Erpe-Mere

Erpe-Mere (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌɛrpəˈmeːrə]) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of Aaigem, Bambrugge, Burst, Erondegem, Erpe, Mere, Ottergem and Vlekkem. There is also a hamlet in Bambrugge: Egem. Erpe-Mere is crossed by 2 brooks, the Molenbeek and the Molenbeek-Ter Erpenbeek. On January 1, 2010 Erpe-Mere had a total population of 19,280. The total area is 34.03 km² which gives a population density of 567 inhabitants per km². The current mayor of Erpe-Mere is Hugo De Waele, from the CD&V (Christian Democratic) party.

History

The municipality was formed in 1975 by the merger of the eight sub-municipalities of today, but the sub-communities Erpe and Mere initially disagreed on the new name for the merged municipality. While Erpe had the largest area, Mere was central in the entire area and had more inhabitants. As a compromise they choose the double name Erpe-Mere.

Geography

The municipality is bordered to the north by Lede, in the east by Aalst and Haaltert, in the south by Herzele and in the west by Sint-Lievens-Houtem. Erpe-Mere is located north of the foothills of the Flemish Ardennes, in the region Denderstreek. The area north of the N9 (Aalst-Ghent) is between 10 to 30 meters high, the area between the N9 and E40 (Brussels-Ghent) is between 25 to 50 meters high and the area south of it has hills peaks up to 80 meters. The most famous of them is the Gotegemberg in Mere, not for his height of 68 meters, but for its slope of 18% making it a popular challenge for cyclists.

Erpe

Erpe is a sub-municipality of Erpe-Mere in Flanders. It is located on the Molenbeek-Ter Erpenbeek in the Denderstreek in the southeast of East Flanders and belongs to Arrondissement of Aalst. The sub-municipality is bordered by the sub-municipalities of Mere, Ottergem and Erondegem and the municipalities Lede (sub-municipalities Impe and Lede) and Aalst (sub-municipalities Aalst and Nieuwerkerken). Erpe has 4903 inhabitants as of 1 January 2003 and an area of 8.28 km. The population density is 592 inhabitants / km ².

History

Erpe was first mentioned in a document of 1057, although the village is probably much older. The name is derived from the word Erpo. Between the 18th and 19th Century the population of Erpe grew steadily. In 1769 there were 1032 inhabitants, in 1801 there were 1638 inhabitants, and by 1893 the village had 2394 inhabitants. By the end of the 19th Century, there were two water mills in the village, a windmill, two breweries and a vinegar maker.

Landmarks