Bant
| Bant | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
 Bant
|
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| Coordinates: 52°46′9″N 5°45′0″E / 52.76917°N 5.75000°ECoordinates: 52°46′9″N 5°45′0″E / 52.76917°N 5.75000°E | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Province | Flevoland |
| Municipality | Noordoostpolder |
| Established | 1951 |
| Elevation | −3.5 m (−11.5 ft) |
| Population (2007) | 1,344 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postcode | 8314 |
| Area code | 0527 |
Bant is one of the so-called green villages (Dutch: groendorpen) in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It is a part of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, and lies about 7 km north of Emmeloord.
The name Bant is derived from the estates of Bant or Bantega, which at one point existed in what is now the municipality of Lemsterland, and extended into the area that is now the Noordoostpolder.
After World War II, before the founding of Bant, the site was used as a prisoner camp for Nazi-collaborators under the name Kamp Westvaart. The camp was accommodated with watchtowers and armed guards. Several prominent collaborators served sentences in the camp. Jan Gunnink, former head of the KP-Meppel, a prominent resistance movement during the war, served as camp commander.
The camp was subject of a social experiment, in which prisoners were offered a contract in which they declared they would not resist and fight in exchange for free movement within the camp. Every prisoner signed the contract. The experiment was later cancelled, but because every prisoner kept to their promises, they were set free. Remaining sentences were instead served out as regular labourer.
Modern Bant was designed by the board of the Wieringermmer, one of whom's jobs was to design and oversee the construction of ten settlements in the Noordoostpolder around the town of Emmeloord. Bant was thus founded in 1951 to the north of Emmeloord, which was founded in 1943, in land reclaimed from the IJsselmeer.
In 1998, part of the children's' movie The Flying Liftboy, known in Dutch as Abeltje was shot in the town. The town's formerly reformed church, not the Bantsiliek, served as an important piece of decor behind the department store in which the protagonist worked as an elevator boy. In an important scene, the elevator is sent flying out of the elevator shaft, and the church features prominently. The church building has since been sold to a private owner.
Bant celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2011.
In 1955, a Catholic church was built in Bant, and was given the name Bantsiliek, a portmanteau of Bant and basiliek, the Dutch word for basilica. The church was dedicated to Ludger. At first the church was part of to the Diocese of Utrecht, but was later transferred to the Diocese of Groningen. As the population growth in Bant fell behind expectations, the parish was merged with the parishes in Creil, decicated to Nicholas, and Rutten, dedicated to Servatius in 1991. The new parish was named "The Good Shepherd" (Dutch: De Goede Herder). In 2001 the churches in Bant and Creil were shut down due to falling numbers of churchgoers. Their inventories were largely incorporated in the church in Rutten.
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