Opijnen
Village
Pub in Opijnen
Pub in Opijnen
Opijnen is located in Gelderland
Opijnen
Opijnen
Location in the Netherlands
Opijnen is located in Netherlands
Opijnen
Opijnen
Opijnen (Netherlands)
Coordinates: 51°49′40″N 5°17′54″E / 51.82778°N 5.29833°E / 51.82778; 5.29833
CountryNetherlands
ProvinceGelderland
MunicipalityWest Betuwe
Area
[1]
 • Total3.68 km2 (1.42 sq mi)
Elevation
[2]
4 m (13 ft)
Population
 (2021)[1]
 • Total1,195
 • Density320/km2 (840/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
4184[1]
Dialing code0418

Opijnen is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of West Betuwe, and lies about 10 km southwest of Tiel.

Opijnen was a separate municipality until 1818, when it changed its name to Est en Opijnen.[3]

History

It was first mentioned in 1265 as Opynen, and means upstream as compared to Neerijnen.[4] The village developed parallel to the Waal as a stretched out esdorp.[5] In 1265, Opijnen became the property of Raoul de Châtillon, a French nobleman who had fled to Gelre after a dispute with the King of France. A castle was built near the village, however it disappeared in the 16th century.[5] The Dutch Reformed Church was built in 1860 and the tower dates from 1925.[5] In 1840, Opijnen was home to 333 people.[6]

Opijnen is home to the graves of eight American airmen who were shot down on 30 July 1943, and killed while returning to England from a bombing raid over Kassel, Germany. The village honoured the airmen by burying them in their cemetery. From that time and for seventy-five years afterwards, the village honoured these men annually with a formal church service and then a laying of flowers on the graves. In 2006, the village opened a housing complex with eighty-six units. The airmen were further honoured by having the streets in that housing complex named after them.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2021". Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  2. ↑ "Postcodetool for 4184CE". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  3. ↑ Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, Repertorium van Nederlandse gemeenten, KNAW, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Opijnen - (geografische naam)". Etymolgiebank (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 Ronald Stenvert & Sabine Broekhoven (2000). Opijnen (in Dutch). Zwolle: Waanders. ISBN 90-400-9406-3. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "Opijnen". Plaatsengids (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  7. ↑ Washington Post Magazine November 11, 2018
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