Alphen, North Brabant

Alphen is a village in the municipality of Alphen-Chaam, in the Netherlands. It is located about 12 km southwest of Tilburg.
The village itself has about 2960 inhabitants; the countryside that belongs to the village has a population of about 1040. This includes the hamlets 't Zand, Alphen-Oosterwijk, Druisdijk, Looneind, Boslust, Hondseind, Het Sas, Terover, Boshoven and Kwaalburg.
According to the 19th-century historian A.J. van der Aa, Alphen was first mentioned in 711, when a nobleman named Engelbrecht sold "Alfheim" to Saint Willibrord. In 726, it was sold on to the Abbey of Echternach. In 1545 it was burned to the ground by the army of Guelders under Maarten van Rossum, and in later wars it suffered from destruction and looting as well.
Until 1997, Alphen was the main village of the municipality of Alphen en Riel.