Gender (stream)

Gender
Location of the Gender in the Dutch province of North Brabant.
Country	Netherlands
Basin features
Main source	De Hees hamlet between Eersel and Steensel 28 m (92 ft)
River mouth	(historical and projected) confluence with Dommel stream east of Eindhoven city centre; (current) Engelsbergenvijver pond, Eindhoven 15 m (49 ft)
Physical characteristics
Length	15 km (9.3 mi)

The Gender (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣɛndər]) is a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It originates in originally marshy flatlands near Steensel and flows through Veldhoven and its eastern district Meerveldhoven in a general east-northeast direction towards Eindhoven.

The Gender is one of many small streams that drain what once was the marshy heath and moorland of eastern Noord-Brabant and the Kempen plateau. Similar streams include the Dommel, Kleine Dommel, Keersop, Tongelreep, Aa, Binnen-Dieze and Run. All of these streams at one point or other merge to finally form River Dieze in Den Bosch, which in turn flows into River Maas.

Near Eindhoven, the Gender originally flowed just north of the medieval city walls, serving as the north part of the city moat, to end in confluence with the Dommel stream. As early as the fifteenth century, its course was diverted southward through the city centre, to provide the city with freshwater supplies and fire-extinguishing means. By the 19th century, the stretch within the old city had been filled in and the Gender now ended in De Vest, the city moat, which itself was connected to the Dommel.Archaeological excavations during the 1980s and 1990s before the construction of a new shopping centre have brought several branches of the artificial inner-city section of the Gender to light, including a connection to the moat of Eindhoven Castle, which stood just east of the city walls.