| Page Views: 12,332 Last Visit to Oldenzaal: April, 2002 I Used To Live Here | The town where I used to live : Oldenzaal by sim1 - last update: Sep 15, 2005 |
Oldenzaal is the town where I used to live for the past 10 years. It is in the eastern part of Holland close to the German border. This region is called Twente.
This region is quite unknown to the tourists, but it is lovely here. Not the first thing that comes to mind maybe of places to visit when you go to Holland, but absolutely worth while.
Oldenzaal is very easy to find... just take the highway A1 that runs all the way from Amsterdam to Moskow. Just before you reach the German border turn right and visit this beautiful little town! Hahaha, okay, I might be a little biased in my opinion about Oldenzaal :-)) But I enjoyed living here a lot. As a tourist not a must see, but a nice stop on the way.
A bit of history :
Oldenzaal is believed to be very old. In 700 there must have been a castle where the city is now. The name of "Oldenzaal" was found in manuscripts already in the 9th century, although it was written a bit differently "Altisalja". With a little bit of fantasy and by using the local dialect these two names look a lot alike.
On 11 July 1049 Oldenzaal got market rights. Oficially though this town dates from 1249 when it got city rights. It has been the agricultural and church centre of the region (Twente) for many centuries.
It started so interesting, but the importance of Oldenzaal has diminished after many wars and occupations. After big city fires and plunder, a lot of history has been lost. Local soldierbandits, the army of the Prince of Orange and the troups of "Bommen Beernd", the Bishop of Munster, have been a plague for the city. When in 1648 de "Peace of Munster" made an end to the 80-years war with Spain, there was not a lot left for Oldenzaal to celebrate.
But it always has been and always will be a friendly and burgondian little town close to the German border. Around 30.000 people live in Oldenzaal these days.
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manny1 Sun Mar 15, 2009 03:29 UTC
The story I have always heard was that the soldiers always sharpen their swords there as the stones used to build the church was good for sharpening | Mariajoy Sun Feb 26, 2006 13:23 UTC
Hi Simone! PJ sent me here to look at your carnival photos! Fabulous! So colourful! Incredible that they don't let the bad weather stop them having fun! :) | pieter_jan_v Mon May 30, 2005 19:11 UTC
Ik ben nog maar halverwege. Afgelopen zaterdag een uitstekende Nationale Fietsdag in de omgeving gehad. Bedankt voor de ratings (Amsterdam heeft er meer nodig :-) ) PJ | karin_kamphuis Tue May 11, 2004 20:06 UTC
(part 2..) And did you know that the new shopping centre of Oldenzaal won the price: nicest shopping-centre of Holland! (is not what i think....). Bye, Bye! -karin- PS: How did you get the blue letters and other fonts? |
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