Bern is a hamlet in the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 province of Gelderland

Gelderland

Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...

. It is located in the municipality of Zaltbommel

Zaltbommel

Zaltbommel is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. The town of Zaltbommel was first mentioned as "Bomela" in the year 850. Zaltbommel first received city status in 1231, which status was renewed in 1316....

, about 10 km south of the town Zaltbommel.

Bern used to lie south of the Meuse River

Meuse River

The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...

, in the municipality of Herpt en Bern. The river was dammed close to Bern around 1900 (see Afgedamde Maas

Afgedamde Maas

The Afgedamde Maas is a former distributary of the Maas River in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The Maas splits near Heusden with one channel flowing north until its confluence with the river Waal to form the Merwede, while the other continues west as the main distributary of the Maas...

), and a new channel was dug south of the village, the Bergsche Maas. In 1958, the administrative borders were changed to account for this new situation, and Bern moved from the province of North Brabant

North Brabant

North Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...

 to Gelderland, and to the municipality of Kerkwijk

Kerkwijk

Kerkwijk is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaltbommel, and lies about 11 km northwest of 's-Hertogenbosch.Kerkwijk was a separate municipality between 1818 and 1999, when it was merged with Zaltbommel....

.

According to the 19th century historian A.J. van der Aa, there used to be a castle in Bern, with a large tower and surrounded by walls. One of its owners, Fulco of Bern, made the castle into an abbey of the Premonstratensian

Premonstratensian

The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...

 order in 1134. It was inaugurated by the 25th bishop of Utrecht, Andreas of Cuyk. The abbey suffered during the Iconoclasm

Iconoclasm

Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...

 in 1566, and was almost completely burnt down in 1589 during the siege of Heusden

Heusden

Heusden is a municipality and a city in the South of the Netherlands. It is located between the cities Waalwijk and 's-Hertogenbosch.- Population centres :...

by the Spanish army. It was never rebuilt, and in the middle of the 19th century, little remained of the Abbey of Bern.

External links

Map of the former municipality of Herpt en Bern in 1868.