Dijkstraat begins at the junction with Landstraat and Kerkstraat and today ends at the railway crossing. What is now called Plein Zuid was formerly also part of Dijkstraat.
For centuries, Dijkstraat formed part of the main hessenweg (long-distance trade route) between the Münsterland and Zutphen. Landstraat was part of this route as well, as was Bodendijk. In earlier times it was known as ‘D’n Diek’.
The name itself indicates that this was a raised road running through marshy ground. At the beginning of Dijkstraat, at the foot of Aalten’s hill, flows the Slingebeek. Well into the 20th century, this stream regularly burst its banks in winter. Improved – in other words, faster – drainage means this no longer occurs.
Just over a century ago, a ditch ran parallel to the eastern side of Dijkstraat, to or from the Aaltense Broek (see Topotijdreis). Near the present railway crossing at Plein Zuid there was a bridge known as the “Glazenbrug” (‘Glass Bridge’). The ditch still existed in the 1960s. There were several small bridges as far as the Hoge Brug on Bocholtsestraatweg.
Cadastre 1832
Address directory 1934
