Nettetal (, ) is a municipality in the district of Viersen,

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is situated in the

Lower Rhine region The Lower Rhine region or Niederrhein () is a region around the Lower Rhine section of the river Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between approximately Oberhausen and Krefeld in the East and the Dutch border around Kleve in the West ...

History

Nettetal was founded on January 1, 1970, when the former townships Leuth, Breyell, Hinsbeck and former towns/cities

Lobberich Lobberich is a German village in North Rhine-Westphalia, situated close to the Dutch border at Venlo. It has a population of around 14,000 inhabitants. Since 1970 the town belongs to the municipality of Nettetal. The art historian Heribert Reine ...

and

Kaldenkirchen Kaldenkirchen () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, situated close to the Dutch border at Venlo. It is part of the municipality of Nettetal. History The earliest reference to “Caldenkirken” appears in a document dated 1206. ...

were merged. All five communities had developed around the river Nette. 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.

Demographics

Nettetal's six boroughs, with populations per its own census, as of December 2020:

Geography

Nettetal is located in the middle of the cross-border

Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park The Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park (; ) or NMSM is a cross-border nature park in Germany and the Netherlands, which was founded in 2002. It is a regionally important recreation area. Description The park has an area of 870 km2. Its nam ...

, along the border with the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

(the northwest edges of Kaldenkirchen and Leuth touch the border), approximately north-west of

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

, Germany, and south-east of

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), ...

, Netherlands. In addition to the river Nette,

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

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 (see next section) 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 (5.3 ha) * Großer Breyeller See (9.2 ha) * Nettebruch (13.2 ha) * Windmühlenbruch (6 ha) * Ferkensbruch (4.5 ha) * Kleiner de Wittsee (4.5 ha) * Großer de Wittsee (22.5 ha) * Schrolik (15.5 ha) * Poelvennsee (24.5 ha) Fed by the Nette's Renne tributary: * Hinsbecker Bruch (37.5 ha) * Glabbacher Bruch (36 ha) Fed by the Nette's Königsbach tributary: * Kälberweide (5 ha)

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 The Kaldenkirchen Sequoia Farm () is a German arboretum that has been used as a biological institute for many years. Part of the protected area in the city of Nettetal, it is situated in the "Kaldenkirchen Grenzwald" (forest bordering Germany ...

, in the Kaldenkirchen borough, an

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

with

Giant Sequoias ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood or Wellingtonia) is a species of coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the la ...

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 Long-distance cycling routes are designated cycling routes in various countries around the world for bicycle tourism. These routes include anything from longer rail trails, to national cycling route network A national cycling route network is a ...

between

Neuss Neuss (; written ''Neuß'' until 1968; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its ...

, Germany, and

Nederweert Nederweert (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in southeastern Netherlands with a population of as of and has an area of of which is water. Nederweert lies at the intersection of three channels: the Zuid-Will ...

, Netherlands * The ''Galgenvenn'' hiking trail, voted "Germany's second most beautiful hiking trail" in 2016

Twin towns – sister cities

Nettetal is twinned with: *

Ełk Ełk is a city in northeastern Poland with 61,677 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of Ełk County in the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship. It lies on the shore of Ełk Lake, which was formed by a glacier, and is surrounded by extensiv ...

, Poland * Fenland, England, United Kingdom *

Rives-en-Seine Rives-en-Seine () is a commune in the department of Seine-Maritime, northern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of Caudebec-en-Caux, Saint-Wandrille-Rançon and Villequier. *

Leo Anton Karl de Ball Leo Anton Karl de Ball (November 23, 1853 – December 12, 1916) was a Germany, German-Austrian astronomer. He is credited by the Minor Planet Center as "K. de Ball" for his (sole) asteroid discovery, but seems to be best known as Leo de Ball. ...

(1853–1916), German-Austrian astronomer *

Werner Jaeger Werner Wilhelm Jaeger (30 July 1888 – 19 October 1961) was a German-American classicist. Life Werner Wilhelm Jaeger was born in Lobberich, Rhenish Prussia in the German Empire. He attended school in Lobberich and at the Gymnasium Thomaeum i ...

(1888–1961), classicist *

Michael Hardt Michael Hardt (born 1960) is an American political philosopher and literary theorist. Hardt is best known for his 2000 book ''Empire'', which was co-written with Antonio Negri. Hardt and Negri suggest that several forces which they see as do ...

(born 1951), designer * Sascha Lappessen (born 1970), DJ and bandleader * Tuğrul Erat (born 1992), Azerbaijani footballer

References

External links

*
Website of Arboretum Sequoiafarm Kaldenkirchen (German)

Volksbank Krefeld eG
Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Viersen (district) {{Viersen-geo-stub