Twente
Twente (or Twenthe) is a non-administrative region in the eastern
Netherlands, containing the most urbanised and easterly part of the province of
Overijssel. It's approximately the region bordered by the rivers
Regge and
Dinkel, the border with
Germany and the provinces
Gelderland and
Drenthe.
The three large cities of Twente are
Enschede,
Hengelo and
Almelo, which were all developed in the
19th century. Like almost every other place in Twente, a
textile industry was developed on the basis of the local industriousness, and the arrival of the railways made these three cities the economic axis of Twente. In Hengelo, machine construction dominated. The Twente textile industry now belongs to the past.
Twente has an airport,
Enschede Airport Twente, and halfway between Hengelo and Enschede is the
Universiteit Twente. The
Enschede Airport Twente is an old airforce base and it is bound to be closed in 2007.
Outside the large cities, Twente is a region with important nature areas such as the
Lutterzand on the meandering Dinkel. It is bisected from north to south by a range of hills in western Twente (Nijverdalse Berg, Hellendoornse Berg), and hills in the east where the highest point is the
Tankerberg near
Oldenzaal. Scenic old towns are found at
Ootmarsum and to a lesser degree
Oldenzaal, which has an important Roman church. The old 'Oale Grieze' church in Hellendoorn is the oldest Roman-style church in the Netherlands. Eight Twentse places have obtained city rights: Almelo, Enschede, Oldenzaal, Ootmarsum,
Goor,
Rijssen,
Diepenheim en
Delden.
Geologically Twente is one of the most interesting areas of the Netherlands. It has strata from various periods in a very small area. There is an open stone quarry at
Losser, while salt production is performed at Hengelo and
Boekelo. The western Twente town of Nijverdal is the only place in the Netherlands where gold was found.
Many traditional cultural practices have been preserved in Twente, such as blowing the mid-winter horn and the stoking of Easter fires. The Twents anthem praises these practices, together with the textile industriousness and the society. An extravagant carnival is celebrated in Oldenzaal, which like the most of eastern Twente is Roman-catholic. The west of Twente is mainly protestant.
The local dialect is known as
Twents, a dialect of
Low German, which together with
Limburgs is one of the two regional languages of the Netherlands. Twents is spoken in all parts of Twente, but varies in each village.
The
Van Deinse Instituut is involved in researching the past and present of Twente. It is located in Enschede and studies the regional culture, folk knowledge, language, cultural history and landscape of Twente. It also collects, maintains, studies and displays an extensive collection of material from the history of Twente.
Aadorp Almelo Boekelo Bornerbroek Buurse Delden Denekamp Diepenheim Enter Glanerbrug Haaksbergen Hengelo Lonneker Mander Nijverdal Ootmarsum Rijssen Saasveld Tubbergen Usselo Vriezenveen Weerselo Zenderen* See also
Regio Twente,
Twentestadnds-nl:Tweante
