Helmond (dialect (Helmonds): Hèllemeund) is a city and
municipality in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands.
The municipality and city has 92,420 inhabitants (August 1, 2020,
source: Statistics Netherlands) and has an area of 54.57 km² (of
which 0.10 km² is water). The municipality of Helmond is part of the
BrabantStad urban network and was part of the former framework law
area Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven (SRE).
The city of
Helmond is characterized by a history of the metal and textile
industry. The street names that end in -wal indicate the former wall
of the fortified town of Helmond, of which the fourteenth-century
castle was part.
The municipality of Helmond has four
centers: The city of Helmond, subdivided into a number of
neighborhoods and the former villages of Stiphout, Mierlo-Hout and
Brouwhuis. The last three have managed to preserve the village
character. See also the list of districts in Helmond.
A well-known building in Helmond is the square castle near the
center. This moated castle was built in the fourteenth century and
served as a council chamber until 2001. Helmond Castle was also the
setting for the series Kasteel van Sinterklaas by Omroep Brabant.
Near the castle is the former Reformed Church from 1848. It is an early
neo-Gothic building by architect Arnoldus van Veggel from
's-Hertogenbosch. Until 1963 this building was used as a church, from
1973 to 1983 the Municipal Archives Service was located there, since
then it has been rented out as an office.
In the center of Helmond
there are still a few medieval buildings and streets, such as the Huis
met de Luts aan de Markt and the Ketsegängske.
The Sint-Lambertus
church with the Robustelly organ, which was built in Liège in 1772, the
Ketsegängske is located between Markt and the Noord-Koninginnewal in the
middle of the Markt, where there are some rebuilt weavers' houses.
The Binderen Chapel with the entrance gate to the former Binderen Abbey;
the chapel is located north of the center.
The Sint-Joseph Chapel,
which is also a war memorial.
Some interesting remnants of Helmond's
industrial history are the Auw Fabriekske and Warande Park (formerly
Peapark). The Auw Fabriekske is the oldest remaining industrial
monument; it dates from 1840. It was a textile factory of the Bots
family, on the Kanaaldijk N.W. On this quay you can see more old factory
buildings and villas of former textile barons.
The Warandepark is
located west of the center above the Oranjebuurt. The park consists
mainly of deciduous forest and there is also a burial island in the
forest. The park also has a petting zoo and a pond with a pavilion.
A
striking sight in Helmond was Theater 't Speelhuis and the Cube Houses,
which were designed by Piet Blom. However, 't Speelhuis was destroyed by
a fire on December 29, 2011, which also damaged a few cube houses. The
activities of Theater Het Speelhuis will now continue in the adapted and
slightly renovated building of the Church of Our Lady. The church is
100m away from the first 3 test cube houses on the Kasteel-Traverse.
On the west side of the city, the center of the Brandevoort residential
area, called 'de Veste', has been built since the late 1990s, which has
the shape of a fortified town. 'De Veste' is built entirely in a
historicizing style and consists of houses with all different, often
richly detailed facades. The narrow, car-free streets are designed to
produce picturesque images. There are special features such as a cast
iron market hall, a series of masonry bastions and many unusual houses
in the form of several large and many smaller gates.
In the municipality there are a number of national monuments, municipal
monuments and war memorials, see:
List of national monuments in
Helmond
List of municipal monuments in Helmond
List of war
memorials in Helmond
Images
Under the name De Kunstroute, a
very extensive and diverse collection of sculptures can be viewed
throughout the city center of Helmond. There are sculptures of a large
number of well-known artists, but lesser-known names are also
represented.
Museum Helmond
Museum Helmond is partly located
in Helmond Castle and partly in the Kunsthal.
The castle is
dedicated to the history of the castle and its residents and users and
is geared towards a young audience under the name of Castle Experiences.
