Tuesday, 24 July 2018

's-Hertogenbosch 2

Saturday 24 June 2017 I visited the city of 's-Hertogenbosch for Pink Saturday, the Dutch national Pride that is being held in a different city every year. This was the 40th edition. Fortunately I found a hotel room in the Hinthamerstraat. In this street my ancestors lived until 1896 when my great‑grandfather 'emigrated' to Delft. 
Nine years later my grandfather was born there.
In the Hinthamerstraat was a book store with a post office, so it is no surprise that this was the location to get my datestamp from.

's-Hertogenbosch ("The Duke's Forest" in English, and historically in French: Bois-le-Duc), colloquially known as Den Bosch (literally "The Forest" in English), is a city and municipality in the Southern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant. The duke in question was Duke Henry I of Brabant, whose family had owned a large estate at nearby Orthen for at least four centuries. He founded a new town located on some forested dunes in the middle of a marsh. At age 26, he granted 's-Hertogenbosch city rights and the corresponding trade privileges in 1185. The birthplace and home of one of the greatest painters of the northern Renaissance, Hieronymus Bosch, 's-Hertogenbosch suffered a catastrophic fire in 1463, which the then (approximately) 13-year-old Bosch probably witnessed; presumably, this fire provided inspiration for the fiery hell-scapes that would later make Bosch famous.
The wars of the Reformation changed the course of the city's history. It became an independent bishopric. During the Eighty Years' War, the city took the side of the Habsburg (Catholic) authorities and thwarted a Calvinist coup. It was besieged several times by Prince Maurice of Orange, stadtholder of most of the Dutch Republic. In the years of Truce, before the renewed fighting after 1618, the fortifications were greatly expanded. The surrounding marshes made a siege of the conventional type impossible, and the fortress, deemed impregnable, was nicknamed the Marsh Dragon. After the Peace of Westphalia, the fortifications were again expanded.
In 1815, when the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was established, it became the capital of North Brabant. Many newer and more modern fortresses were created in the vicinity of the city. A new canal was built, the 'Zuid-Willemsvaart', which gave the city an economic impulse. Trade, manufacturing and industry grew. Until 1878, it was forbidden to build outside the ramparts. That led to overcrowding and the highest infant mortality in the kingdom. At the end of the 19th century, the very conservative city government prevented industrial investment to avoid an increase in the number of workers and the establishment of educational institutions: students were regarded as disorderly. As a result, the relative importance of the city diminished.

The stamp I used is one from the sheet of stamps with Dutch treats from 10 of the 12 provinces, issued on 19 June 2017. From 's-Hertogenbosch comes the Bossche bol, cream-filled pastry covered with chocolate.

City/town:       's-Hertogenbosch
Municipality:   's-Hertogenbosch
Area:              39,98 km²
Population:    152.471 (January 2017)
Website:        s-hertogenbosch.nl

Post office
Kantoorvakhandel van Dijk & van Hees
Hinthamerstraat 131
5211 MJ  'S-HERTOGENBOSCH

Date sent: 24 June 2017
Date postmark: 24 June 2017
Date received: 27 June 2017
Number of days: 3
Envelope in collection: 200




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