Holiday apartment in Nuenen, Gerwen and Nederwetten: Van Gogh culture and history

Nuenen, Gerwen and Nederwetten is closely associated with Vincent van Gogh and is also characterised by waterways, historic churches and preserved traces of older crafts. The interactive Van Gogh Village Museum presents Vincent van Gogh as a person and the path to his first masterpiece, “The Potato Eaters”. This forms the starting point for a townscape where museum visits, sacred history, mills and signposted trails stand side by side.

Culture

The Van Gogh Village Museum is housed in a building constructed in 1874 to a design by supervisor Arnoldus van der Korput, which served as Nuenen’s town hall until 1953. The museum also has a bicycle parking facility. The Van Gogh Church was built between 1824 and 1826 as one of the first Waterstaatskerken in the Netherlands. From August 1882, Vincent van Gogh’s father was the pastor of the Nederlands Hervormde Gemeente there. The Van Gogh family lived in the parsonage and garden from 1882 to 1886. The Van Gogh Church is normally closed to public visits, but is open on some Wednesdays and Sundays.

The parsonage and garden is still a private residence; Vincent’s studio and the garden can be visited several times a year. The Heilige Clemenskerk in Nuenen stands near Vincent van Gogh’s first studio, where he painted “The Potato Eaters”. Vincent van Gogh drew the Sint-Clemenskerk in Gerwen in December 1883. Vincent van Gogh’s father, Theodorus van Gogh, is still buried in the cemetery at the Oude Toren. At the site of the former Oude Toren, the foundation of the former tower has been preserved and is now marked by gabions.

Smaller structures also preserve local history. The Wevershuisje is one of only a few surviving weavers’ houses in Nuenen and was probably built as a weavers’ house in 1763. The De Roosdonck windmill stands north of Nuenen at the turn-off towards Nederwetten and Gerwen; Vincent van Gogh drew and painted the De Roosdonck corn mill.

Near Nederwetten, religious history meets the landscape along the Dommel. Priorij Hooidonk was founded in 1146 on a natural island in the Dommel near Nederwetten. The Miracle of Hooidonk made Priorij Hooidonk a place of pilgrimage. A memorial and devotional chapel was built here in 1953; it stands in a processional park with Stations of the Cross.

Nature

The Hooidonkse Beek crosses Nuenen from southeast to northwest and flows into the Dommel at Hooidonk. Nuenens Broek is a wetland area created by numerous floods of the Dommel. Fast-growing poplars grow there, with a rich understorey of hazel and cherry trees.

The Hooydonkse watermill is a watermill from the 12th century powered by the Dommel. It consists of two partly over-water wooden buildings covered with thatch. At the Hooydonkse watermill, a sandy path leads to the waterwheel; a little farther away on the island, there is a chapel in a small park.

Trails

The Van Gogh NP walking route Nuenen is a 10-kilometre hiking trail following in Vincent van Gogh’s footsteps through nature and along Nuenen’s cultural heritage. The Van Gogh cycling route Nuenen is approximately 49 kilometres long and visits Van Gogh highlights in and around Nuenen. It passes the Van Gogh Village Museum, the Van Gogh Church where Vincent’s father was pastor, and the house where The Potato Eaters was painted.

The Watermolen van Opwetten lies along the “Op pad met Vincent” cycling and hiking route, which provides information about Van Gogh’s time in Brabant on 18 information panels. The VVV Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten is located in the Van Gogh Village Museum and offers maps for cycling and hiking routes. Nuenen’s heritage map lists national and municipal monuments.

Holiday apartment in Nuenen, Gerwen and Nederwetten

These detailed fields help you compare different accommodations according to your own requirements, without inferring the characteristics of an individual property from the attractions. Compare the stated conditions directly on the respective pages and take into account all details relevant to your booking.

Those wishing to continue exploring locations can switch to Nuenen. Other locations in the wider area: Steenbergen, Oosterhout, Roosendaal, Bernheze, Waalwijk, Lith, Best.

To the broader travel overview: North Brabant.