Masterwork signs

Commemorative artwork 50th brabants day

Originally a brewery built in 1815 by order of Willem Maas named De Zwaan. Near the brewery there used to be a pond in which swans swam. The name of the hamlet Zwanegat on Broekerstraat also refers to this. The brewery also included a malt mill, the Zwaansche Molen, located in the Broekakkers, on the present Eikenlaan, between Lindenlaan and Beukenlaan.

Three-Village Monument

The villages Heeze, Leende, Sterksel and the village center Leenderstrijp were merged on January 1, 1997 to form the municipality of Heeze-Leende. At the point where the villages of Heeze, Leende and Sterksel meet, the three-village monument by artist Chris Derksen was unveiled on May 25, 1997. The artwork symbolizes "the border posts," "the sense of individuality" and "moving forward together with new possibilities.

Nostalgic grocery store Co-op St. John's

Strijpen people fought for years for their own school starting in the early 20th century. They took matters into their own hands and founded the school under the banner of the new "School and Cooperative Shop Association. In 1916, the building was completed. The profits from the store were used to finance the expenses of the school. In the early years the store was housed in 3 different farms, since 1920 in the present building. Leenderstrijp is also characterized by numerous long-gabled farms which together form a unique picture, so unique that in 1973 the hamlet served as the setting for the Dutch feature film Help, de dokter verzuipt!

Monument 'Duality'

How did this monument come about?

This work is called "Duality," which in its basic idea is derived from the ancient Yin-Yang philosophy from the Chinese Tao, some 5,000 years old. But still relevant today. In this work, the Yin-Yang idea is freely represented in a contemporary way. This work is primarily symbolic in nature.

Paul has done many things in his 18 years as mayor. In the arts sector, there are several real achievements to mention. Look at KunstSmullen, look at the Art Circle, look at the Brabant Day, look at the various studios. He was always closely involved.

The first aspect deals with this work. It shows what happens when you act together in dialogue. Initially the positions may be (far) apart, but gradually you approach each other and come closer and closer together in terms of solutions. By working together, you almost always end up with a higher level final result than if each would do this separately. The influence of dialogue is symbolically perceptible in the profile of this work of art from the center of Heeze or Geldrop, through the constantly ascending granite elements with a top at the signpost.

This aspect is also present with the unveiling of the work. At first Paul and his wife Gerda saw nothing but a line of Brabant flags, but as the unveiling progressed it became increasingly clear what was hidden underneath, and when you get to the highest point, the signpost, you see how it symbolically shows the way into the future. Together towards retirement.

The second aspect is about how the forces in society interact. The more controversial the decision, the more resistance there is. Different points of view arise because everyone judges things from their own perspective: how you look at the issue, determined by your character, place of birth, upbringing and education, your experiences, your (own) interest, trust in the other, etc. You can work on most of these components, it has been shown, by engaging in dialogue. After all, forcing something through generally only results in more resistance and frustration on the part of the other person and gives rise to objection or appeal. The shifting of each other's boundaries can be seen in the S-shape in the top view. Paul was, as far as we could observe, a man of dialogue.

The third aspect is that you can also beat around the bush, that you do not enter into dialogue, but circle around it, a traffic circle way. Such an approach leads to nothing. We could not catch the mayor doing that.

The fourth aspect is sustainability: the climate is an area on which the government must work relentlessly in order to keep the world liveable for our children. Paul is aware of this.

This led to sustainable materials and constructions in this work.

Sustainable is the granite that was used. It was created by the cooling of the earth's crust, some 4.5 billion years ago, and recently (39 years ago) came from probably the Heeze-Leende NS railway station, demolished in 1984, and came through all kinds of private gardens, with all the traces of use that have come in and up during the years of use by people walking over it and trains passing by. In particular, the brown rust deposits, the patina, all the damage and mortar remnants can still be seen. We did not seek a botox-like cosmetic embellishment for ethical reasons, mindful of the Venice Charter.

The planting was also chosen to be sustainable. Relatively low maintenance, and species that can also thrive here in the future, are good for insects and everything related, we understood. Watering can be done effectively because the sloping embankment has been replaced with an approximately 5-inch-deep basin in which the water stays. These may be small but important things.

The planting offers different colors that remain opposite throughout the year with the changing seasons. The "Yin-Yang" dots are formed by a different planting, placed at the center of the circle parts.

We hope that this work will have a long life, that the role of our outgoing mayor will be fixed for posterity, and that the climate will also be served a little bit with this whole thing.

Design artwork

The design and realization of the artwork were in the hands of the duo Jan van den Akker and Sjef Cox, each with his own esteemed strengths.

Design planting

The design of the planting was made by landscape architect Dolmans and the implementation was in the hands of the municipality of Heeze-Leende, in this case the green department.

To conclude

This work came about in good cooperation thanks to the generous donors of the granite, Van Lierop Metaal from Heeze, and municipality Heeze-Leende. The artwork is offered by the entire art scene of Heeze-Leende. Their involvement was also evident in the help of many in building it.

