Bakel, Netherlands

Bakel is a village east of Helmond and Eindhoven in southern part of the Netherlands. The total population is approximately 5,000. Until the late 1990s it formed the municipality of Bakel and Milheeze together with Milheeze and De Rips. In 1997 Bakel merged with the larger Gemert municipality.
Bakel does not have old buildings, with the exception of the Willibrordus Church which is the oldest in the area. This church was modernized during the 1970s, but regained some of the original style of decoration during the 1990s.
The area surrounding Bakel is heavily forested; the agricultural economy is dominated by the bio industry. It has the highest pig density in the Netherlands.