Fietsroute langs de Acht Zaligheden

Acht Zaligheden, formerly also called Selligheden, is the nickname for eight Brabant villages in the region De Kempen. It concerns the villages Duizel, formerly Duijsel Eersel Hulsel Knegsel Netersel Reusel Steensel and Wintelre, originally Wintersel. Originally, the village names all end in -sel. The name for the eight villages originated during the Belgian Revolution in 1830. To fight the Belgian rebels, Dutch soldiers were sent to De Kempen. They were mainly stationed in the sel villages. The inhabitants of the sel villages were very poor at that time, there was no industry in this region and the infertile soil made growing crops very difficult. For the Dutch soldiers, who themselves mainly came from more prosperous areas above the rivers, this was a huge contrast. The local inhabitants were unaware of the prosperity elsewhere in the country and were satisfied with their blissful lives. They were intelligent, vital, proud of their landscape and loyal to the Roman Catholic Church. As a result, the soldiers also mockingly called the villages the Eight Beatitudes. The Eight Beatitudes is also a reference to the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus of Nazareth as written in the Bible book of Matthew. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about eight beatitudes or beatitudes, states of mind that a person can find themselves in and why they will ultimately be good. You can read more about this at the monument the Stones of Beatitudes. The local population embraced the nickname as a badge of honor. In the years that followed, the villages gradually became more prosperous. The region developed more and more due to, among other things, the introduction of artificial fertilizer, the exploitation of the heathlands, the rise of the cigar industry and the construction of the Eindhoven-Reusel tram line. The catering industry and tourism were also discovered. Eventually, the Eight Beatitudes became an honorary title and rightly so. A friendly atmosphere prevails in the picturesque villages. You cycle through the picturesque heathlands and nature reserves between the villages. The population is still content and they live according to a Burgundian lifestyle. And that is the atmosphere that you taste during this bike tour.