Overpelt

Pelt (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈpɛlt] ) is a municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. It arose on 1 January 2019 from the merging of the municipalities of Neerpelt and Overpelt.After Neerpelt and Overpelt had previously agreed in principle to a merger, the new name of the municipality was announced on 4 November 2017 after a local referendum on the question. Out of the three possibilities Dommelpelt, Pelt or Pelten more than 74 percent of the votes eventually went to Pelt. The name goes back to the Romans, who called the sandy area Palethe, meaning boggy land. The municipal councils definitively approved the merger on 18 December 2017. Neerpelt and Overpelt thus ceased to exist on 31 December 2018. A day later, on 1 January 2019, Pelt officially became a new municipality in Limburg.The merged municipality has an area of 83.63 km2 and counts more than 32,000 inhabitants.

Neerpelt (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈneːrˌpɛlt] , literally Lower Pelt) is a town in Pelt and a former municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. In 2018, the municipality had a total population of 17,174. The total area is 42.78 km2.Effective 1 January 2019, Neerpelt and Overpelt were merged into the new municipality of Pelt.

Joe's Bridge is the nickname given to Bridge No.9 on the Bocholt-Herentals Canal outside the town of Neerpelt, in the Belgian city of Lommel just south of the Belgian-Dutch border. The bridge was captured by British troops in September 1944, becoming the springboard for the ground offensive of Operation Market-Garden.

Kleine Brogel Air Base (ICAO: EBBL) is a Belgian Air Component military airfield located 0.8 nautical miles (1.5 km; 0.92 mi) east of Kleine-Brogel, in the municipality of Peer, Belgium. It is home to the Belgian 10th Tactical Wing, which operates F-16 Fighting Falcons. As part of nuclear sharing it is also the home of the United States Air Force's 701st Munitions Support Squadron. As of 2023, Kleine Brogel is one of six active air bases in five European countries with B61 nuclear bombs in underground WS3 Weapon Storage and Security System inside aircraft shelters. It is also the site of a popular Belgium air show, which has been hosted periodically by the Belgian Air Force. The air show has many new and also historical aircraft on display for the public. An aviation museum for Klein Brogel with many historical items was established in 2010 in the area, featuring some of the historical aircraft that operated from the base.

Wijchmaal is a village in the province of Limburg, Belgium, which since 1977 has been a subdivision of the municipality of Peer. It is located on the low Kempen plateau and has predominantly sandy soil. The village has medieval fishponds that once belonged to the Agnetendal convent in Peer, and an arboretum that originated in 1907 as an experimental plantation to grow wood that would make good pit props. Historically a relatively poor and sparsely populated agricultural settlement, in the later 20th century it became a commuter village for people employed in Eindhoven and Genk.

Borkel en Schaft is a former municipality in the Netherlands, consisting of the villages of Borkel and Schaft. It was a separate municipality until 1934. The area is now part of the municipality of Valkenswaard. The spoken language is Kempenlands (an East Brabantian dialect, which is very similar to colloquial Dutch).

The Lommel Proving Ground also known as the Ford LPG, is an automotive proving ground, constructed by Ford of Europe on ground rented from the municipality of Lommel, located south of the Belgian hamlet of Kattenbos. Lommel covers an area of 3.22 km ², and since the development of new models are kept secret, the track closed to the public and heavily guarded. In 1964, Ford came to an agreement with the Borough of Lommel to rent a large area of forest on which to develop a test track. The location was chosen as it was midway between Ford's main development centres and production plants in Germany and the United Kingdom, allowing easy integration access. Operational from 1965, from 1970 the track was further extended, so that by 2008 there were 80 kilometres (50 mi) of varying surfaces. Besides test track there are also environmental chambers, freshwater and saltwater pools.

The Armand Preud'homme Museum was a museum in Peer, Belgium, that was dedicated to the Belgian composer Armand Preud'homme (1904-1986). From 1990 to 2018 the museum formed a combination with the Heemkundig Museum (local museum) upstairs, called the Dulle Griet Museum.Preud'homme was born in this house, when his father was a teacher and head of the municipal boys school. The land of the house and the school was acquired by the municipality on 3 April 1859. It was developed by the provincial underarchitect Herman Jaminé and built from 1860 to 1861.Preud'homme was an organist and composed hundreds of songs and operettas on themes like connectivity of people and the nostalgia for his birth region. His most popular operetta was Op de purp'ren hei and his most popular song Kempenland; the latter one was popular during the occupation of the Second World War as march music for paramilitary groups.The museum was founded by Jaak Geuns and was largely run by volunteers. It showed belongings of the musician, like his grand piano, news paper articles, photographs, and sheet music of his most famous songs and operettas.The number of groups visiting the museum went down from eight hundred per year at the beginning to just a couple in 2018. In this year the municipality of Peer decided to close both museums. On this site it planned apartments and a service center.

Peer (Dutch pronunciation: [peːr] ) is a city and municipality located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Peer had a total population of 15,810. The total area is 86.95 km² which gives a population density of 182 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities: Peer, Grote-Brogel, Kleine-Brogel, Wauberg, Erpekom and Wijchmaal. Peer is the site of a famous annual blues music festival held in July.

The Arrondissement of Maaseik (Dutch: Arrondissement Maaseik; French: Arrondissement de Maaseik) is one of the three administrative arrondissements in the Province of Limburg, Belgium. It is not a judicial arrondissement. The municipalities of Bocholt, Bree, Kinrooi, Meeuwen-Gruitrode, Dilsen-Stokkem and Maaseik, are part of the Judicial Arrondissement of Tongeren, while the rest of its municipalities are part of the Judicial Arrondissement of Hasselt.

Achel Brewery or Brouwerij der Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse Kluis was a Belgian Trappist brewery, (the smallest of the Belgian Trappist breweries) until January 2021. It continues to operate as a brewery but is no longer Trappist, as the brewing monks whose presence gave rise to that status have retired. It is located in the Abbey of Saint Benedict in the Belgian municipality of Hamont-Achel. It brews six "Trappist beers" (now described as "Trappist style").

The Trappist Abbey of Achel or Saint Benedictus-Abbey or Achelse Kluis (which means hermitage of Achel), which belongs to the Cistercians of Strict Observance, is located in Achel in the Campine region of the province of Limburg (Flanders, Belgium). The abbey was famous for its spiritual life and its brewery, which was one of only a few Trappist beer breweries in the world. Life in the abbey was characterised by prayer, reading and manual work, the three basic elements of Trappist life. The monastic community came to an end in January 2021, with the last two monks moving to Westmalle Abbey.