Nettetal


Nettetal is a town in the district of Viersen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated in the Lower Rhine region.

History

Nettetal was founded on January 1, 1970, when the former townships Leuth, Breyell, Hinsbeck and former towns/cities Lobberich and Kaldenkirchen were merged. All five communities had developed around the river Nette.
Lobberich, Hinsbeck, and Leuth belonged historically to the Upper Quarter of Guelders and thus to the Southern Netherlands. During the War of the Spanish Succession, these places were occupied by Prussia, along with the other municipalities that went on to form Prussian Upper Guelders in 1713.
Kaldenkirchen, Breyell and Schaag, on the other hand, historically belonged to the Duchy of Jülich.
Nettetal originally contained five boroughs, until Schaag separated from Breyell in 1995, becoming the sixth borough.
At the time of its formation, it was considered too problematic to try and combine all five coats of arms into one, so a new coat of arm was introduced in 1971. It shows a water lily before a blue blackground, symbolizing the predominance of nature and the variety of lakes. Five water lily leaves represent the five founding boroughs of Nettetal.

Dialect

The dialect originally spoken in Hinsbeck lies on the dividing line between Kleverlandish and South Low Franconian, which is almost identical to the Limburgish dialect spoken in nearby Netherlands.

Demographics

Nettetal's six boroughs, with populations per its own census, as of December 2020:
BoroughPopulationArea
Lobberich14,06717.64
Kaldenkirchen10,02515.24
Breyell8,58911.85
Hinsbeck4,63218.98
Schaag3,7416.95
Leuth1,79613.21
Total Nettetal42,85083.87

Geography

Nettetal is located in the middle of the cross-border Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park, along the border with the Netherlands, approximately north-west of Mönchengladbach, Germany, and south-east of Venlo, Netherlands. The Jenische, large number of a local minority lives nearby in the area.
In addition to the river Nette, peat mining from the 16th to the 19th century has resulted in the formation of twelve lakes in the municipality.
The Nette, broad forest, heath areas and lakes make Nettetal a central resort in the Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park.

Lakes

Nettetal features 12 lakes, with a combined area of.
Fed by the Nette:
  • Kleiner Breyeller See
  • Großer Breyeller See
  • Nettebruch
  • Windmühlenbruch
  • Ferkensbruch
  • Kleiner de Wittsee
  • Großer de Wittsee
  • Schrolik
  • Poelvennsee
Fed by the Nette's Renne tributary:
  • Hinsbecker Bruch
  • Glabbacher Bruch
Fed by the Nette's Königsbach tributary:
  • Kälberweide

    Sights

  • The 11th century Krickenbeck Castle and its park, set in the Leuth borough, surrounded by the Hinsbecker Bruch, Glabbacher Bruch, Schrolik and Poelvennsee lakes
  • The Kaldenkirchen Sequoia Farm, in the Kaldenkirchen borough, an arboretum with Giant Sequoias and more than 400 other varieties of trees, part of the "Protected area of Maas-Schwalm-Nette"
  • A portion of the Fietsallee am Nordkanal, an international long-distance cycling route between Neuss, Germany, and Nederweert, Netherlands
  • The Galgenvenn hiking trail, voted "Germany's second most beautiful hiking trail" in 2016

    Twin towns – sister cities

Nettetal is twinned with: