The Cauberg is a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not as ...

in Valkenburg aan de Geul, a town in the South Limburg region of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The hill played an important role in the early development of tourism in Valkenburg. Today, several major tourist attractions are situated on or nearby Cauberg. The hill's fame is mainly due to the many cycling races and championships that were held here. The length of the climb is around , with a maximum grade of 12%.

History

The first part of the word Cauberg may be derived from the Celtic word ''kadeir'', meaning 'height' or 'hill'. ''Berg'' is a Germanic word meaning 'hill' or 'mount' as well. Perhaps the family names 'Cauberghs' and 'Van Caldenborgh' are related to Cauberg. Previously the name of the hill was also spelled 'