Zaltbommel (Dutch pronunciation:[zɑldˈbɔməl]ⓘ), also known, historically and colloquially, as Bommel, is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands.
History
The city of Zaltbommel
The town of Zaltbommel was first mentioned as "Bomela" in the year 850. Zaltbommel received city rights in 1231 and these were renewed in 1316. In 1599 during the Eighty Years War, Zaltbommel was besieged by Spanish forces but was relieved by an Anglo-Dutch force led by Maurice of Orange. The bridge over the Waal at Zaltbommel (which has since been replaced) features in a celebrated twentieth-century Dutch sonnet, De moeder de vrouw, by Martinus Nijhoff.[5]
Zaltbommel was expanded to its current size on 1 January 1999, by a merger of the municipalities of Brakel, Kerkwijk and Zaltbommel. The municipality is situated in the heart of the Netherlands, close to the A2 Motorway, the railway line from Utrecht to 's‑Hertogenbosch and the rivers Waal and Maas.
Topography
Dutch Topographic map of Zaltbommel (municipality), Sept. 2014
Population centres
The municipality, consists of 13 population centres and had a population of 29,447 in 2021.
Zaltbommel (in the upper right-hand corner of the image) is situated on the banks of the Waal. Major north–south highways and railways cross the river in the town, just east of the town centre.
1649 map of Zaltbommel in Willem and Joan Blaeu's "Toonneel der Steden"