Oudenaarde

Oudenaarde, a city and municipality in Belgium’s East Flanders province, was a major tapestry production hub from the 15th through the 18th centuries, especially in the 1500s. Its name, meaning “old field,” survives in the obsolete English word “outnal,” which referred to a type of brown linen thread.

The municipality includes the city itself plus the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heurne, Leupegem, Mater, Melden, Mullem, Nederename, Volkegem, Welden, and part of Ooike.

The glory of Ename

The area’s recorded history begins in 974, when Emperor Otto II built a fortification at Ename on the Scheldt River, one of three such posts protecting his kingdom from Francia. Ename grew quickly; by 1005 it had several churches and was the largest town in the Duchy of Lotharingia. In 1034, an irregular army destroyed Ename and surrendered it to Count Baldwin IV.

Baldwin V later received the imperial fief peacefully in 1047, but it was confiscated that same year when the Baldwins rebelled against the empire. In 1062, Baldwin V and his wife founded the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Salvator. Around this time, Ename’s merchants and artisans crossed the Scheldt to the newly founded Oudenaarde.

Oudenaarde’s golden age

Oudenaarde’s economy boomed in the 11th century, thanks to the Scheldt and a growing cloth and tapestry industry. Churches, cloisters, and hospitals were built.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the city strongly backed the counts of Flanders against revolts from the south and from Ghent. It became a residence for nobles and built its notable town hall (1526–1537) and St. Walburga Church. Charles V stayed there for several months in 1522 and fathered an illegitimate daughter, Margaret of Parma, later Regent of the Netherlands.

Decline

During the Reformation, Oudenaarde adopted Protestantism and allied with Ghent against Charles V. In 1582, after a long siege by Margaret’s son, Alexander Farnese, the city surrendered, prompting many merchants, workers, and nobles to flee. The Counter-Reformation briefly revived tapestry commerce, but the golden age never returned. The French attacked and took the city three times in under a century. Fortifications were upgraded in the 16th and 17th centuries, including by Vauban.

In 1708, the Battle of Oudenaarde, a key engagement in the War of the Spanish Succession, was fought nearby. Under Habsburg rule, Oudenaarde slumbered as a provincial town, and in the 1790s it suffered religious restrictions from the French Revolution. World War I caused damage, commemorated by several monuments. Nazi forces occupied the town in May 1940; British troops liberated it on September 5, 1944.

Beer

Oudenaarde is known for brewing Oud Bruin beer, sometimes called Oudenaarde Oud bruin, especially from the Liefmans Brewery. This Flanders Brown style undergoes a long aging process—up to a year—with secondary fermentation lasting weeks to a month, followed by bottle aging. Extended aging lets residual yeast and bacteria create a sour flavor; cultured yeast and bacteria are used since stainless steel lacks wild organisms.

The Flamboyant Gothic town hall and its belfry were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. The city hall holds a unique collection of Oudenaarde tapestries.

The Church of Our Lady of Pamele, begun in 1234 on the Scheldt, and St. Walburga Church near the market square are notable sights. Oudenaarde also hosts the Centrum Tour of Flanders, a museum dedicated to the cycling race. Since 2008, the village of Mater has been home to Belgium’s smallest craft brewery, the Smisje Brewery (formerly in Bruges).

Recurring events include a beer festival in June, an open-air musical festival in summer, and an agricultural fair in February. Every ten years, one of Flanders’ largest floral displays appears on the Grote Markt; the last was in 2005. Oudenaarde once had its own newspaper, the Gazette van Audenaerde.

The main football club is KSV Oudenaarde. The women’s Tour of Flanders cycle race starts in Oudenaarde each spring. The men’s Tour of Flanders has passed through the town several times, finishing there since 2012, and regularly climbs the Koppenberg hill within the municipality. The Koppenbergcross cyclo-cross race also takes place there.