Where Was Vincent Van Gogh Born?

Vincent Willem Van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 at the parsonage in the Dutch town of Goot-Zundert (which means "Big Zundert"), in the vicarage of Zundert.  There was a nearby town called Klein-Zundert (meaning "Little Zundert").  The parsonage, (pictured at left) built sometime in the 1600s, was directly across the street from the busiest place in town, the Markt ("Market").

Vincent's birth happened exactly one year (to the day) that Anna Van Gogh gave birth to a stillborn son -- named Vincent Willem Van Gogh.  Anna's second son and first living baby both bore the same name.  It was Vincent's father that decided on the names, according to Jp. A. Calosse, author of Van Gogh (Parkstone International; 2011).

Zundert was (and still is) in the provence of North Brabant, located in the south of country, near the border with Belgium.  At the time of Van Gogh's childhood, it was a predominately rural area.  To this day, some of the area is still used for farmland, particularly for growing strawberries.  Back then, the big crops were potatoes and a very fine white sand used for sanding wood smooth.  While Vincent lived in Groot-Zundert, the population was around 1200.

The village itself only consisted of a few buildings while the rest of the population lived on farms miles away from each other.  the village had one main road called the Napoleonsweg, after Napoleon, who had ordered the road's construction around 1810.  The area was mostly devoid of trees, except for the oak and beech trees lining the Napoleonsweg.

Groot-Zundert harbored strongly conventional ideas that were opposed to the more liberal attitudes along the Dutch coasts.  Most of the inhabitants were very poor were exploited by the higher classes.  Back then, citizens had to pay a stiff poll tax in order to vote, ensuring that the poor never could go to the polls.  Van Gogh's family was one of the wealthier families in the town.