Nederweert
Encyclopedia
Nederweert is a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 and a town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 in southeastern Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 with 16.561 inhabitants as of November 1, 2006 (bron: Statistics Netherlands
Statistics Netherlands
Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, often abbreviated to CBS. It is a department of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and is...

) and has a surface area of 101,78 km² (of which 1,51 km² is water).

Nederweert lies at the intersection of three channels: the Zuid-Willemsvaart, the Noordervaart and the channel Wessem-Nederweert. In the 19th century these channels provided transport routes to export peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...

 that was harvested from the Peel
Peel, Netherlands
thumb|250px|A peat lake near [[Griendtsveen]].thumb|250px|A barn roof with vegetation typical of the region.De Peel is a region in the Southeast of the Netherlands that straddles the border between the provinces of North Brabant and Limburg....

. These channels connect Nederweert to Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...

 and 's-Hertogenbosch.

History

Nederweert was originally called 'Merefelt' which means 'amongst the lakes', though it was later named Weert van den nedersten eynde. A 'Weert' in old Dutch means a high place in the landscape. This latter name later changed into Nederweert as it is called today.

Before the 14th century Nederweert was part of the municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 of Weert. The first reference which speaks of Nederweert as independent was in 1419.

Nederweert has been under rule of the Graven van Horn (the dukes of Horn) until 1701. Later in 1715 it became part of the southern states of the Netherlands.

In 1785 it was annexed by the French. During this era it was part of the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 departement of the Nedermaas.

Monuments

The most prominent monument of Nederweert is the Sint-Lambertus Kerk. It is a Brabantine Gothic
Brabantine Gothic
Brabantine Gothic, occasionally called Brabantian Gothic, is a significant variant of Gothic architecture that is typical for the Low Countries...

 style church that was built in 1467.

Population centres

Budschop, Leveroy, Nederweert, Nederweert-Eind, Ospel
Ospel
Ospel is a village in The Netherlands. It is located in Limburg near Weert, lying between Nederweert and Meijel, close to National Park De Groote Peel. Ospel's population on 1 January 2006 was 4,054. Ospel has been settled in 1864 as a center for Bog harvesting.-Schooling:Ospel has a primary...

, Ospeldijk, Schoor.

External links

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