Happy Garden Tönisvorst (D)

Tönisvorst

Name origin Vorst

vorst (Middle High German, = managed forest) --> Vorst

Name origin St. Tönis

osterveerd (Middle High German, = desolate heath) --> Sanct Antonius in der Osterheyde --> St. Tönis

First documented mention Vorst

1131 AD

First documented mention St. Tönis

1188 AD

Population

29,000

Area

44.34 km²

Federal state

North Rhine-Westphalia

Administrative region

Düsseldorf

District

Viersen

Vehicle registration

VIE, KK

River

Niers (beyond the town boundaries)

The club Happy Garden is located at the extreme northwest tip of the town of Tönisvorst (close to the municipality of Oedt, which is a district of Grefrath).

"Don't be daft, drive to Oedt!" is a well-worn saying among the long-standing fans of the established sauna club (Planet) Happy Garden, which - just like the neighbouring ByNight - is based 1.5 km northeast of the nearest town of Oedt. Both clubs, however, sit on the territory of the town of Tönisvorst, right on the boundary line with the town of Kempen, which lies 5 km further north, while Oedt belongs to the municipality of Grefrath, situated 5 km to the northwest. For both Grefrath and Tönisvorst, Kempen, with a population of around 30,000 and its own rail connection, is the nearest compact larger town, and with its pretty, self-contained old town centre it stands as a popular destination for day trips in the region. In this Lower Rhine natural landscape, most villages rise up as scattered settlements amid a cosy idyll of sprawling fields, meadows and woods, again and again interspersed with individual farm cottages and homesteads. What all these villages have in common is a relatively well-documented history that reaches back into the Middle Ages.

Tönisvorst, however, has only existed in its current form since 1970, when the two main towns St. Tönis and Vorst merged in the course of a municipal reorganisation, and later, in 1979, were finally granted town status. The earliest traces of settlement in the area of what is now Butzenstraße, where the Happy Garden is also located, date back to the Stone Age. Between 58 and 51 BC the area was conquered by Caesar. For Vorst, a church is already documented for the year 1131, and 200 years later for St. Tönis as well. Both villages initially belonged, as so-called "Honnschaften", to the Amt Kempen and thus to the Bishopric of Cologne; in 1449 the Duke of Kleve took over supremacy, and in 1758 the area became Prussian.

Tönisvorst is easy to reach by car via the A44 motorway, exit Münchheide. Local connections by public transport run via buses; the tranquil St. Tönis can also be reached quickly from Krefeld via tram line 041. Tönisvorst no longer has its own train station, though that was not always the case: in 1849, during the heyday of the Vorst silk weavers, a station was built in St. Tönis that opened up the connection to the Krefeld silk factory; in 1871 the Vorst central station was added. For almost 100 years the line Süchteln - Vorst - St. Tönis - Krefeld was in operation; in 1968 the Vorst station was shut down and demolished. The final end of this rail connection came in 1978 with the dismantling of the tracks. Today a cycle path runs along the route of the old railway line. If you still want to travel by train, the nearest stations are on the line Krefeld - Forstwald (Forsthaus) - Anrath, or in Kempen.