Heers

Heers is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. Since 1971 it comprises the parishes Batsheers, Opheers, Veulen, Gutschoven and Mettekoven, and since 1977 also Mechelen-Bovelingen, Rukkelingen-Loon (which in 1971 had formed Bovelingen), Heks, Horpmaal, Vechmaal (which in 1971 had formed Heks), and Klein-Gelmen (which between 1971 and 1977 had been part of Gelmen, during those years a separate municipality of which the other parishes now belong to the municipality of Sint-Truiden).

References

External links

Media related to Heers at Wikimedia Commons

Heers, Netherlands

Heers is a hamlet in the south of the municipality of Veldhoven in the province of North Brabant, the Netherlands. Most of the buildings are concentrated around a town square with trees. At this town square is a chapel from 1990 located. There is also a monument, erected in 1966 for the local agricultural consolidation project. Heers has a long history. The hamlet is mentioned in books from the Middle Ages. Also, archaeological artefacts from the Bronze Age and the Roman Empire have been unearthed near the hamlet.

Etymology

The hamlet was named Herle in 1297, which means forest on higher ground. In the fourteenth century it was also known under the names Heerze and Heerle, which may refer to a sandy ridge. This would be the ridge between the Run and Gender streams.

History

Prehistory

The surroundings of Heers were already inhabited by humans in prehistoric times. In the woods near the road Locht, in the direction of the village Steensel, are some preserved tumuli located. The teacher and amateur archaeologist Petrus Panken was the first to report the existence of these tumuli, in 1845. He searched thirteen mounds and discovered urns filled with charcoal and cremated remains. The head teacher in Veldhoven, Cornelis Rijken, also found a great number of urns in this region in 1910. The first systematic research was conducted by Albert van Giffen in 1948. The ten tumuli that he reconstructed are known as the Group Heibloem. The tumuli are originating from a period of time between the Middle Bronze Age until the Iron Age (1500 - 50 BC).