Hengelo, Industrial municipality in Twente region, Netherlands
Hengelo is a municipality in Overijssel province in the eastern Netherlands, encompassing several smaller communities including Beckum and Oele, as well as the hamlet of Woolde. The area spreads across urban neighborhoods with residential blocks and shops alongside open countryside dotted with scattered farms and fields.
Allied bombers targeted the railway junction and factories during World War II, heavily damaging the center. Postwar reconstruction in the following years shaped the current urban layout with wider streets and modern buildings.
The name Hengelo comes from an old Dutch word meaning stallion, referring to horse pastures that once covered parts of the area. Today the central market square serves as a meeting point where residents gather for weekly markets and seasonal festivals.
Several train connections run from here to Utrecht and onward to Schiphol Airport, as well as across the border into Germany. Local bus lines connect the different districts and offer regular trips to surrounding villages.
Archaeologists found a stone axe here dated to around 75,000 years ago, pointing to early Neanderthal presence. This discovery ranks among the oldest traces of human settlement in the Netherlands and shows the long past of the region.
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