# Batadorp

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Neighbourhood in Best, North Brabant, Netherlands

Batadorp Neighbourhood House in Batadorp, Europaplein 12. Batadorp Location in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands Show map of North Brabant Batadorp Batadorp (Netherlands) Show map of Netherlands Coordinates: 51°29′28″N 5°23′46″E / 51.49111°N 5.39611°E / 51.49111; 5.39611 Country Netherlands Province North Brabant Municipality Best Area [1] • Total 0.25 km2 (0.097 sq mi) Elevation [2] 17 m (56 ft) Population (2021)[1] • Total 495 • Density 2,000/km2 (5,100/sq mi) Time zone UTC+1 (CET) • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST) Postal code 5684[1] Dialing code 0499

**Batadorp** is a [model village](/source/Model_village) or neighbourhood of the Dutch town of [Best](/source/Best%2C_Netherlands), just northwest of [Eindhoven](/source/Eindhoven), where the Czech [Bata Shoes](/source/Bata_Shoes) company built a factory in 1934 on land that it bought from the municipality.[3][4]

Bata sought expansion abroad, partly to circumvent tariffs, and built factories and entire villages. Bata had operated shops in the Netherlands since 1922, and chose to locate in Best because land and labour were cheaply available. It also had good transport links, being at the junction of the [Wilhelmina Canal](/source/Wilhelmina_Canal) with the [Beatrix Canal](/source/Beatrix_Canal) and close to a railway. The factory it built there in 1933 was an exact copy of the headquarters in [Zlín](/source/Zl%C3%ADn).[5]

At that time, Bata already had 28 shoe shops in the country, and this number grew to 150 in 1961. Many Bata shops had their own shoe repair and pedicure departments. The factory made ladies', men's, children's and sports shoes.

So that the employees could live near the factory, Bata built a town of 130 homes, separated from the centre of Best by the canal, along with schools, medical services and a hairdressers'. Bata built other such villages wherever it had factories.

Bata promoted order and cleanliness. Thus, the houses in the village have flat roofs, as attics would only encourage people to store clutter. The workers were not allowed to wear [clogs](/source/Clog_(shoe)), as Bata produced suitable footwear. The emphasis on hygiene can be seen as paternalistic but resulted in a level of welfare that was far ahead of its time. The company also established sports clubs, a theatre, a brass band and a volunteer fire brigade.[6] From the 1960s shoe production was moved to low-wage countries and Batadorp was sold to the municipality of Best. The network of shops - even the factory shop - had closed by 1996. The original buildings of Batadorp are now an industrial heritage site. However, production continues at a reduced level. It now belongs to the Bata Protective division which was created in 1970 and makes speciality shoes. In 2008 about 160 employees produced 900,000 pairs of safety shoes and 1 million pairs of safety socks. The headquarters of the global division is located there.[7]

		- The three Bata factories at Batadorp in line.

		- War memorial of Bata factory, Batadorp.

		- House in Batadorp, Batalaan 5.

		- Villa in Batadorp

## Bibliography

- Ondřej Ševeček, Martin Jemelka : *Company Towns of the Bat'a Concern: History - Cases - Architecture*, Steiner 2013

- [Batadorp on *plaatsengids.nl*](https://www.plaatsengids.nl/batadorp)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-stat_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-stat_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-stat_1-2) ["Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2021"](https://www.cbs.nl/-/media/_excel/2021/48/kwb-2021.xls). *Central Bureau of Statistics*. Retrieved 15 April 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-AHN_2-0)** ["Postcodetool for 5684AA"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053543/http://www.ahn.nl/postcodetool). *Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland* (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Archived from [the original](http://www.ahn.nl/postcodetool) on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["*Batadorp* in *Geschiedenis van Best.nl*"](https://web.archive.org/web/20201027123620/http://www.geschiedenisvanbest.nl/plaatsen-en-gebieden/batadorp/). Archived from [the original](http://www.geschiedenisvanbest.nl/plaatsen-en-gebieden/batadorp/) on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2018-09-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Guido de Vries; *Een Tsjechisch schoenendorp in het Brabantse Best; Bid en werk voor Bata*, in : NRC, 2 March 1996]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Christina Lubinski, Jeffrey Fear, Paloma Fernández Pérez : *Family Multinationals: Entrepreneurship, Governance, and Pathways to Internationalization*, Routledge, 18 July 2013]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Guido de Vries, op.cit.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [M. Schlingmann : *Batafabriek* in : Brabantserfgoed.nl, 2018](https://www.brabantserfgoed.nl/page/6001/batafabriek)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Batadorp](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Batadorp).

v t e Bata Corporation Bata family Tomáš Baťa (founder) Jan Antonín Baťa Thomas J. Bata Sonja Bata Associated places Anaurilândia Batadorp Bataguassu Batayporã Batanagar Batapur Batawa Borovo Partizánske Svit Zlín Baťa's Skyscraper Tomas Bata University in Zlín Former properties Bata shoe factory Bata Shoes Head Office Related 4318 Baťa Bata Shoe Museum Zlin Aircraft

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Batadorp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batadorp) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batadorp?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.