Deurne

Deurne is a rural municipality and eponymous village in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. Including the villages of Liessel, Vlierden, Neerkant, and Helenaveen, Deurne had a population of 32,116 in 2017 and cover an area of 118.36 km2 45.70 sq mi. First recorded as Durninum in a deed of gift from the Frankish Lord Herelaef to bishop Willibrord in 721, Deurne remained a collection of subsistence farming hamlets west of the Peel peat moor until the 2nd half of the 19th century, when a newly built railroad and a canal enabled the commercial exploitation of the moor.

Although the peat industry did not yield much of a profit in the era of coal powered industries, the cultivation of the newly cleared land, in the 1930s also by forced labour, gave a boost to agriculture, farming, and settlement alike. Today only tiny pieces of this former peat moor remain, some reflooded as mini wetlands, scattered along the fault line that once brought about its very existence. In 2009 the new "Cultural Centre" cultureel centrum opened its doors. It is the Martien van Doorne Cultuur Centrum and serves as a theatre, concert hall, and movie theatre.