Oirschot

Oirschot
Municipality
Former city hall of Oirschot
Flag Coat of arms
Location in North Brabant
Coordinates: 51°30′N 5°18′E / 51.500°N 5.300°E / 51.500; 5.300
Country	Netherlands
Province	North Brabant
Government
• Body	Municipal council
• Mayor	Judith Keijzers-Verschelling (CDA)
Area
• Total	102.84 km2 (39.71 sq mi)
• Land	101.78 km2 (39.30 sq mi)
• Water	1.06 km2 (0.41 sq mi)
Elevation	17 m (56 ft)
Population  (January 2021)
• Total	18,842
• Density	185/km2 (480/sq mi)
Demonym	Oirschottenaar
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postcode	5090–5091, 5688–5689
Area code	013, 0499
Website	www.oirschot.nl

Oirschot (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈoːrsxɔt] ^ⓘ; Orskot in the local dialect) is a municipality and town in the province of North Brabant (Noord-Brabant) in the southern Netherlands. It is 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Eindhoven and 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Tilburg. The municipality had a population of 18,842 in 2021.

Population centres

Sights

There are more than 300 monuments in the municipality Oirschot.

Some of the historic buildings in the town of Oirschot are:

• The Roman Catholic Church named Sint-Petrus’-Bandenkerk. This 15th and 16th century Gothic church is the biggest building in the town, and has a 73 meter tower
• The old town hall built in 1513 in the town centre
• Maria-church (Maria-kerk). A 12th-century Romanesque church in the town centre
• Monastery Nazareth (Klooster Nazareth) with a chapel in Neo-Romanesque style (1910)
• Former Brewery De Kroon (Brouwerij de Kroon) built in 1773
• Hof van Solms, palace of Arnoldus Feij (or Arnold Fey)
• The Big Chair (De Grote Stoel) the biggest chair of Europe
• Huize Groenenberg, a house built in 1613

Monuments outside the town include:

• Chapel of the Holy Oak (Kapel van de Heilige Eik), stone chapel dated 1854 built on the foundations of a stone chapel of 1606 (there was another stone chapel and a wooden chapel on the same location before the one of 1606). The chapel of 1606 was demolished by order of the States General in 1649 (Catholicism could not be practiced openly)
• The Old Tower (Oude Toren) of Oostelbeers, a church tower of the 14th century in a patch of forest surrounded by fields
• The Old Church of Middelbeers (Het Oude Kerkje – Oude Sint-Willibrorduskerk) – intact gothic rural church (15th century) typical for the region
• Maria Chapel (Mariakapel) of Westelbeers – chapel dating to 1637; it is unknown why this chapel was not demolished during the 1640s or 1650s like most other Catholic chapels in the region

Events

Among the festivals held in Oirschot every year are:

• Zinderend Oirschot
• Countery & Western weekend

Politics

Notable people

• Arnold Fey, (Dutch Wiki) (born 1633 in Oirschot – 1679) a doctor
• Frans van Lith (born 1863 in Oirschot – 1926) a Jesuit priest in Central Java
• Cornelius Van de Ven (1865 in Oirschot – 1932) Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria in Louisiana
• Carl Romme (1896 in Oirschot – 1980) a politician
• Michiel van Kempen (born 1957 in Oirschot) a writer, art historian and literary critic
• Anita Smits (born 1967 in Oirschot) a former archer who competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics
• Truus Smulders-Beliën (1902–1966), first female mayor in the Netherlands
• Sophie van Gestel (born 1991 in Oostelbeers) a Dutch beach volleyball player, participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics

Gallery

• 
  Oirschot, windmill: windmolen de Korenaar
• 
  Oirschot, Jumbo supermarket
• 
  Oirschot, sculpture near de Sint Jorisstraat
• 
  Oostelbeers, tower: de Heilige Andreas en Antonius van Paduatoren
• 
  Spoordonk, church: de Bernadettekerk

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oirschot.

• Official website