The WG meeting will be located in the small village Sint Michielsgestel that is near to the old city 's-Hertogenbosch in the south of the Netherlands.
's-Hertogenbosch is also home to the Saint John's Cathedral (Sint Jans kathedraal in Dutch) which is said to be one of the most beautiful cathedrals in The Netherlands.
The provincial capital of 's- Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch for short; in French Bois-le-Duc) lies at the confluence of the Dommel and the Aa and on the Zuid Willemsvaart in an area of flat pastures, much of which is flooded every winter. It is a busy commercial town (important livestock markets), with a varied range of industry (cigar manufacture, foodstuffs, hardware, etc.).
's-Hertogenbosch takes its name from Duke (Hertog) Henry I of Brabant, who gave the town its municipal charter in 1185 in order to secure the northern borders of his duchy against Gelderland and Holland. Excellently situated from the point of view of transport, the fortified town soon developed into a busy trading center. The situation changed, however, when the town was taken by the Spaniards in 1520. In 1559 's-Hertogenbosch became the see of a bishop. In 1629 the town was recovered by Frederick Henry, and thus became cut off from Brabant. In 1794 it was occupied by the French, but was liberated by the Prussians in 1814. The town's fortifications were razed to the ground in 1856. 's-Hertogenbosch was the birthplace of the celebrated painter Hieronymus (Jeroen) Bosch (1450-1516) and of Theodor van Thulden (1606-69), a friend and pupil of Rubens.
Hidden below the old city is a canal network called the Binnendieze that once spanned 22 kilometers. It started out as a regular river, the Dommel, running through the city in medieval times but due to lack of space in the city, people started building their houses and roads over the river. In later times it functioned as a sewer and fell into disrepair. Over the last decades the remaining sixth of the old waterway system has been renovated and it is possible to take several guided subterraneous boat trips through it.
