Brielle

Brielle
Brielle
	— Municipality —
; Flag	; Coat of arms
	Coordinates: 51°53′N 4°11′E / 51.88°N 4.18°ECoordinates: 51°53′N 4°11′E / 51.88°N 4.18°E
Country	Netherlands
Province	South Holland
	Area(2006)
• Total	31.12 km2 (12 sq mi)
• Land	27.49 km2 (10.6 sq mi)
• Water	3.63 km2 (1.4 sq mi)
	Population (1 January 2007)
• Total	15,922
• Density	579/km2 (1,499.6/sq mi)
	Source: CBS, Statline.
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Website	www.brielle.nl

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This article is about a city in the Netherlands. There is also a Brielle, New Jersey, in the United States of America.

For the song by Sky Sailing, see Brielle (song).

The fortification of Brielle as seen from the air.

Brielle ( pronunciation (help·info)), also called Den Briel (Brill in English) is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New Maas. The municipality covers an area of 31.12 km² (12.02 mile²) of which 3.63 km² (1.40 mile²) is water. In 2004 its population was 15,948.

The municipality of Brielle also includes the communities Vierpolders, and Zwartewaal.

Brielle is twinned with:

Queenborough, England, since 1967
Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic, since 1985

[edit] History

Brielle is a very old, fortified town. Its name is derived from the Celtic word brogilo (meaning "closed area" or "hunting grounds"). The oldest writings about Brielle indicate that the current location is the "new" Brielle. Den ouden Briel (Old Brill) must have been situated somewhere else on the Voorne-Putten Island. It received city rights in 1306. The city was for a long time the seat of the Count of Voorne, until this fiefdom was added to Holland in 1371. It had its own harbour and traded with the countries around the Baltic Sea. Brielle even had its own trading colony in Sweden.

During the Eighty Years' War between the Netherlands and Spain, the Capture of Brielle on April 1, 1572, by Protestant rebels, the Watergeuzen, marked a turning point in the conflict, as many towns in Holland then began to support William of Orange against the Spanish Duke Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba who was sent to pacify The Netherlands. This event is still celebrated each year on April 1 and the night before (known as Chalk Night (kalknacht) when the city is defaced with chalk - and now also white paint). Dutch students are taught a short rhyme to remember this fact:

"Op 1 april verloor Alva zijn bril" translating into "On April 1st, Alva lost his glasses",

("bril" is the Dutch word for "glasses". The same rhyme continues with the line "Op April zes verloor Alva zijn fles" "On April 6th Alva lost his bottle" in which the word "Fles" stands for the town of Vlissingen, which was the next town to be caught by the Dutch rebels.)

During this battle the Protestant rebels killed the catholic Martyrs of Gorkum and Brielle has become a pilgrimage location since then.

In August 1585, Brielle was one of the four Dutch towns that became an English possession by the Treaty of Nonsuch when Queen Elizabeth I received it as security of payment for 5000 soldiers used by the Dutch in their struggle against the Spanish. In 1617, these cities returned to the Netherlands.

Chalking is nowadays considered illegal. What started as painting text on windows with liquid chalk, later evolved into real paint. While some police officers will turn a blind eye when they catch you with liquid chalk, most of them will give you a fine. And when caught before, you can end up with an official record. Fines for underage people are half the price compared to adults, where the general price is €90,-. Between 6pm on the 31st of March till 8am on the 1st of April it's considered illegal to have any chalk/paint/brushes/etc with you.