Bergen op Zoom (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌbɛrɣə(n) ɔp ˈsoːm] ⓘ;[a] called Berrege [ˈbɛrəɣə] in the local dialect) is a city and municipality in southwestern Netherlands.

Several noble families, including the House of Glymes, ruled Bergen op Zoom in succession until 1795, although the title was only nominal since at least the seventeenth century.

During the early modern period, Bergen op Zoom was a very strong fortress and one of the main armories and arsenals of the United Provinces.

Due to these features, the city was one of the strategic points held by the Dutch during their revolt in the Eighty Years War, beginning in the late sixteenth century.

Bergen op Zoom had been fortified by new works built at the beginning of the 17th century by Menno van Coehoorn, with three forts surrounding the city and a canalized diversion of the Scheldt acting as a ditch around its walls.

During the War of the Sixth Coalition, the town was again besieged by the British in March 1814 in a failed attempt to dislodge the French garrison.

In addition, the modernization of trade techniques, such as establishing of a permanent stock exchange instead of the fairs, which took place twice a year, also damaged the local economy.

During the Eighty Years' War, Bergen op Zoom chose the side of the Dutch Republic, and, simultaneously, Protestantism.

The inhabitants who chose to stay Catholic went to church in secret barns and houses, since the local Sint-Getrudischurch was assigned to the Protestant community.

[5] The Markiezenhof Palace, built in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, houses a cultural centre and a museum with a picturesque courtyard, paintings, period rooms, and temporary exhibitions.