![[Flag of Bonheiden]](../images/b/be-vanbh.gif)
Last modified: 2013-12-01 by ivan sache
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Flag of Bonheiden - Image by Ivan Sache, 24 September 2001
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The municipality of Bonheiden (14,499 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 2,927 ha) is located 10 km east of Mechelen. The municipality of Bonheiden is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Bonheiden and Rijmenam, minus the borough of Peulis, transfered to Putte.
Bonheiden emerged from the domain of Berentrode, known since the 9th
century. A rode was a clearing, here in the Waverwoud, the region located
between the two rivers Nete and the river Dijle. Berentrode belonged to
the Berthout, lords of Grimbergen and Mechelen. In 1311, Floris
Berthout, lord of Mechelen, listed among his goods "Berenrode" and
"Boederheyden"; in 1330, the very same Floris wrote "Berenrode" and "Boenheyde". The name of Bonheiden progressively superseded Berentrode.
The etymology of Bonheiden is still disputed, at least the meaning of
boede - boen. heiden means a heather moor (in Dutch, heide; in
German, Heide). Carnoy claims that boen means "flat", whereas
Lindemans believes it means "interlaced twigs or branches forming a
fence". Uyterhoeven writes that a boede was a small wooden hut.
Another explanation relates bon to the anthroponym Bodo, that indeed
existed as Bodinus, Boidinus or Bodonis in Mechelen in the 13th-14th
centuries.
Most of the ancient history of Bonheiden is linked to the neighbouring
town of Mechelen. Wouter Berthout, lord of Mechelen, built the feudal
castle of Zellaer, which was completely revamped in 1885. The two
biggest farms in Bonheiden belonged to the Grand Beguine Convent and to
the monastery of Blijdenberg, respectively. The parish church bleonged
to the St. Rombout chapter. The Berthout were succeeded in Boheiden by
the families Charles, Straignaert, Spira, Ittere de Castre (1648) and
Romrée (1705). A significant part of the territory remained unused,
since the Ferraris map (1775) shows the bruyère [moor] de Bonheyden.
In the 19th century, the industrial revolution clearly ignored
Bonheiden.
Rijmenam, known in the Middle Ages as Rimenham, belonged, like Bonheiden,
to the Country of Mechelen. After the Berthout, its owners belonged to
the families Oudart (1558), Faille (1628), de Brouxelles, van
Duyveland, van Attenrode and Cuypers. On 1 August 1578, the battle of
Rijmenam-Mispeldonck opposed the Catholic troops of Don Juan of Austria
to the Protestant army of the Dutch States commanded by Maxiliiaan
Bossu.
The Bakestraar is the border between Rijmenam and the municipality of
Keerbergen, so that one side of the road is in the province of Antwerp
and the other one in the province of Flemish Brabant.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 26 May 2007
The municipal flag of Bonheiden is vertically divided
green-yellow-purple.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel [w2v02], the flag is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 27 September 1984 and 25 August 1988 by the Municipal Council, confirmed on 13 December 1988 by the
Executive of Flanders, and published on 8 November 1989 in the Belgian
official gazette.
The colours symbolize the pines, the brooms and the moor, respectively.
Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 26 May 2007
