Local Windmill, Reek, East North-Brabant

Pronounce as 'RAKE', rhyming with 'make' and 'bake' and 'cake'.  It's obviously time for a midnight snack and cup of tea.

The name of the province is North Brabant and this is in the extreme eastern end of the province.  The name North Brabant distinguishes this area from the province of Brabant in Belgium.  The entire land area was once property of the Burgundian dukes of Brabant and was split when Belgium insisted on their independence in 1831.  In fact, the Belgian (and European) capital of Brussels is part of Brabant.  A millenium ago, the entire region was the richest in Europe and the duke was wealthier than many kings.  Of course this led to envy and strife, and finally, after centures of squabbles, the Eighty Years' War erupted in 1568, because Brabant was prodominantly Catholic and that was all the king of Spain, the infamous Philip II (married to Queen Mary, daughter of Henry VIII), needed as an excuse to invade and attempt to rule the country.  At the time, there was no Netherlands but the Low Countries.  Of course, the counts of Holland in the north did not like this idea and so began the fight for Dutch independence, which was finally won in 1648 with the Treaty of Münster, which was why I visited Münster almost three weeks ago.  But you can read more on this elsewhere.

Reek ('Rake') is a sleepy hamlet-sized village on the way to the German border and I discovered this windmill when I drove to Münster.  There are other windmills in the area, of course, and they will be visited one by one.  Is windmill hunting on again?  I'm not sure, but this could be the beginning of a beautiful season.  Weather permitting and if I'm in the mood.

Worked at home today, interspersed with short bursts of gaming to relieve the stress, and some FB.  My trip to the east was done after dinner, when I noticed that the clouds had cleared and the sun was out.  Invited AW, as I always do, but he was busy with a cozy chat.