Walcheren

Walcheren is old a island zélandaise, with the Netherlands. Nowadays, it is a peninsula bordering on Borsele and Goes, communes of Zuid-Beveland. It is bordered by the the North Sea, the the Western Scheldt and the Veerse Meer.

Walcheren counts: 113000 inhabitants for a surface of 216 km: it is the old island zélandaise densément populated.

Three communes divide this territory: Flessingue, Middelbourg (chief town of the province) and Veere. The old island is crossed by the Canal of Walcheren between Flessingue and Veere.

History

Roman time

Walcheren was already a territory inhabited at the time Roman, with Domburg like important shopping mall. The name of Domburg at that time was probably Walacria , which explains the origin of the name Walcheren .

In 1647, the ruins of a temple devoted to the goddess Nehalennia were found. The furnace bridges were also found: they were covered with anthems to the goddess, in recognition of the sure crossings.

During III {{E}} and IV {{E}} centuries, most of Zealand was submerged and the territory remained almost uninhabited.

the Middle Ages

During the 9th century, citadels are built in order to protect the island against the invasions from the Normands. Middelbourg and Souburg ( of zuid-burcht : “the citadel of the south”) are examples. One can still see the ground citadel with Souburg. In 837 (838 or 841 according to other sources), Lothaire I {{er}} grants the island to a chief Viking, Haraldr Klakk.

The peasants raised small hillocks ( vliedbergen ) in this territory yet polderized in order to protect itself from the floods.

At the 11th century, part of Zealand is poldérisée by monks come from Flanders and thus the country is less and less submerged. The fertile clay of Zealand is very good for agriculture and prosperity in the territory increases thanks to the maritime trade.

As from the 12th century, villages and cities appear. Because of good accessibility by sea, the interest of cities like Middelbourg, Veere and Flessingue grows quickly about the 14th century.

XVI {{E}} and XVII {{E}} centuries

The 16th century was from a historical point of view one interesting time during which Walcheren, beside the good periods, also knew bad periods.

During the War Eighty Year old, the island was often the theater of military operations. Moreover, Walcheren also knew the floods of 1570 ( Allerheiligenvloed : floods of All Saints' day).

XVIII {{E}} and XIX {{E}} centuries

During this period, prosperity declines. The economy stagnates, except for agriculture. July 30th with the December 10th 1809, a British forwarding takes place on Walcheren. It was an attempt missed conquering the port of Antwerp to the hands of the French, within the framework of the Fifth coalition at the time of the Napoleonean Guerres.

20th century

Second world war

After the unloading of Normandy in June 1944, the Alliés went up quickly in direction of the border Dutchwoman. In September, the southernmost provinces were released, including the Flanders zélandaise. The failure of the Opération Market Garden put a provisional term at the projection.

The German armed continued to occupy Walcheren. It controlled the access road to the Antwerp port city. However, the allied armies had a great need for its harbor installations: the Norman ports were too small and too distant.

To open the access road towards Antwerp, it was thus also necessary to take Walcheren. But strong German defense made an unloading perilous. For this reason, the Allies bombarded the October 3rd the dams of Walcheren with Westkapelle. Walcheren was then underwater. The goal was to disorganize German defense sufficiently in order to prepare an attack amphibian.

In spite of the warnings with the population the October 2nd by means of air droppings, 180 inhabitants of Westkapelle found death. 600 of the 650 residences of the village were destroyed.

The dams with Flessingue and Veere were also bombarded. The October 17th, Westkapelle was attacked again in order to increase and deepen the breach in the dam.

The October 24th, the 2nd division Canadian took Kreekrakdam after very sharp combat. The next day, it could release the villages of Rilland and Bath. The 52e Scottish division Lowland lands on the southern part of Zuid-Beveland. It is only the October 30th which Zuid-Beveland was entirely released.

November 1st, the Germans were weakened finally so much that the English could unload. The November 8th, Walcheren was released.

Floods of 1953

In the night of the January 31st to the 1953, Zealand was touched by a flood. Walcheren on the whole was then preserved floods. To prevent a similar catastrophe in the future, work of the Delta plan was undertaken as from 1958. A collateral effect of this work was that the connections with the remainder of the Netherlands were improved considerably.

Plane Delta

Veerse Gatdam of 1961, part of work of the Delta plan, connected Walcheren with the island of Noord-Beveland. Old Veerse Gat is called nowadays the Veerse Meer and is a zone of water sport popular which attracts many tourists.

The port of the city Veere, because of construction of Veerse Gatdam, is not connected any more to the sea, reason for which the flotilla of fishing of the city disappeared.

However, the coast was shortened considerably by the construction of the stopping, which strongly decreases the danger of flood for Walcheren.

Internal bond

Islands of Zealand

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