Rheden

Rheden is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands.

Population centres
Population of the seven villages on 1 January 2013 • Velp (17,723)

• Dieren (14,340)

• Rheden (7,614)

• De Steeg (1,122)

• Ellecom (1,104)

• Spankeren (958)

• Laag-Soeren (835)

Topography


Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Rheden, June 2015

History
The oldest mentions of villages in the municipality of Rheden date from the 9th century, namely Velp and Dieren. Many estates arose at the foot of the Veluwezoom, forming an almost unbroken row from Arnhem to Dieren. Examples are Middachten Castle (14th century), Biljoen Castle (16th century) and Huis Rhederoord (18th century). The estates and their residents provided work for the local population. The castles also provided a safe haven in times of unrest.

The municipality of Rheden was formed in 1573 when the schoutambten Velp and Rheden were merged to form the schoutambt Rheden.The choice of the name Rheden was made because the Rheden sheriff's office had more inhabitants. The municipality was divided into two new municipalities on January 1, 1812: Dieren and Velp. Already on January 1, 1818, the old situation was restored.

Between 1650 and about 1900 there were seven country estates in the village of Rheden: Scherpenhof, Den Brink, Heuven, De Kruishorst, Snippendaal (until 1916 part of De Kruishorst), Rhederhof and Valkenberg.

During the 19th century, many retirees and pensioners settled in the municipality of Rheden, particularly in De Steeg and Velp. The nearby presence of a city (Arnhem) and beautiful nature were factors that stimulated the growth of the municipality of Rheden. The population quadrupled in a century from 5,000 to 23,000. Velp is now the largest village in the municipality.

Transportation

 * Railway stations: Dieren, Rheden, Velp

Public thinking & public service

 * Lubbert Jan van Eck (1719 in Velp - 1765) the 31st Governor of Ceylon
 * Theodoor Johan Arnold van Zijll de Jong (1836 in Velp - 1917) commander of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
 * Daniël de Blocq van Scheltinga (1903 in Velp – 1962) a Dutch Nazi politician
 * Hans van den Broek (born 1936) a retired Dutch politician, member of the municipal council 1970 to 1974
 * Sammy van Tuyll van Serooskerken (born 1951 in Velp) a Dutch politician
 * Tom Middendorp (born 1960 in Rheden) a retired general of the Royal Netherlands Army
 * Erik Proper (born 1967 in Rheden) a Dutch computer scientist
 * Melanie Schultz van Haegen (born 1970 in Laag-Soeren) a retired Dutch politician and businesswoman
 * Princess Marilène of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (born 1970 in Dieren) the wife of Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven

The arts

 * Mina Kruseman (1839 in Velp – 1922) a 19th-century Dutch feminist, actress and author
 * Louis Couperus (1863 – 1923 in De Steeg) a Dutch novelist and poet
 * Baroness Ella van Heemstra (1900 in Velp – 1984) a Dutch-British aristocrat and the mother of Audrey Hepburn
 * Simon Carmiggelt (1913–1987) author, who had a home in De Steeg
 * Teun Jacob (1927 in Rheden - 2009) a Dutch wall painter and sculptor
 * Jan Siebelink (born 1938 in Velp) a Dutch author
 * Paula van der Oest (born 1965 in Laag-Soeren) a Dutch film director and screenwriter
 * Anouk van Dijk (born 1965 in Velp) a Dutch choreographer, dancer, artistic director and teacher
 * Maarten Demmink (born 1967 in Goudriaan), known as Demiak, a Dutch painter, photographer and sculptor
 * Jorrit van der Kooi (born 1972 in Rheden) a Dutch film and TV director and presenter

Sport

 * Jo Teunissen-Waalboer (1919 in Velp – 1991) a Dutch javelin thrower, competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics
 * Henk Bosveld (1941 in Velp – 1998) a Dutch football midfielder, with over 500 club caps
 * Karel Aalbers (born 1949 in Velp) President of Vitesse Arnhem 1984 to 2000
 * René Klaassen (born 1961 in Velp) a former field hockey defender, participated in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics
 * Erik Breukink (born 1964 in Rheden) a former professional road racing cyclist
 * Edward Gal (born 1970 in Rheden) a Dutch dressage rider, triple gold medalists at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games
 * Ho-Pin Tung (born 1982 in Velp) a Chinese-Dutch auto-racing driver
 * Jhon van Beukering (born 1983 in Velp) an Indonesian naturalised retired pro. footballer with over 200 club caps

Miscellaneous

 * The Gazelle bicycle factory is situated in Dieren.