Bell tower with St. Jobs bell

In the fields surrounding this site, according to tradition, the pilgrimage chapel of St. Job stood. The St. Job chapel was demolished in 1654 and with the material a preacher's house was built in Churchyard. The chapel's bell was transferred to the castle where it now hangs near the gardener's house. The 16th-century St. Jobs statue from the chapel was first transferred to the barn church and later to St. Martin's Church. There the statue was stolen in 1976 and never returned. The demolition of the chapel did not mean the end of the pilgrimage to St. Job. The pilgrims gathered at an old oak tree near the chapel. This oak blew down in a storm in 1925, was replanted and cut down in 1960. On this spot, on August 2, 1962, Pastor H. Beex, president of Brabants Heem, inaugurated the belfry with the St. Jobs bell. The bell was manufactured by the Fa. Eysbouts of Asten. The current St. Jobs bell was installed on March 21, 1972.

Boschhoven village pump

In 1962, the Sacred Heart statue and a village pump were removed from the Market Square. After the statue was given a place at this location, a replica of the pump followed in the 1980s. The pump installed over the well is shaped like the traditional village pumps that were found in many places, but unlike them, it no longer dispenses water.

St. Victor mill

St Victor’s Mill is a corn mill situated on a high mound nearly seven meters tall. From the entrance gate, a staircase leads to the bark loft. Above this are successively the flour attic, the stone attic, the loft and the cap attic. The flour loft is on the bell heights and the loft houses the lazy gear for lifting bags of grain. The mill is a windmill because, when turning the sails to the wind, only the cap is turned. In 1852, J.F. Pompen from Sterksel had a windmill built at this location, which served as a grain and bark mill with an oil mill attached. The latter was demolished in 1887 and the bark mill around 1920. In 1905, the mill came into the possession of A. van Asten, whose son was known in Heeze as ‘Driekske the mulder’. From 1922, members of the Trouwen family acted as millers and during this period the hitherto unnamed mill went by the name ‘Sint Victor’. In 1946, it was last used for professional milling with wind power. In both 1862 and 1904, the mill burned down, but both times it was quickly restored. After the mill fell out of use and into disrepair from 1970, restoration began in 1983. Volunteer millers have been milling again since 1984.

Le Tanneur

This sculpture was presented to the municipality of Leende in 1972 by ‘Van Engelen in Leder’ on the occasion of its centenary. Made by Hans Goddefroy, the bronze sculpture of some leather workers and hides originally stood in front of the town hall and now at the place where the tannery once started. The tannery was founded by A. van Engelen's widow, M.C. Vromans, daughter of a tanner. The Van Engelen family had been involved in tanning since 1800. Leather production was a lengthy process involving extensive manual labor, unpleasant odors, and health risks.. However, the tanneries in Leende also provided many jobs and prosperity.

Statue Harrie Verest

This bronze statue, made by Mieke Leppens, depicts a resting man or farmer with a threshing-flailure. It was unveiled on 1 September 1981 at its original location near D'n Toversnest by H. Verest. On that day, he celebrated 50 years as a councillor in Heeze, setting a national record as the longest-serving councillor in the Netherlands.

Heeze-Leende boundary stone

Between 1853 and 1855, the highway from Eindhoven to Weert was built, which also ran through Heeze and Leende. Boundary markers were placed along one of these roads. This stone post stands on the former border between the municipalities of Heeze and Leende and was erected there in or shortly after 1855. On the southern side is written ‘GEM. LEENDE' and on the northern one ’GEM. HEEZE’.

Narrow-gauge railway monument

The fifteen-metre-long track, the shortest in the Netherlands, was unveiled in 2006 as a tribute to the narrow-gauge railway built by N.V. ‘De Heerlijkheid Sterksel’. In 1913, the Eindhoven-Weert railway connection was established, after which Sterksel got its own station with marshalling yard. From this marshalling yard, a 4,000-metre-long and 70-cm-wide narrow gauge railway ran centrally through the reclaimed area of Sterksel, to the field barns on Vlaamseweg and Averbodeweg. A small train, pulled by oxen, transported dump trucks and flat wagons loaded with fertiliser and agricultural products along the track. It was also used to transport materials during the construction of Huize Providentia and coal for its heating. In the 1930s, the track was no longer no longer needed and dismantling followed.

Kloostervelden - Monastery district

In 1920, the Congregation of the Brothers of St Joseph had a simple monastery built for the purpose of nursing epileptics. The final structure, known as Huize Providentia, was completed by the end of 1927. In the following years, expansion of the complex followed, including a chapel consecrated in 1932 and a children's pavilion opened in 1936. In 1942, Providentia had to be evacuated, after which the occupying forces occupied the buildings. After liberation in 1944, the British set up a field hospital there. The soldiers who died were buried in the war cemetery. When the friars had the buildings at their disposal again in 1946, they modernised them considerably, among other things by installing heating. From the sixties onwards, the buildings are continuously adapted to the requirements of those years. Instead of large dormitories, patients are housed in new pavilions. In 1972, a master plan for redistributing patients and facilities between Kempenhaeghe in Heeze and Providentia was developed, leading to necessary adjustments in the subsequent years. In 1977, the ‘big movement of people’, the mutual transfer of patients, starts. 1997, the first country house is opened as a result of the new idea that people with disabilities have a right to their own place in society. They should no longer be ‘tucked away’ but ‘just’ live in residential areas. Less capacity is therefore needed on the Providentia site. But a number of clients continue to need a sheltered living and housing environment. A new layout of the grounds is needed, creating the concept of reverse integration: modernised care buildings in a neighbourhood with ‘ordinary’ houses for ‘ordinary’ people. From 2014, Sterksel's new residential district takes shape with the name Kloostervelden. In 2017, the renovated Monastery Providentia will be put back into use.