Gasthuisstraat

Hard to imagine today in this cozy busy shopping street, but the Gasthuisstraat was the scene of a fierce military confrontation in 1789. You will not find a single stone still standing from before 1789. It was on October 27 of that year that approximately 2500 troops of the patriot army saw the 3500 Austrian soldiers storming towards them through the Gashuisstraat. Here, a battle for life and death was fought. General Vander Mersch, who led the patriot army, had chosen the location wisely, because he knew he had no chance against the trained Austrians in open field. By the end of the day, Turnhout was a real battlefield. Bodies of soldiers and horses lay everywhere, streets were torn up, and houses were destroyed. It is estimated that the death toll among soldiers and civilians was 200. The Brabant rebel army defeated the Austrian army. And they moved on to Ghent, Tienen, Diest, Antwerp, Namur, and then Brussels. This story is known in history as the Brabant Revolution. In 1790, the Republic of the United Dutch States was proclaimed.

Dromos