloem.
The textile industry was of great importance from
the middle of the 19th century. The factory of D. Jordaan & Zonen
provided a lot of employment. At its peak, 80% of Haaksbergen's
workforce was employed in the textile sector. The textile industry
collapsed in the early 1970s, and the factory in Haaksbergen also
closed.
Haaksbergen is also a sports town. There are many sports clubs such
as rifle, tennis, fishing and football clubs. In the sports park
'Scholtenhagen' you will find tennis and soccer fields, an athletics
track, an indoor swimming pool and an open-air ice rink, which is used
as a skating rink in summer. There is also a BMX cross track and a
motocross track. The international 'IBIS-toernooi', a chess competition
for blind people, is held every year.
The textile
industry that dominated from 1862 to 1970 no longer exists, industry
only exists in small businesses in various sectors. Many commuters live
in Haaksbergen and work in Hengelo and Enschede.
In 2004, Uzin
Utz took over the Unipro company in Haaksbergen.
In
May, the annual fair and the well-known Maimarkt take place, which runs
through the whole city.
In 1996, Haaksbergen hosted the 11th
Europaschützenfest, an event organized by the European Association of
Historical Riflemen.
In an accident at the AutoMotorSportief
event in the Stationsstraat on 28 September 2014, three people died when
a 1500 hp monster truck went out of control.
Sons and daughters of the community
Hermannus Scholten (1726–1783
in Leiden), Reformed theologian
Chantal Reusken (b. 1969 or 1970),
virologist, significant role in MERS-CoV research
Erik ten Hag (born
1970), football coach and former football player
Ester Workel (born
1975), helmswoman in rowing
Bram Tankink (born 1978), cyclist
Shirley van der Lof (born 1986), automobile racer
people who
worked on site
Ben Steneker (born 1935), country singer
Christian
Siebrecht (born 1968), German field hockey player and field hockey
referee
Andy Scharmin (1967–1989), footballer, grew up in Haaksbergen
Steffan Winkelhorst (born 1992), ski racer, lives in Haaksbergen
There are various direct bus connections with,
among others, Enschede, Goor, Hengelo, Borculo, and the intermediate
places provided by Keolis and Arriva.
Keolis also provides the
direct bus connection with Hengelo and the local bus connection between
Haaksbergen and Buurse-border.
In the summer months, a historic
steam train has been running for tourists on the Museum Buurtspoorweg
(MBS) between Haaksbergen and Boekelo since the 1970s.
The main road past Haaksbergen is the N18. The N18 runs from the Oud-Dijk junction past Doetinchem, Lichtenvoorde and Eibergen towards Enschede. Since 2018, the N18 has a connection to the A35. You can also take the N347 from Haaksbergen to Goor, Rijssen, Nijverdal and Ommen and via the N739 to Hengelo. A lot of traffic uses the N739 to get to the A35 because it is faster and shorter.