What the Hack

Boxtel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɔkstəl]) is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. The name derives from Buchestelle and is presumably a combination of 'stelle' (Dutch for stable, safe place) and (deer) buck.This is the origin of the Van Boxtel family, which has numerous descendants in North Brabant. The town was the site of the Battle of Boxtel fought in September 1794 during the Flanders campaign. It is often principally remembered as the first battle of the future Duke of Wellington.

Liempde is a village in the Netherlands in the municipality Boxtel. Annually the Flevo Christian music festival is held here. In 2005 the event What the Hack took place in Liempde. Liempde is situated in the center of the Dutch province North Brabant in the valley of the Dommel. It lies in the center of the triangle formed by 's-Hertogenbosch, Tilburg and Eindhoven. Until the end of the nineteenth century it was a dark and diffuse area. The economy was mostly based on the production of wooden shoes. Today a few of these manufacturers still exist. In the beginning of the twentieth century Philips changed Eindhoven in the 'city of lights'. In Liempde this turned the darkness into a gloom. Each year at second Easter day the people celebrate the 'coming of the gloom' by a manifestation called 'Boeremèrt'. That day the entire village returns to the 'era of the coming of the light'. Storytellers, musicians, old policemen seem to return from their graves. Stories are told about their ancestors—like the famous Neighbour Piet and the unforgettable Jan Pieters—and about the secret cave near the Dommel. Liempde was a separate municipality until 1996 when it became part of Boxtel.

The Battle of Boxtel was fought in the Duchy of Brabant on 14–15 September 1794, during the War of the First Coalition. It was part of the Flanders Campaign of 1793–94 in which British, Dutch and Austrian troops had attempted to launch an invasion of France through Flanders. It is often remembered as being the debut action of Arthur Wellesley, who later became the 1st Duke of Wellington.

Stapelen Castle is a castle in Boxtel in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is known as monastery and headquarters of the Dutch Assumptionists. The Assumptionist fathers sold the castle on 1 September 2018 and have now transferred it to the Eindhoven property managers Xander van Mierlo. It is not yet clear what function the castle will have. After 104 years the fathers sold the castle Stapelen, which has been in use as a monastery all those years. At present there are still about fourteen Assumptionist fathers in the Netherlands. The Congregation of the Assumptionists is engaged in pastoral care, Catholic inspired journalism, education, corporate apostolate and missionary work in the Netherlands and abroad. The Dutch province of the congregation has been part of the congregation in Paris for a number of years. The Assumptionists still own the buildings at Prins Hendrikstraat 43 and 45, which the fathers would like to demolish for the construction of apartments. It has also been agreed that the cemetery, located in the castle park. will be in use for at least another 50 years to be able to bury the Fathers there permanently. With the permission of the Bossche bishop, the fathers removed the chapel of Saint George in the castle from honorary service.

Boxtel railway station is located in Boxtel, Netherlands. The station was opened on 1 May 1865 and is located on the Breda–Eindhoven railway (between Tilburg and Eindhoven) and the Utrecht–Boxtel railway. The station is currently operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Boxtel is an interchange station for Stoptreinen (trains stopping at every station) in North Brabant. There are services meeting in 3 different directions. The station was majorly rebuilt from 1998, opening on 29 September 2000 as part of quadrupling of the Eindhoven to Boxtel line with a second island platform added.The station lies at the start of the former Boxtel–Wesel railway.

The Armenhoef is a monumental farm on the Oirschotseweg 117 in the North Brabantian town Best in the Netherlands. The Armenhoef is the oldest, still in use farm of North Western Europe.By archaeological building research in 2009 the timber frame of the barn was determined to date back to 1263. The modern farmhouse itself dates to different periods (see final two paragraphs). The farm is a monument and was in urgent need of restoration. The government was prepared to provide a contribution to this restoration. Also, the building has been recognized as a monument. This deviates from state policy not to designate buildings dating from the period before 1940 as a national monument.The name of the farm has to do with the former function. Armenhoef means Poor People Farm. The proceeds of this then-largest farm in Best were used for poor aid. The municipality has recognized the building as a municipal monument because of its cultural, historical, architectural and scenic value. Elements such as the age, the integrity of the farm and the function for poor relief played a role. To the state, the age of the farm and the rare building characteristics, such as the barn overhang above the north facade, was decisive for admission to the qualification procedure as a national monument.The modern day construction consists of a number of building phases, the most important of which date to the 13th, 16th and 18th centuries. The first of these building phases dates back to 1263 based on dendrochronological dating methods. This very precise dating method failed to work for the succeeding periods, partially because the later periods largely re-used wood from the original construction. The other phases were dated on the basis of radiocarbon dating and historical records (as well as relative chronology). Despite the fact that the wooden bents and walls from the 13th century have largely changed, traces on the (re-used) medieval building materials present a very reliable picture of how the building must have originally looked during that period and how farmsteads changed over time. The outline of the original farmstead of width and height is largely the same as the one existing today, but there were slight expansions north- and southwards and the residential (southern) part is a bit higher.In the 13th century, the first farmstead was built on the location, part of which still exists in the modern-day building. The central construction was built on small pier foundations, which are blocks of brick supporting the beams. The smaller beams on the outer walls were directly placed into the ground. The wooden construction was a common assembly with "pair beams" (Dutch: koppelbalken). In the 16th century, the farm was slightly expanded in northern direction. At the same time, the bent of the northern half of the existing farm, including most of the working area, was changed from a common assembly to a reversed assembly with anchor beam bents (Dutch: ankerbalkgebinten). The brick foundations were enlarged during this period and many of the original building materials were re-used. The southern half, including the entire residential part, remained largely intact in overall structure until the third main phase of construction of the 18th century. In the 18th century, the wooden outer walls covered with daub were replaced by more durable brick walls. The original wooden construction of the residential part was replaced, by which the roof was subsequently not supported by beams anymore, but by new brick walls. It is uncertain whether the wood that originally supported the residential part was partially re-used in the interior of the modern residence of the building. The southernmost section of the working area still contains one traditional bent of the original 13th century wooden construction, which is the oldest known aboveground construction of a farmstead of the Netherlands and perhaps of the wider region of Northwestern Europe. The residential part expanded slightly further southwards.

