Valkenswaard

Valkenswaard (Template:IPA) is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the province of North Brabant. The municipality had a population of Template:Dutch municipality population in Template:YEAR, with an area of Template:Convert of which Template:Convert is water.

The name Valkenswaard stems from its history of falconers, who caught wild falcons there; valk is Dutch for "falcon". It lay on a route where falcons migrated south each year. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, Valkenswaardian falconers were active at many European courts, in which falconing was a beloved pastime. Valkenswaard's falcon-catching area has now been built over and falcons are no longer caught there.

In the 19th and 20th century, a number of large cigar factories were founded in Valkenswaard, the two most renowned of which being Willem II and Hofnar.

A Second World War cemetery containing 220 British soldiers was created near Valkenswaard in October 1944. It is now maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The spoken language is Kempenlands (an East Brabantian dialect, which is very similar to colloquial Dutch).<ref>Jos & Cor Swanenberg: Taal in stad en land: Oost-Brabants, Template:ISBN</ref>

The Eurocircuit Valkenswaard is a motorsport racetrack that has hosted the European Rallycross Championship and the FIM Motocross World Championship.

Economy

Companies, that are headquartered in Valkenswaard include Brabantia, a residential use product manufacturer, and VDL Bus & Coach, a vehicle manufacturer specializing in constructing buses.

Population centres

Borkel en Schaft
Dommelen
Valkenswaard

Topography

Map of the municipality of Valkenswaard, June 2015

Partner municipalities

Template:Flagicon Salvaterra de Magos, Portugal Template:Flagicon Tienen, Flanders, Belgium

Notable people born in Valkenswaard

Henk van den Breemen (1941–2024) a Dutch military officer
Pieter van Geel (born 1951) a retired Dutch politician
Linda Williams (born 1955) a Dutch singer, participated in the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest
Ine Gevers (born 1960) a Dutch curator of contemporary art, writer and activist
Jeroen Mettes (1978–2006) a Dutch poet, essayist and blogger
Dominique van Hulst (born 1981), singer, known by her stage name Do<ref> IMDb Database retrieved 20 November 2019 </ref>

Sport

Jan Tops (born 1961) an equestrian, gold medallist at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Jens van Son (born 1987) a Dutch professional footballer with over 250 club caps
Lidewij Welten (born 1990) a Dutch field hockey player
Daniëlle van de Donk (born 1991) a Dutch professional footballer