Sterksel: Nature Trails and Cultural Heritage

When looking for a hotel for your stay, the experiences a destination offers also matter. Sterksel combines a rural landscape with traces of local culture and history; nature trails, memorial sites and art can offer different focal points when choosing your destination. One of its distinctive features is a monumental beech hedge running parallel to Pastoor Thijssenlaan. It is more than 120 years old and possibly even older. In recognition of its cultural-historical and landscape value, it was designated a municipal green monument.

Nature Trails and Art Route

Sterksel’s rural landscape can be explored along several cycling and walking routes, as well as various horse-riding trails. The routes on offer may change; check your specific choice before travelling. Guided walks regularly take place in the natural areas around Heeze, Leende and Sterksel, led by nature guides from IVN Heeze-Leende. Dates and specific locations vary. So if you plan to join a guided walk, check the relevant date and location details.

The permanent “Prikkels en Tintelingen” art route offers a different perspective. It runs through the former Providentia institution grounds and is almost two kilometres long. The Liberation Route includes the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Sterksel.

Monuments and Local History

The war memorial in Sterksel consists of three connected wooden crosses, a plaque at the base and an information board. It commemorates A.H.A. Aarts, F.A. Broos and A.N. Kanters, three Dutch soldiers of 3-III-30 R.I. who died in military action on 12 May 1940.

At Kloosterlaan, a narrow-gauge railway monument commemorates a four-kilometre railway built after 1900 to reclaim Sterksel. The monument itself consists of a 15-metre stretch of track and an information board. Sterksel’s historic railway station opened on 1 November 1913 and closed on 15 May 1938.

Huize Sterksel is a chalet-style villa built for J. Pompen in 1902. Huize Providentia in Sterksel was founded by the Brothers of Saint Joseph in 1927. The dates also distinguish different aspects of local history: 1902 marks the construction of the villa, 1927 the founding of Huize Providentia, while the monument commemorates those killed in the war in 1940.

Art and Local Artists

The statue D’n Os near the church is officially recognised as monumental folk art. It was designed and created by village residents. Kempro’s studio has space for more than 20 talented craftspeople and artists, all of whom are clients of Kempenhaeghe. The Kempro Gallery’s exhibition programme includes exhibitions by artists from the Netherlands and abroad. The exhibition programme may change. D’n Os is locally created, while the Kempro Gallery presents exhibitions by artists from the Netherlands and abroad.

Discover more destinations: Leende, Heeze.

Back to the main travel overview: Heeze-Leende.