The Kunsthal is set up for temporary exhibitions in which modern
artistic expressions in relation to work and society are central. In
addition to a city collection with objects from the history of Helmond,
the collection also contains two art collections. A collection of
international contemporary art from 1970 in various forms and
techniques. In 1978, work started on building up the collection, which
in 2008 already contained 450 works. The other with the theme: People
and Work. This includes works from 1850 to the present. This subject is
in line with the history of Helmond as an industrial city. The artists
represented include: Herman Heijenbrock, Johannes Bosboom, Isaac Israels
and Jan Toorop.
Helmond Industrial Heritage Foundation
This
museum is located at Kanaaldijk N.W. 29c. Most of the most important
companies were located on this Kanaaldijk. This museum displays objects
and products related to the versatile industrial history: textiles,
pumps, nuts and machines that Helmond's industry has produced or that
were used there.
Jan Visser Museum
This museum is located on
the Keizerin Marialaan and contains objects related to Helmond's history
and rural life, such as tools. In 1998, the collection was started,
which was also expanded with a collection from the Helmond fire brigade.
EDAH Museum
This museum was located at Oostende 167 until the end
of 2018. The museum originally contained objects related to the
supermarket chain Edah (existed from 1917 to 2007), but has gradually
expanded into a museum and knowledge center on retail and food. Since
2021, it has been located in the former Van Gend & Loos building at
Binnen Parallelweg 2 in Helmond.
Barrel Organ Museum Helmond
Loods20 houses the Rotary Organ Museum Helmond, together with the EDAH
museum. Before it was located on Torenstraat and between 2003 and 2008
it was closed. One of the important pieces is a dance organ, a large
removable barrel organ that was set up in a dance hall and traveled with
the fairs. There is also a collection of accordions and sheet music.
HomeComputerMuseum
The HomeComputerMuseum, located on the Noord
Koninginnewal, lets you experience and experience the history of home
computers from 1975 onwards. The museum has a wealth of documentation
and software. The museum opened in March 2018.
A helmet is depicted in the Helmond coat of arms.
However, the name Helmond has nothing to do with a helmet. The name
has been interpreted as a combination of hell, which would mean
'low-lying', and mouth, which would refer to a higher, secure place.
The helmet already appeared on a seal from 1241, when the
historical significance was no longer known. It is said to symbolize
the fortified medieval city. Originally it was a medieval half
helmet. It was later adapted to the fashion and is now a tournament
helmet. The oak twigs symbolize Freedom. The bird in the twigs is a
medieval decoration and has no meaning.
Helmond
originated from a settlement that must have existed before the year
1000, and was first mentioned in a bull of Pope Alexander III in
1179. The city was founded in 1225 by Duke Henry I of Brabant.
Helmond has not kept any proof of the granting of city rights, but
it is generally assumed that these were granted in the same period
as that of neighboring Eindhoven, so in or around 1232.
For
centuries Helmond was a center of textile industry that developed
further into a textile industry in the course of the nineteenth
century. This was stimulated by the arrival of the Zuid-Willemsvaart
in 1825, which connected Helmond with 's-Hertogenbosch and further
with the north and western Netherlands and further south via
Maastricht with the Liège basin and the Belgian areas along the
Maas. In addition, cotton plantations in Suriname played an
important role. Remains of the textile industry are a few villas of
textile manufacturer families on the canal and on the
Aarle-Rixtelseweg, and two companies that are still active, the firm
Raymakers and Vlisco.
The municipality of Helmond expanded several times with (parts of) neighboring municipalities. In 1968 this happened with the municipality of Stiphout and parts of the municipalities of Mierlo (the core of Mierlo-Hout, later 't Hout and subsequently Mierlo-Hout), Deurne (part of Brouwhuis) and Bakel and Milheeze (west of the Bakelse Aa with Dierdonk, Kruisschot, the core of Brouwhuis and Rijpelberg). In the 1990s, the municipality wanted to add the northern neighboring municipality of Aarle-Rixtel. However, villagers countered this with the battle cry 'Ale blie!' ('Aarle-Rixtel stays!'). The church village eventually merged into the new municipality of Laarbeek.
