Oude IJsselstreek () is a municipality in the eastern Netherlands. It was established on 1 January 2005 through a merger of the former municipalities Gendringen and Wisch. Geography and population centres The municipality belongs to the transition area between the rivers in the south, coming from Germany (Rhine and Issel), and the sandy soils of the Eastern Netherlands. It has 15 population centres. Formerly from Gendringen Breedenbroek, Etten, Gendringen, Megchelen, Netterden, Ulft, Varsselder, and Voorst (not to be confused with the municipality of Voorst, also in Gelderland). Formerly from Wisch Bontebrug, Heelweg-Oost and Heelweg-West, Silvolde, Sinderen, Terborg, Varsseveld, and Westendorp. Terborg is the only population centre with city rights, but the largest one is Ulft with 10,000 inhabitants. The municipality of Oude IJsselstreek is considered to be divided into three units. The centres along the river Oude IJssel (Ulft, Gendringen, Etten on the left border, Silvolde and Terborg on the right) constitute the urban belt, Varsseveld in the east of the municipality is a rural village and the other centres are the external territories. The municipality plans to make Ulft the local centre. Municipality council Seats in the municipality Oude IJsselstreek since 2014: Lokaal Belang (Local Interests) GVS 8 seats Christian Democratic Appeal 5 seats Dutch Labour Party 3 seats Socialist Party (Netherlands) 3 seats Democrats 66 2 seats People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 2 seats Mayor Hans Alberse was mayor of the newly established municipality Oude IJsselstreek since May 15, 2006. In 2015 he resigned and was replaced by the Commissaris van de Koning with Steven de Vreeze. Since July 2016 the new mayor is Otwin van Dijk. Topography Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Oude IJsselstreek, June 2015 Culture In this essentially rural municipality, there have been some places where iron ore was mined and processed. From the several enterprises the DRU (Diepenbrock en Reigers te Ulft) was the largest, it closed in Ulft in 2003. Since 2009, the former DRU factory is a cultural centre that houses the local library of Ulft, a theater, a regional centre for vocational education and other facilities. Municipal council meetings take place in its conference room. International affairs Oude IJsselstreek is a member of the Ring of the European Cities of Iron Works and hosted the annual convention of 2010. Notable people Other Frederik van den Bergh (1559 in Ulft – 1618) a soldier in the Eighty Years' War