Koudekerke

Koudekerke

flag	coat of arms
province	Zeeland
local community	Veere
Area  - land  - water	11.92  km 2 11.85 km 2 0.07 km 2
Residents	3,420 (Jan 1, 2017)
Coordinates	51 ° 29 ′  N , 3 ° 33 ′  E Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′  N , 3 ° 33 ′  E
Important traffic route
prefix	0118
Postcodes	4335, 4364, 4371, 4373-4374, 4381, 4384, 4386-4387
Website	Homepage of Koudekerke
Location of Koudekerke in the municipality of Veere

Koudekerke ( Zeeland Koukerke ) is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland . It is located about 2 km from the beach and 3 km from Vlissingen located on the former island Walcheren caused by the construction of the Sloedammes and polder now a peninsula has become.

Koudekerke belonged to the municipality of Valkenisse since December 31, 1965 , before it was assigned to the municipality of Veere in 1997 . Before 1965 Koudekerke was an independent municipality. On January 1, 2017, 3,420 people lived in Koudekerke on an area of ​​11.92 km². This makes it the largest village in Veere municipality. The above-average proportion of older residents in Koudekerke is striking.

Layout and history of the village

In 1809 the parish archives were destroyed in a fire caused by English cannon fire. Therefore, little is known from the previous period.

Koudekerke village church

Koudekerke is a characteristic church ring village: The church stands in the middle of the community, whose residents were Roman Catholic at the time of its creation . A ring-shaped path was created around the church at a certain distance, which was used for processions . The houses of the village were then built around the outside along the way. The existence of such a church in Koudekerke has been documented at least since 1198. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, the original church by which it was Archangel Michael consecrated Gothic replaced church. In 1566, Koudekerke was the first Dutch place to preach in favor of the Reformation . The Gothic church was badly damaged in the course of the Reformation Wars. But it was rebuilt in 1614 in a "modern" style. It still exists in this form today and was carefully restored from 1962 to 1964. The church, together with three other churches on Walcheren, has an unusually designed architecture: It consists of a large church hall and does not have a church tower on the side, but a small, slender tower in the middle on the roof, in which the two bells are housed. Today there is a second church in the city area.

The Boede

There are still many very old buildings in Koudekerke. The oldest surviving farm in Koudekerke was built around 1200.

In the 17th century, numerous country estates, so-called Buitenplaatsen , were built around Koudekerke as residences by the wealthy townspeople. They emerged from bought and presentably developed old farms or bought residences of the impoverished landed gentry and were surrounded by magnificent gardens. Many of them still exist today. "Ter Hooge", built in its original form in 1285, and "Der Boede", built in its original form in 1188, are the two most elaborately designed of the Buitenplaatsen that have survived . "Der Boede" is also the oldest building in those country estates. The building was confiscated by the German occupiers during the Second World War and used as the quarters of the commander Wilhelm Münzer and his employees. Large parts of the ancient furnishings were destroyed.

During the Second World War, the German occupying powers also built a number of massive bunkers near Koudekerke, in the hope of being able to repel the anticipated attack by the Allies through these fortifications, known as the Atlantic Wall . The relics of these measures are abundant in the coastal region.

After the war, the city grew again quickly , and many workers moved there due to the nearby Scheldt .

There used to be many windmills around Koudekerke ; at least 25 have been guaranteed since 1574. Only one of these has survived to this day. It was built in 1872 on the outskirts to replace a nearby, burnt down mill, "De Lelie". It was destroyed by a storm in 1940, but rebuilt in 1981.

Agriculture and tourism

The area around Koudekerke is used intensively for agriculture. Although the village is not directly on the sea, it is a popular holiday destination. The people in Koudekerke and the surrounding region live mainly from tourism today, almost four million overnight stays are counted in this area every year.

Protection from the sea

A nearby attraction is the innovative storm surge barrier on the Oosterschelde, completed in 1986 . Despite this famous weir, the Walcheren peninsula and thus also the village of Koudekerke will be at great risk from floods and storm surges in the future due to the continuous rise in sea ​​level expected from global warming and the gradual change in the Gulf Stream . As a result, the creation of further extensive protective measures to secure the area is planned for the period from 2006 to 2050. In addition, in recent years the level of the beach has been raised by extensive shifting of the sand, also to reduce the erosion of the coast.

Personalities

• Adrianus Catharinus Holtius (1786–1861), legal scholar

Web links

Commons : Koudekerke  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Place website (Dutch)
• Koudekerke: Website of the tourist association VVV Zeeland (German, Dutch, English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2017 Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek , accessed on April 13, 2018 (Dutch)
2. ↑ Website of the municipality of Veere ( Memento of the original dated August 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.