In the north of Kempenland near the Dutch border lies the little town of Turnhout, a center of the Belgian paper industry since the early 19th C. when the production of playing cards was begun; these are now exported all over the world. Meanwhile metal, chemical and electronics factories have been established.
Turnhout, part of Brabant from the 12th to the 16th C was once popular with the Burgundian dukes, who found that hunting in the surrounding forest was very good, and they indulged principally in falconry. Charles V bequeathed the town to Maria of Hungary; after the Thirty Years War the princes of Orange-Nassau became the new overlords and they were followed in 1753 by the king of Prussia.
In 1789 history was made in Turnhout when the revolutionaries of Brabant defeated the Austrians and banished them at least until 1790.
The béguinage, north of the castle was gifted in 1372 by Maria, Duchess of Brabant. Most of the houses of the present attractive complex were built after a fire in the 17th C.; the pretty Baroque Heilige-Kruiskerk (Church of the Holy Cross) dates from 1665. Begijnhof No. 56 is a museum illustrating life in the béguinage.
The countryside around Turnhout, the Kempenland (French Campine) was for a long time under the domination of the Romans until they were replaced by the Teutons. In AD 358 this area fell to the Salien Franks.
The parish of Mol, 23km/14miles southeast of Turnhout, made headline news at the beginning of 1990 as here there was a recycling plant for nuclear fuel rods. The plant belongs to the Center d'études de l'énergie nucléaire (center for research into nuclear energy: CEN/SNK) which has headquarters in Brussels and runs the laboratories in Mol.
The Romans called Kempenland "Taxandria" a name which is also borne by the museum in Mermansstraat, south of the Grote Markt, which on the one hand exhibits archaeological finds including Merovingian shields, and on the other is concerned with the popular culture of the Kempenland.
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), New Year's Eve (December 31), Christmas - Christian (December 25), Day after Christmas, St Stephen's Day, Boxing Day (December 26)
Oud Turnhout, 3km/2miles to the east, was once the seat of the priory of Corsendonk whose comprehensive library was used by Erasmus of Rotterdam for his studies. In the numerous rooms of the restored 15th C. building the Albert van Dijck (1902-1951) museum is now located.
This painter, who came from Turnhout, was the leading representative in the 1930s of the animists and often chose subjects for his paintings from the Kempenland.
Passing through Oud Turnhout we reach Retie where the church contains furniture and objets d'art from the priory of Corsendonk. A little outside the village by the Witte Nete river stands a stone mill in which corn is still ground on Sundays. The "Prinsenpark" provincial estate nearby is ideal for walks. Originally this area was owned by the royal family but was inherited by the province of Antwerp in 1952. The estate is especially rich in bird- and wildlife as well as a popular excursion and holiday destination.
Sint-Pieterskerk stands in the Grote Markt and its oldest parts date from the 13th C; however from the 15th to the 18th C it was rebuilt and enlarged on several occasions, especially around the remarkable ring of chapels surrounding the choir (1484). Notable in the interior are an "Ecce Homo" (early 15th C.), the confessionals, the high altar of 1740 by Walter Pompe and an artistic choir screen. The tower contains a carillon of 50 bells.
The former moated castle of the dukes of Brabant, not far from the Grote Markt and now used as a law court, once served as a hunting lodge. Maria of Hungary had the first building remodeled by Rombout Keldermans and Dominikus de Waghemakere in the first half of the 16th C. into a fine residence; there were other alterations in the 17th C.
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Kasterlee, Belgium