The forest and nature area the Geelders is located at the western side of the village of Olland in Meierijstad, North Brabant and covers almost 300 hectares. The Geelders are part of the larger area Het Groene Woud.The varied landscape of the Geelders consists of coppice hedges, with deciduous forests with drover's roads, poplars, heathland, grassland and farmland. Already in the 17th century was the area used for the production of oak coppice. The bark of trees was used in the tannery. In order to exploit the forest as well as possible there were wide drover's roads constructed. For an extensive system of drainage there were ditches and trenches constructed. On the available new land there were rabatten made, which are the higher ground ridges between the trenches which were used for silviculture. Cavities in old and often declining trees are grateful breeding and hiding places for tawny owls and beech martens. In spring the forest soils are covered with millions of wood anemones, which are pleasing to the eye. The clay layer keeps the area quite wet and as result there can be found rare plants like true lover's knot, Dactylorhiza maculata, royal fern and primrose. Also native specimens of wild medlar, Guelder rose, dog rose and hawthorn can be found in the area. For more than 100 years an important part of the property is owned by the family Marggraff from Vught. Since the Second World War, the main management by this family consisted out of doing nothing. As a result of the lack of human interference, the Geelders is in a high natural state and is now one of the most valuable wetlands in the Netherlands. Staatsbosbeheer has marked several trails through the Geelders.

BestZOO is a small zoo in Best, North Brabant, Netherlands. It opened in 1930 as Vleut the Zoo, and was owned and operated by the van Laarhoven family until purchased by Zodiac Zoos in 2007. Zodiac Zoos upgraded many of the old exhibits to more naturalistic settings, but sold them to Jos Nooren in 2010 before all upgrades were completed. The zoo participates in several European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) European Endangered Species Programmes (EEP) programs, including Edwards's pheasant, black-and-white ruffed lemur, Colombian spider monkey and Sri Lankan leopard.

Best is a railway station located in Best, Netherlands. The station is located on the Breda–Maastricht railway (State Line E) between Tilburg and Eindhoven. The station is operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen. The station is located in a tunnel and has four platforms.

Het Groene Woud (The Green Forest) is a special area of the Netherlands which is located in North Brabant between the cities of Tilburg, Eindhoven and 's-Hertogenbosch. It includes nature reserves such as the Kampina, the Oisterwijk forests and fens, Velderbos and the Dommel. In 2004 "Het Groene Woud" is designated by the government as a National Landscape. This is to prevent the area between the three large cities from becoming more urbanized. The combination of nature, sustainable agriculture and environmental recreation form a valuable cultural and historical landscape. "Het Groene Woud" covers a total of 7,500 hectares of marshes, meadows and agricultural landscape. It covers the municipalities Boxtel, Sint-Oedenrode, Schijndel, Sint-Michielsgestel, Best, Oirschot, Oisterwijk, Haaren and Vught. In Het Groene Woud, many species of mammals can be encountered: These include: red deer (introduced in 2017), roe deer, European badger, Eurasian harvest mouse, European polecat, European water vole, European hedgehog, Eurasian red squirrel, common pipistrelle, European hare, brown long-eared bat, stoat, serotine bat, Eurasian beaver, European mole, Natterer's bat, least weasel, red fox, Daubenton's bat, beech marten and several species of shrew, dormice, apodemus and arvicolinae. Hiking, canoeing and cycling activities are possible in this area.

Best (Dutch pronunciation: [bɛst] (listen)) is a municipality and a village in the southern Netherlands. It is situated northwest of the city Eindhoven, and is also part of the agglomeration of this city. The headquarters of Europe's largest meat processor Vion NV are located in Best, as are Philips Healthcare and the Bata Shoe Organization's "Bata Protective" operations (B2B).

Oirschot (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈoːrsxɔt] ; Orskot in the local dialect) is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It is situated 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from the city of Eindhoven and 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the city of Tilburg in the province North Brabant (Noord-Brabant). The municipality had a population of 18,842 in 2021.