Gendringen

Gendringen
Saint Martin Church
Flag Coat of arms
Gendringen
Coordinates: 51°52′22″N 6°22′34″E
Country	Netherlands
Province	Gelderland
Municipality	Oude IJsselstreek
Population	4,400

Gendringen is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Oude IJsselstreek, about 12 km southeast of Doetinchem and 20 km northwest of the German city Bocholt. It has approximately 4400 inhabitants. In the Middle Ages, Gendringen was a fortress. Being property of the archbishop of Köln (Cologne), Gendringen was loaned to the lords living in the castle of 's-Heerenberg. In 1830, downtown Gendringen burned down for the most part. Nowadays, most of the entrepreneurs of the town are situated in the Grotestraat, which makes this street the most important street of downtown Gendringen. Gendringen was a separate municipality until 2005. Then, due to the municipal re-organization in the Achterhoek, Gendringen and Wisch joined together into Oude IJsselstreek.

Gendringen has two primary schools: catholic school Christoffelschool and christian school De Hoeksteen. On the north of the village, industrial zone De IJsselweide is located, which lays between Gendringen and nearby town Ulft. In the northeast of the village, there is a large park called Het Kernspark. On the east of Gendringen there is a large recreation area, Engbergen, where a.o. a forest with nice hiking routes, a restaurant with a large playground, an open air theatre, a golf court, a corn mill and a petting zoo are situated.

Gendringen be accessed easily both by car and public transport: the nearest highway is only 15 minutes away and on weekdays, a bus drives between Gendringen and railway station Doetinchem at least every 30 minutes. Gendringen also has its own small airport suitable for ultralight aircraft, which is located approximately 2 km on the east of the village in nearby neighbourhood Voorst.

Examples of events held every year in Gendringen are Amfipop – a low-budget pop festival, the village fair, the carnival and King's Day festivities and Gast in Gendringen: a unique event with (local) artists giving small concerts in several houses and small buildings throughout the entire village.

Sports

Gendringen has one football club, v.v. Gendringen, which currently plays in the '3e Klasse' (3rd class). Besides, the village has a tennis club (LTC De IJsselweide), a gym and a gymnastics club (St. Paulus). Gendringen has already had an own cycling event since 1937. Until 2004, Gendringen had her own cycle race called Dwars door Gendringen (right through Gendringen). In the period of 2006 until 2016, Gendringen has taken part in the Olympia's Tour. Since 2017, Gendringen has an own race again: the Ronde van de Achterhoek. Examples of famous cyclists who won the race at least once are Servais Knaven, Jeroen Blijlevens and Alessandro Petacchi. Regularly, the NK (Dutch Championships) Survival takes place in Gendringen. Local athletics club Atletico '73 is well-known for the athletes Bram Som and Arnoud Okken. Atletico '73 is situated at sports park 'De IJsselweide', which is located between Gendringen and nearby town Ulft and also accommodates the above mentioned football club, as well as football club SDOUC from Ulft, hockey club HCOIJ and a very modern indoor sports hall.

Born in Gendringen

• Dora Visser (1819–1876), mystic
• Anthony Christiaan Winand Staring (1767–1840), Dutch author and poet
• Arne Jansen (1951–2007), Dutch singer
• Johannes van der Vegte (1892–1945), Olympic rower
• Adolf Robbert van de Laar (1871–1959), politician and member of the Dutch House of Representatives
• Dione Housheer (1999), handball player

External links

• Template:Kuyper Map of the former municipality, abt. 1868.