NEW: Van Gogh NP hiking trail Helvoirt
On Wednesday, June 7, the Van Gogh National Park walking route Helvoirt was presented. A beautiful walk (15 km), which starts at the Holy Nicholas Church (Kastanjelaan 16).
The Van Gogh NP walking route in Helvoirt officially opened by Alderman Mark du Maine, Alderman Yvonne Vos of the Municipality of Vught and Frank van den Eijnden, operations director Van Gogh National Park. The walking route is the latest in a series of five walks developed by VisitBrabant Routebureau on behalf of Van Gogh National Park.
A place of longing
For Vincent, Helvoirt was a place of longing for his family life and the Brabant countryside. This 15-kilometer walking route takes you through the Brabant countryside and the places where Vincent van Gogh's family lived and where Vincent walked. The walking route starts in the village center and is laid out in the characteristic farm landscape that inspired Vincent in his later work. The route is laid out via the junction system and is 75% unpaved. You can recognize the route by the little shields with the inscription 'Van Gogh National Park', affixed to the well-known junction posts.
The route begins at St. Nicholas Church and continues through forests, open meadows and past fens. Along the way you will pass Zwijnsbergen Castle, one of the newest Van Gogh monuments in Brabant. Because of the friendly relationship with Protestant noble family De Jonge van Zwijnsbergen, owners of Zwijnsbergen Castle, family Van Gogh regularly spent time here.
In 2012, another letter from Vincent was discovered by the Brabants Historical Information Center. The letter was addressed to Hendrik Verzijl who was living with the De Jonge van Zwijnsbergen family at the time. In total, Vincent wrote more than 30 letters referring to Helvoirt.
A letter from Vincent
Best known is his letter of August 26, 1876, written from Isleworth in England: "Brabant is Brabant, and the fatherland is the fatherland, and countries of foreign countries are countries of foreign countries. And how friendly Helvoirt and the lights in the village and the tower between the snowy poplars looked that evening, seen from afar from the road to 's Bosch. But it is love that gives it all such great beauty and life."
Vincent's place of family life and nature experience
Helvoirt, the village in the middle of Van Gogh National Park, is set in an authentic Brabant landscape with meandering streams, marshlands, sand drifts and estates. From 1871 to 1875, Van Gogh's father was pastor here. In addition to Vincent's parents, brothers and sisters, several family members lived here and Vincent visited them regularly. During Vincent's time working in cities such as The Hague, London and Paris, Helvoirt felt like home with his family.
Sustainable tourism
Van Gogh National Park's ambition is to create more than 1,000 km of unpaved hiking trails throughout the area. This is part of a broader sustainable tourism program being implemented in cooperation with VisitBrabant. The starting point is to make it more attractive for residents and visitors in this area to enjoy the landscape from their "own" front door. In this way the visiting pressure is spread and popular and vulnerable nature areas are spared. With the Van Gogh NP hiking trails, VisitBrabant Routebureau is further expanding its collection of high-quality experiential trails built around Brabant stories and themes. In February 2022, the first walking route opened in Nuenen, followed by routes in Etten-Leur, Zundert and Tilburg. Van Gogh NP walking route Helvoirt is the last walking route in a series of five.
Frank van den Eijnden: "With this route we can rightly say: 'Van Gogh National Park starts at your front door'. We want to let residents and visitors see and experience how beautiful the landscape is without having to collectively get in the car to the woods where it is already often very busy."
Aldermen Mark du Maine and Yvonne Vos are also enthusiastic about the new route. Yvonne Vos: "Attractive walking routes meet a growing need, which we are happy to meet. They offer excellent opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy our natural and cultural-historical wealth." Mark du Maine: "Our cores and surroundings deserve to be discovered on foot and to experience their timeless beauty through the painter's eye. Routes like these invite this and are a valuable addition to our walking network."
