Oosterhout
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|---|---|
Municipality
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 | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Province | North Brabant |
| Area
(2006)
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| • Total | 73.09 km2 (28.22 sq mi) |
| • Land | 71.59 km2 (27.64 sq mi) |
| • Water | 1.50 km2 (0.58 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 53,278 |
| • Density | 744/km2 (1,930/sq mi) |
| Source: CBS, Statline. | |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Oosterhout (pronunciationⓘ) is a municipality and a city in the South of the Netherlands. At January, 2007, the city population was 53,278.
Oosterhout received city rights in 1809 which were granted by Louis Bonaparte.
[Oosterhout Basilica:[1]
Oosterhout has 1 well known myth. There is a story about the train which Oosterhout never got. It has a special reason. In the time the train stations were distributed to the municipalities, representatives of the municipalities of Gilze and Rijen aswell as those of Oosterhout went to the political capital. After a long trip by coach the representatives of Oosterhout wanted to eat a bit first, to freshen themselves up and continue there visit. The representatives of Gilze and Rijen did it exactly the other way around. By the time the representatives of Oosterhout were there the station was given to Gilze and Rijen. From this story a custom was born: "First we eat..."
The reality is that Gilze-Rijen is between Breda and Tilburg. These 2 are larger city's that needed the connection. Oosterhout would be a long way around. Its not enroute so the possibility is there that this story is true but the larger posibility is that this story was made up.
Oosterhout is a city of contradictions:
• Oosterhout is a medium sized city with big building plans. It’s a small city in the context of the province.
• Oosterhout is an important shopping town. People come from long distances to do their shopping here. But in the evening people prefer Breda or other cities, where there are more possibilities for leisure.
• Oosterhout is an immigration town, with import from north of the rivers, the Rotterdam area. It’s a North-Brabant’s town, proud of its roots and characteristics.
• Oosterhout is a green town, with beautiful surroundings. Enter the town from the wrong direction and you’ll find yourself in an industrial town.
• Oosterhout is a new town with an old centre
• Oosterhout is centrally located, but there’s no train.
Contradictions give character. It makes Oosterhout an interesting city. A contradiction Oosterhouters that has led and still leads to a big public debate on the development of Oosterhout is the question: are we a village or are we a city. Local planners are working on a number of high rise development plans. Plans that symbolise the step from being a village to becoming a medium sized town Experiences a few years ago with plans for high-rise and intense land use in Oosterhout designed by Ashok Bhalotra led to a big public controversy. The current elected local government intends to learn from this experience and wants to develop a high-rise policy. A policy that ends controversy and marks the way for Oosterhout to say farewell to the village days and become a medium sized city for once and for all. As a start of the process to realise a high rise policy Oosterhout organised a number of inspiration meetings(2007)
51°39′N 4°51′E / 51.650°N 4.850°E / 51.650; 4.850
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![[1]](http://www.leylijnen.com/139b3460.jpg){kind=link}