By plane
Helmond is about a 15-minute drive from Eindhoven
Airport. Traveling directly by train from Schiphol is also an option.
By train
There are four stations in the municipality of Helmond,
of which the intercity only stops at the central station in the center.
There is a direct train connection from Eindhoven Central.
By bus
Buses run through certain places in the municipality. The normal city
buses run limited in the center. Buses no longer run in Brouwhuis and
Rijpelberg, but buses are available on order via BravoFlex
By bike
Like most of the Netherlands, Helmond has an extensive
cycling network. There is also an official cycling route available
called "Rondje Helmond"
Like almost every town in the south of the Netherlands, Helmond has
local customs and festivities. In the specific case of Helmond,
Shrovetide is known beyond municipal, provincial and national borders.
Carnival
Fastnacht takes place in Helmond as well as in Germany
until Ash Wednesday. From the beginning of the year until Shrovetide the
well-known "Keiekletsavonden" take place (cf. Büttenreden in Germany).
The grand finale with a gala ball is on the last Saturday before
Shrovetide.
On Shrove Saturday, the mayor hands over his office
key for four days to the "Keiebeijters", Helmond's largest carnival
association.
On Sunday, the largest carnival parade in the
Netherlands takes place in Helmond. This parade is attended by people
from all over the south of the Netherlands.
The “Haringhappen”
takes place on Wednesday evening. All pubs then serve herring with side
dishes to commemorate the beginning of Lent.
Matthijs Vermeulen (1888–1967), composer and music journalist
Hans
Gruijters (1931–2005), politician
Wilhelmus de Bekker (born 1939),
Catholic clergyman, Bishop Emeritus of Paramaribo in Suriname
Hein
Verbruggen (1941–2017), sports official
Willy van der Kuijlen
(1946–2021), national football player
Lisette Sevens (born 1949),
hockey player
René & Willy van de Kerkhof (born 1951), national
football players
Annemarie Penn-te Strake (born 1953), lawyer and
politician
Fieke Boekhorst (born 1957), hockey player
Bart van der
Putten (born 1957), jazz saxophonist and clarinetist
Berry van Aerle
(born 1962), national football player
Stochelo Rosenberg (born 1968),
jazz guitarist
Sani van Mullem (born 1977), jazz musician
Wilfred
Bouma (born 1978), national football player
Jimmy Rosenberg (born
1980), jazz guitarist
Bob de Voogd (born 1988), hockey player
Sabrina Stultiens (born 1993), cyclist
Claudia Leenders (born 1994),
slalom canoeist
Aniek Nouwen (born 1999), soccer player
In the nineteenth century, Helmond has become an industrial city with
a relatively one-sided pattern for a long time, mainly low-skilled metal
and textile industries. This led to a relatively one-sided population
with a large lower layer and a small, rich upper layer, a dichotomy that
was also partly reflected geographically by the Zuid-Willemsvaart. Much
of the original industry has disappeared, although some companies from
that era, such as Vlisco, still exist. Vlisco has been active as an
exporter of wax prints to Western Africa since the nineteenth century.
She has built up a strong market position there with a locally colored
collection. Furthermore, since the 1960s, many new companies have
settled there (some of which have also disappeared). In 2021, a number
of companies are active in the high-tech sector. Helmond has extensive
industrial estates.
Knowledge center for automotive technology
In 1976, Helmond-based VolvoCar added a development laboratory to its
activities. After the conversion into NedCar, it continued as NedCar
Product Design & Engineering and, after becoming independent, as PDE
Automotive. This became the core of the knowledge center for the
automotive industry that was developed from the beginning of the 21st
century. Initiated in 2003, this center was named High Tech Automotive
Campus. The Campus covers 15 to 20 ha. Here you will also find TNO
Automobieltechniek, which was transferred from Delft in 2008. Also the
French Altra - which took over the German Benteler concern in 2016,
including the development laboratory located in Helmond, a continuation
of Volvo engineering on site. There are also various secondary and
higher vocational training courses in automotive engineering. The city
also has 22 companies that work as suppliers for the car industry,
including APTS, which is part of the VDL Groep, and which built the
Phileas buses.
