Veurne stamp catalogue

Veurne is a city in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Veurne is a typical provincial town and, despite the relatively low number of inhabitants, a regional center for the West Coast and Westhoek.

The area, where the city is now built, used to be a salt production area.

As early as the 9th century, Veurne was a fortified town, which was walled off in the 14th century. In the 17th century, Vauban renewed the fortifications. Thus, Veurne became one of the fortified towns in the Barrier Treaty of 1715. All these fortifications were dismantled by Emperor Joseph II in 1783, after he unilaterally canceled the Barrier Treaty.

The partly Gothic buildings are located around the Grote Markt and date from the 13th century, when the cloth trade Veurne, like so many other Flemish cities, brought wealth. The 17th-century buildings in regional Renaissance style were built during the Spanish period. On 17 July 1831, Veurne was the first Belgian city to welcome the future monarch, King Leopold I.

During the First World War, the city was the headquarters of the Belgian army. In 1906 the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke stayed in Veurne.

Today, Veurne is a small provincial town, with a central function for the Northern Westhoek and the West Coast municipalities. There is a station with a train to De Panne and to Brussels. Veurne is also a hub for buses and in the future a tram will run to Veurne station. In addition, there is a Court of Justice, a general hospital and a number of kindergarten, primary and secondary schools are present in the city. Veurne also has two shopping streets with a diverse range of shops. The weekly market on Wednesday still attracts many people. Furthermore, Veurne is increasingly developing as a tourist base in the Westhoek and West Coast.

The municipality of Veurne consists of 11 sub-municipalities. Veurne itself is the largest core and has the most inhabitants. The other boroughs are small polder villages; these are Avekapelle, Booitshoeke, Bulskamp, De Moeren, Eggegaatkapelle, Houtem, Steenkerke, Vinkem, Wulveringem and Zoutenaaie.

In 1971, the municipalities of Avekapelle, Booitshoeke, Bulskamp, Eggegooie, Steenkerke, and Zoutenaaie were added to Veurne. In the same year, De Moeren was added to the then still independent municipality of Houtem and the twin villages of Vinkem and Wulveringem together became the new municipality of Beauvoorde. In 1977, those four former municipalities were eventually also annexed to Veurne.

Source: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veurne.