Vught
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Template:Infobox Dutch municipality 5
Vught is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It is a town where lots of commuters live and has recently been named "Best place to live" by the Dutch magazine Elsevier.
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Population centres
- Cromvoirt, 797 people
- Vught, 24.442 people
Politics
The mayor of the town is Jan de Groot (since 1999). There are several (local) politic parties active in Vught: Gemeentebelangen (9 seats), VVD (4 seats), CDA (3 seats), VSA (3 seats), D66 (2 seats).
World War II
Vught is known for its concentration camp (Herzogenbusch) build by Nazi-Germany during World War II. It was part of camp Herzogenbusch, but usually better known as "Kamp Vught" (Camp Vught). The camp mainly held Dutch and Belgian political prisoners, both men and women. The guard staff included SS men and a few SS women, headed by Oberaufseherin Margarete Gallinat. Suze Arts was distinguished for her cruelty in the camp. Two female overseers included Elisabeth Koorn and Katja Schot. It is now known as National Monument Camp Vught. Vught was freed by Canadians at the end of 2nd World War.
Camp nowadays
After World War II the barracks of Camp Vught were used by Maluku people (origin: Indonesia) for living, as they still are. Next to Camp Vught a prison was build, first used for young criminals, nowadays for criminals that require 'heavy protection'.
Landmarks and Nature
Just outside the town border lies the lake IJzeren Man (litterally translated Iron Man). It was named after the machine that dug it in the 19th century. The sand ground was used elsewhere in Netherlands. The lake is about 2 kilometers long, has a small island and is now mainly used for recreation. Vught has a castle, called Maurick, its history goes back till 13th century. In 1629 the castle was occupied by Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. Frederick Henry wanted to have the castle as his headquarter for his besiege of Den Bosch. Nowadays the castle is a fancy restaurant.
Ewald Marggraff
In the town of Vught a rich man of nobility used to live, Baron Ewald Marggraff. Ewald was a hermit, possessing a lot of land and buildings, constantly at war with the (local) authorities. Ewald studied law and fought his war with the authorities mostly because of land. Ewald chose to let all his possesions degenerate, which was of course disliked by the local authorities involved. Nature however liked it, animals were living there that elsewhere was gone, unfortunately all of the land in and around Vught neighbourhood was prohibited to access. On December 7, 2003 Ewald's life ended in a tragic way: Ewald's estate (Zionsburg) burned down while Ewald was sleeping in it. Ewalds land is now owned by a non-profit organization Marggraff stichting, founded by Ewald's sisters. The organisation opened up the land for public, this enables people all around Vught to hike in forrests that was always there but never was accessible. There are plans made to rebuild the estate. In cooperation with SIX Architects BNA from Zeist, The Netherlands, a plan had been made to reconstruct the ruin. These plans are now under consideration with the local authorities.
Accommodation
Vught has one motel with 128 rooms, 7 suites and 7 conference rooms.
Transportation
Vught has a railway station with connections to Amsterdam/Utrecht via Den Bosch and Maastricht via Eindhoven. Two highways, A2 and A65/N65 are connected to Vught.
Famous people born in Vught
- Joost Prinsen (9 June 1942), Actor
External links
Template:Province North Brabantde:Vught id:Vught it:Vught li:Vught nl:Vught sv:Vught