Twente
From Freepedia
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 province Gelderland.
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Development
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.
Landscape
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, 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. 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.
Folklore
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 rest of north Twente is Roman-catholic.
Dialects
The local dialect is known as Twents, a dialect of Low Saxon, 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 a extensive collection of material from the history of Twente.
Places in Twente
Albergen -- Almelo -- Beuningen -- Boekelo -- Borne -- Bornerbroek -- Breklenkamp -- Buurse -- Daarle -- Delden -- De Lutte -- Den Ham -- Denekamp -- Deurningen -- Diepenheim -- Enschede -- Enter -- Fleringen -- Glanerbrug -- Goor -- Haaksbergen -- Hellendoorn--Hengelo -- Lattrop -- Lonneker -- Losser -- Mander -- Markelo -- Nijverdal--Oldenzaal -- Ootmarsum -- Overdinkel -- Rijssen -- Rossum -- Saasveld -- Tilligte -- Tubbergen -- Twekkelo -- Usselo -- Vasse -- Vriezenveen -- Vroomshoop -- Weerselo -- Wierden -- Zenderen
- See also Regio Twente, Twentestad
