Uden

Uden is a municipality and a town in the province of Noord-Brabant, Netherlands.

History
Uden was first recorded around 1190 as “Uthen”. However, earlier settlements have been found in the areas of the modern day Moleneind, Vorstenburg and Bitswijk and evidence of Ice Age settlements has been found near the hamlet of Slabroek. From 1324 Uden was ruled by the Valkenburg house and became a part of the Land van Ravenstein. After 1397 it became a part of the German duchy of Cleves.

Uden was hardly affected by the Eighty Years' War and gained religious freedom in 1631. A result of this was the establishment in the municipality of the Crosiers, who fled from Protestant Dutch oppression in 's-Hertogenbosch in 1638. After the peace of Munster in 1648, Uden remained outside the Dutch republic and was a haven of religious tolerance and Catholics from the nearby towns of Veghel, Nistelrode and Erp were able to build churches at the municipality’s boundaries. The period of 1648–1795 saw an increase in prosperity due to the weekly markets, however, the town was almost destroyed by a fire in 1746. The Dutch folk-hero Kobus van der Schlossen was locally active at this time.

In 1795, Uden was taken by French troops and incorporated into the Dutch republic and has been a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1810. After that time Uden’s wealth diminished, mainly due to competition from the neighbouring Brabant towns, resulting in emigration to Wisconsin and other parts of the United States. In 1848 The Dominican missionary Father Theodore Van de Broek led a group from Uden to Little Chute, Wisconsin, beginning a pattern of immigration to northeast Wisconsin that would last until the early twentieth century.

On 12 June 1840, a meteorite weighing approximately 720 grams fell into a field just outside Uden. It narrowly missed a group of labourers digging for peat nearby.

In 1855 the village of Volkel founded its own parish.

Uden began to specialise in the growth of cherries from 1860 onwards and in 1886 the old Petrus-church was demolished by fire and replaced by a new larger one.

During World War I (in which the Netherlands stayed neutral) North Brabant was inundated by Belgian refugees. A refugee camp was erected at Vluchtoord in Uden, which housed several thousand Flemish refugees until 1918.

In the 1920s people started to cultivate the extensive heathlands in the eastern part of the municipality, called "De Peel". In 1922 a new village was built, called Terraveen and later renamed Odiliapeel.

After Uden was struck by a devastating cyclone in 1925, it was visited by Wilhelmina, queen of the Netherlands.

Since the 1950s Uden has become a regional centre of development, providing much needed economic growth. Due to the growth, very little is left of the old town's character.

Population centres

 * Odiliapeel
 * Uden
 * Volkel

Places of interest

 * Brigitinesse abbey of Mary's Refuge
 * Church of Saint Peter's Chair
 * Chapel of the Crosiers
 * Mill of Jettens
 * Monastery of the Crosiers
 * Monastery of the Ursulines
 * Volkel Air Base
 * World War II cemetery

People from Uden
U.S. international football player Earnie Stewart was raised in Uden. His father was a U.S. Air Force airman stationed at Volkel Air Base. Fashion designer Addy van den Krommenacker was also born and raised in Uden. Producer Cilia van Dijk was born in Uden on 22 November 1941 and raised there. She won an Oscar in 1985 for producing the short animated movie Anna and Bella. The dancing pair Erik van Lieshout (born 19 November 1970) and Angelique Bisschops (born 29 January 1972) became Dutch Champion in Latin and Ballroom Dancing seven times and Champion of the Benelux four times.

Relationships with other towns
Uden is twinned with the German city of Lippstadt.