Beguinage Hoogstraten, an important facility in a small town

Originally the area now known as Hoogstraten was a part of Rijkevorsel. It was likely settled from that place.  Hoogstraten is first recorded when in 1212 Henry I Duke of Brabant grants the settlement a freedom charter. The name literally mans Highstreet and reflects the old trade route linking Mechlin and Breda via Lierre along a river dune of the river Mark. The street was widened to accommodate a market place (called Vrijheid or Freedom, which indicates that this place was exempt from feudal laws). Around this Freedom the most important functions aggregated (e.g. Church, Shops and Town Hall). The oldest settlement, incidentally, lay further west at the Heuvelstraat, another higher point.

The historic importance of this town is clear from the presence of the manorial castle on the Mark(XIII), a watermill (XII), a hospital (XIII), a Beguinage (XIV), a Convent of the Order of St Clare (XV), the Church of St Catherine (XVI), Town Hall (XVI), Augustinian Monastery (XVII) and Monastery of the Franciscan Friars Minor (XVII). The land of Hoogstraten -a manorial fief-  became a county before 1530. In 1602 the troubles that would lead to the secession of the northern Netherlands hit the town hard. The town recovered due to the proximity of the border within the Low Countries which was very conducive to trade. In 1740 the count of Hoogstraten was elevated to duke. All feudal rights were dissolved by the French take-over in 1795 and the Low Countries would be modernised in about a decade of foreign rule.

The Beguinage of Hoogstraten has survived during the troubled history of the town. The first mention of the Nieu Begijn-hof (New Beguinage) is in a 1380 charter when John III of Kuik, lord of Hoogstraten grants the beguines full ownership of a homestead against a yearly tributary and the right to erect a chapel and build a cemetery. This charter could be a legalisation of a spontaneous commune of women, or the actual first step in founding a Beguinage. In 1382 the 13 Beguines a given the right to live separately in a so-called convent (a walled enclosure). In 1415 the Beguinage is enlarged. By the year 1432 the Beguinage had become a separate parish.

A raging fire destroys all of the wooden Beguinage in 1506 but the brick chapel is left standing. The Beguinage is rebuilt in stone. In 1533 a new gate is created on the Freedom. Around 1635 the new court is attached; before this area had been an orchard. In 1680 building work starts on the present baroque Beguine Church. Some older alcove chapels still remain in the wall around the Beguinage. The Beguinage was aimed at providing a living environment for poor women of good virtue. As such this Beguinage differs from the more urban types that were aimed at single noble women. The Beguinage of Hoogstraten is of the square type and consists of two connected grass courts with cottages on either side. The Beguinage is completely enclosed by a high brick wall with three gates and a main gate opposite the church on the Freedom, the towns market square.

In 1604 the Beguinage of Hoogstraten is markedly smaller in size with a main gate (P) on the 's Boschstraat (SB) near the former homestead House of Kuijk (H) that formed the basis of this Beguinage. On the edge a Novices House (N), infirmary (I) and Chapel of St. Joseph (K) were located near the former gate on the Achterstraat -literally Backstreet (A) that once ran parallel to the Vrijheid (V) the central market place of this free town. The Leemstraat (L) that connected to the Achterstraat is the old route before the straight new road with freedom charter was built.

After serious neglect in the nineteenth century  several cottages were demolished in 1900 and again in 1935. The remaining Beguinage was restored in 1996 and has UNESCO Heritage status and the highest conservation status possible in Belgium. The Beguinage of Hoogstraten is still a large example of the type. It is still lived in by single women en widows who can rent accommodation from the local council. The beautiful church is still in use especially for weddings and christenings.

The present Beguinage after extensive restoration has a main entrance on the Freedom (1). The old entrance (2) was reopened. At the herat of the Beguinage we find the Beguinage Church (3) with behind it the Oude Erf or Old Court (4). The New Court (5) was only developed on the south side with the so-called peat cottages (7) between the Gate of Mary (6) and the communal barn (8). These cottages take their name from a peat merchant who funded these houses. Two rows of cottages (9) were demolished to make room for a vegetable garden.