Shop
The shopping heart of the city is located
in the center, around the Veestraat and De Markt. The Alsace Passage can
also be found here.
There is a weekly market on De Markt / Noord
Koninginnewal / Ameideplein on Saturday and Wednesday morning. There is
also a market in Mierlo-Hout on Tuesday morning and the Brouwhuis market
on Friday morning.
Helmonders are also called 'cat swatters', which is their derisive
name. It is said that they used to eat cats, or 'roof hares', which may
be due to the poverty at the time. In Helmonds, a very characteristic
dialect, grandmother, who would have eaten such a meal, says: Mar Jonge,
you couldn't see ut verskil, and ut tasted good. Krek un wild kneen. The
story is also known of the cat friend, the Capuchin Father Nicodemus,
who caught street cats and brought them to the attic of the monastery,
where they could feast on the mice present there.
Helmond has had
a city poet for a long time. From January 1, 2011, it was Wim Daniëls
for many years, who also wrote Het Helmonds Dictionary and the Helmond
poetry collection.
To go out, in Helmond you can go to the Kasteellaan, Havenweg, Steenweg, Markt and Zuid Koninginnewal where the wet catering industry is concentrated.
There are two cinemas, Pathé Helmond with 6 screens and De
Cacaofabriek with 3 screens, and two theatres, Theater 't Speelhuis and
the Annatheater.
The most famous places for live pop music are De
Cacaofabriek and Muziekcafé Helmond, both of which have core stage
status (Nationaal Fonds Podiumkunsten).
The cat appears
playfully in all kinds of websites and activities. An example is the
Jazz in Catstown festival, held every June. Catstown is the counterpart
of Lichtstad Eindhoven, which organizes Jazz in Lighttown. In 2015, Jazz
in Catstown merged with the Artimond artistic festival. The new name is
H2O. Another event that is organized is the Kasteeltuin concerts in July
and August.
An annual blues festival has been held in the center
since 2011 (the last full weekend of October). Bluesroute Helmond has
grown over the years into one of the largest, freely accessible blues
festivals in the Benelux with artists from the Netherlands and abroad.
Carnival is also celebrated in Helmond with, among other
things, the largest parade in the south. Helmond is a real
carnival city; in addition to the many carnival associations, there is a
large foundation that deals with the city carnival (which attracts tens
of thousands of visitors every year): the Keiebijters. With carnival,
Helmond is also called Keiebijtersstad or Kattegat. These names date
from the early 1960s.
The name Keiebijter, like many names of
carnival associations, refers to the local past, when home weaving was
the predominant source of existence. The weavers in their shabby houses
suffered greatly from the temperature fluctuations, which did not make
processing the yarn any easier. Natural aids were used, in this case
saliva, to lubricate the warp yarn (especially when it was dry, to
prevent it from snapping) and to make it smoother so that the bobbin
could slide through it more easily. To promote saliva production, things
were taken in the mouth that acted just like chewing gum: sometimes
loose ends of yarn waste (called drums; hence the name of the Gemert
carnivallers as drum nibblers) and also pebbles, which are therefore
reminiscent of the name Keiebijters.
Helmond has a
variety of sports clubs. There are eight different football clubs,
several tennis courts and a hockey club, namely HC Helmond. But you can
also do athletics in Helmond at H.A.C. Helmond, cycling at MTB R&TC
Buitenlust and playing golf at the Helmondse Golfclub 'Overbrug'.
Payed football
Helmond has known professional football since the
fifties. Initially, HVV Helmond and SC Helmondia (which split the city
in two) both played professional football. On July 27, 1967, Helmondia
was absorbed by Helmond Sport, after HVV Helmond had already had to give
up its professional license due to financial difficulties. Helmond Sport
was promoted from second to first division in the first year, where it
is still active (after a trip to the premier league in the eighties).