Roosendaal Centrum

Roosendaal is both a city and a municipality in the province of Noord-Brabant in southern Netherlands.  Together with Nispen it used to form a municipality named Roosendaal en Nispen.  On 1 January 1997 the municipalities Roosendaal en Nispen and Wouw merged into the municipality now simply known as Roosendaal.

Population centres

• Roosendaal
• Wouw
• Heerle
• Nispen
• Wouwse Plantage
• Moerstraten

The city of Roosendaal

Roosendaal was founded in the 13th century.

The football team RBC (Roosendaal Boys Combinatie) plays in Roosendaal.

The official International ABBA Fan club has been based in Roosendaal since 1986, and since the turn of the century, the city has also played host to the annual convention of the International ABBA Fan Club where for one weekend every April, hundreds of people from all over the world attend the event.

History

The history of Roosendaal goes back to the 12th and 13th century.  The name Rosendaele was first mentioned in a document of 1268.  Roosendaal was always a part of North Brabant.  In the Middle Ages, Roosendaal grew as a result of the turf business, but the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) put an end to the growth.  Roosendaal and Wouw were suffering from the itinerant combat troops.  The troops plundered and ravaged everything they came across.  For decades the countryside of Roosendaal was abandoned.