Zuid-Beveland

Zuid-Beveland is old a island, today a peninsula, in Zealand, with the Netherlands.

Geography

Zuid-Beveland is located in a mainly agricultural area, between three more urban areas: the Randstad, the Brabantse Stedenrij and the Vlaamse Ruit.

Zuid-Beveland is next to in the west the peninsula of Walcheren, in the North-West the island of Noord-Beveland by two dams and in the east the commune brabançonne of Woensdrecht by an isthmus. The peninsula is also connected to the south with the Flanders zélandaise by the Westerscheldetunnel (“Tunnel of the Western Scheldt”).

The area is bordered in north by the the Eastern Scheldt and in the south by the the Western Scheldt. The Canal of Zuid-Beveland crosses the area of the south to north, of Hansweert to Wemeldinge.

The most important commune of this area is Goes, in the North-West; the other communes are Reimerswaal in the east, Kapelle in the center and Borsele in south-west.

History

IIIe and IVe century S

Aucours of these centuries, most of Zealand was submerged and the territory was practically uninhabited.

the Middle Ages

As of the 11th century, Zealand was polderized gradually: thanks to that, the country was less and less flooded. Fertile clay zélandaise was good for agriculture, and slowly but surely prosperity increased on the territory.

As from the 13th century, the villages and the cities appear. The population saw especially agriculture and fishing. The town of Goes is the center of Zuid-Beveland, but Reimerswaal has also a big role.

The XVIe and XVIIe century S

Following the floods of the Saint-Felix ( Sint-Felixvloed ) in 1530, most of the island disappears in water. Many villages and the town of Reimerswaal were lost in what was called the flooded Pays of Zuid-Beveland ( Verdronken Land van Zuid-Beveland ). The island was also touched in 1570 by the Allerheiligenvloed (“Floods of All Saints' day”). During the War Eighty Year old, the territory was often the theater of military operations.

XVIIIe and XIXe century S

It was one period when prosperity moved back. The economy stagnated except for agriculture. In 1868, Zuid-Beveland obtained a rail link with Roosendaal (the Zeeuwse Lijn : the “line zélandaise”). The Canal of Zuid-Beveland was dug as from 1850 and was inaugurated in 1866.

Construction in 1871 of the Sloedam on the Sloe connected Zuid-Beveland to Walcheren.

The Second world war

May 16th, 1940, of sharp combat took place with Kapelle between the German troops and the French motorized units which had been called using the Netherlands. The next day, 65 French fallen to the fields from honor were put out of ground by the local population.

After the Second world war, all the French soldiers fallen during this war in the Netherlands were brought together in Kapelle. May 16th, 1950, the French military cemetery was officially inaugurated: it is in extreme cases of the village. Y put back 217 French soldiers, twenty Moroccan soldiers fallen under the French flag and a Belgian soldier.

floods of 1953

In the night of the January 31st at February 1st, 1953, Zealand was touched by floods. Most of Zuid-Beveland (in particular Goes) was left there relatively well, because of its high position. The oriental party of the island however found herself for a long time under water.

In order to in the future avoid the repetition of such a disaster, work of the Plan Delta was undertaken starting from 1958. An side effect of this work was that the connections with the remainder of the Netherlands were improved considerably.

Dialects

The alternatives of the Zélandais which one still usually speaks in the area (the Zuid-Bevelands ) differ a little from the other dialects zélandais: in the past, Zuid-Beveland was hardly exposed to the Dutch influence.

The difference more striking the pronunciation of the ae zélandais like a I .

With the center even of the area, there are also marked differences.

Internal bond

Islands of Zealand

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