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Diepenbeek is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg between Hasselt and Genk. On January 1st, 2020, Diepenbeek had a total population of 19,076. Its total area is 41.19 km² (15.9 sq mi) which gives a population density of 465 inhabitants per km² (1,200/sq mi).

The municipality includes the communities and hamlets of Bijenberg, het Crijt, Dorpheide, Keizel, Lutselus, Pampert, Piannesberg, Reitje, Rooierheide, Rozendaal, and Zwartveld.

It is home to Hasselt University, slowly expanding towards Hasselt itself. The Limburg Science Park is located on the university campus.

History
Diepenbeek was first mentioned in 1092 as Tidebachen, the brook of Teudo. Diepenbeek was originally a free manor. The lordship was disputed in the first half of the 13th century by the prince-bishops of Liège and the dukes of Brabant. Diepenbeek eventually became a loan of Liège, but from 1266 on it was it was also a Brabant dependence. In 1359, with the death of Hendrik van Diepenbeek, the status of a free manor came to an end. Families that held the estate until the 17th century were Van Diepenbeek, De Sombreffe, Van Schoonvorst, Van Gavere, Van Horne and Van Merode. Through purchases in 1663 and 1678 by Edmond Godfried van Bocholtz, Grand Commander of the Balije Biesen (1657-1690), the manor came into the possession of the knights of the Teutonic Order in Alden Biesen for 133 years. The Teutonic Order paid 346,000 guilders for the purchase against 12,000 guilders to be paid annually by the inhabitants of Diepenbeken. An old castle tower and an 18th century steward's house remain. The latter was built in the 1st half of the 18th century by Grand Commander Ferdinand von Sickingen van Alden Biesen (1743-1749) and now houses a notary's office. Half of the Rooiermolen, a ban mill from around 1600 on the Stiemerbeek, was owned by Alden Biesen. The Diepenbeek paenhuis (brewery), built at the time by Grand Commander Hendrik van Wassenaar, was demolished in 1954 and rebuilt in the Bokrijk open-air museum. A Romanesque church with a tower was built in the mid-11th century. In 1235 the patronage and tithing rights were granted to the Abbey of Villers, to be transferred in 1382 to the Sint-Lambertus chapter in Liège. The heathland north of the Demer was forested in the course of the 19th century. Until 1879 iron ore was mined and peat was cut. Fish was grown in the resulting ponds.