Opijnen

History

It was first mentioned in 1265 as Opynen, and means upstream as compared to Neerijnen. The village developed parallel to the Waal as a stretched out esdorp. In 1265, Opijnen became the property of Raoul de Châtillon, a French nobleman who had fled to Gelre after a dispute with the King of France. A castle was built near the village, however it disappeared in the 16th century. The Dutch Reformed Church was built in 1860 and the tower dates from 1925. In 1840, Opijnen was home to 333 people.

Opijnen is home to the graves of eight American airmen who were shot down on 30 July 1943, and killed while returning to England from a bombing raid over Kassel, Germany. The village honoured the airmen by burying them in their cemetery. From that time and for seventy-five years afterwards, the village honoured these men annually with a formal church service and then a laying of flowers on the graves. In 2006, the village opened a housing complex with eighty-six units. The airmen were further honoured by having the streets in that housing complex named after them.

Gallery

File:N-H kerk Opijnen.jpg|Dutch Reformed Church File:Waalbridges near Zaltbommel, an old railwaybridge and the new cable stayed motorwaybridge - panoramio.jpg|Bridges over the Waal File:Opijnen GM Waaldijk 20.jpg|Dike house File:Opijnen GM Repensestraat 7.jpg|House in Opijnen

References

References

1. (24 July 2019). "Postcodetool for 4184CE". Het Waterschapshuis.
2. "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2021".
3. {{Repertorium Nederlandse Gemeenten
4. "Opijnen - (geografische naam)".
5. Ronald Stenvert & Sabine Broekhoven. (2000). "Opijnen". Waanders.
6. "Opijnen".
7. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2018/11/09/feature/a-downed-world-war-ii-plane-a-dutch-village-and-the-art-of-remembering/ Washington Post Magazine November 11, 2018]