Nuenen consists of the three church villages of Nuenen, Gerwen and Nederwetten and a number of hamlets, of which Eeneind is the largest. Over 24,000 inhabitants live in the municipality of Nuenen c.a. (November 2023).

Nuenen is located in an area with beautiful forests and meadows. Art and culture also abound. For example, Vincent van Gogh was inspired in Nuenen when he lived and worked in our municipality from 1883-1885. He painted the world-famous painting the Potato Eaters here.

Nuenen and Gerwen

The names Nuenen and Gerwen are of Frankish origin and belong to the so-called "heimnamen". Nuenen - Nuenhem, new place; Gerwen - Gerwin's-heim, the residence of an ancient Germanic chieftain. Both villages originated between the fifth and eighth centuries, Gerwen being the oldest village. Axes and urns found in 1863 and 1915 show that a Germanic tribe must have been located on the territory of the present municipality.
When construction work began on the Langakker-Tomakker plan in Nuenen East, excavations were again conducted in which utensils from the urn field period (8th century) were found. From this it is deduced that the first inhabitants of Nuenen lived there. The civil municipality of Nuenen-Gerwen dates back to 1300. On St. Barbara day in 1300, Duke John of Brabant issued a letter of cession, in which land - specified by him - was ceded for the use of all the inhabitants of Nuenen-Gerwen.

Nederwetten

The village of Nederwetten originated in the twelfth century as a reclamation village near Hooidonk Priory, which was founded in 1146 and of which some remains remain near the Hooidonk water mill. In 1810, the municipality of Nederwetten was united with the former seignory of Eckart into one municipality by French rule. The municipality Nederwetten-Eckart existed until January 1, 1821. Eckart was then joined to the municipality of Woensel, while Nederwetten became part of the then newly formed municipality of Nuenen, Gerwen and Nederwetten.