Schijndel: Culture, Nature and Craftsmanship

Schijndel offers a range of reasons to explore the town and its surroundings: churches and museums, buildings with distinctive architecture, traditional crafts, and trails through natural areas. If you’re looking for a hotel in Schijndel, you can plan your stay around the aspects you’d most like to experience.

Church, Market Square and Museum

In the centre of Schijndel stands the Roman Catholic Heilige Servatiuskerk, a Rijksmonument (listed national heritage site). The church houses a monumental Smits organ with 1,935 pipes and 40 stops. The organ adds a distinctive cultural feature alongside the historic status of the church building.

On the market square, De Glazen Boerderij stands out for its unusual shape: the glass building is modelled on a traditional, elongated farmhouse. You can book an appointment for a guided tour of the building and its surroundings. If you’re planning a tour, check the current arrangements in advance.

Museum Jan Heestershuis is housed in the artist’s former home and features a permanent exhibition about his life and artistic legacy. A modern extension provides space for changing themed exhibitions. Outside the winter months, the museum garden is also used for exhibitions by contemporary artists; this seasonal use may change.

Crafts and Regional Themes

At Schaapskooi Schijndel, landscape, animals and traditional crafts come together. Visitors can see cattle, chickens, bees and various breeds of sheep, as well as a vegetable, fruit and herb garden and a hop field. Activities include workshops on sheep herding, wool processing, beer making and beekeeping. The workshops on offer may vary.

The site features reconstructed cultural heritage, including an old Vlaamse Schuur (Flemish barn) originally from Cromvoirt. Schaapskooi therefore focuses on both rural life and the preservation of historic buildings.

Bierbrouwerij Sint Servattumus specialises in distinctive regional beers and craft-brewed private-label beers. It uses genuine Schijndel hops in its beers and also specialises in spelt beer. Group tours of the brewery are available by appointment and end in the Proeflokaal, the tasting room. As booking arrangements may change, check the current details in advance. Klompenmakerij Van Kaathoven is another craft destination: the traditional wooden shoe workshop is still in operation.

Nature Trails, Art and History

The 150-hectare Wijboschbroek nature area lies north of Schijndel. The Rondje Wijboschbroek starts at Schaapskooi and leads into the nature area. The Ommetje Smaldonk Schijndel takes in a different landscape: the trail passes through the rural landscape of the Smaldonk nature area, between the centre of Schijndel and Wijboschbroek. Sandy tracks, ponds, fields and various butterfly species shape the impressions described along the way.

The two trails have different focuses: Rondje Wijboschbroek leads into the nature area of the same name, while Ommetje Smaldonk highlights its varied rural landscape and the landscape and natural features mentioned above. This distinction can help you choose the focus that best suits your plans, without treating the two routes as the same.

Public art can also be explored on foot. Schijndel and Wijbosch have more than a hundred outdoor artworks, and a specially compiled walking route includes as many of them as possible. By contrast, the Op (oorlogs)pad – Rondje Schijndel route focuses on history: it passes through Schijndel, Wijbosch, Eerde and Zijtaart and covers the history of the Second World War and the liberation of Schijndel. The art walk and the commemorative route thus offer two clearly different ways to discover the town and its history.

For the overall travel overview: Schijndel.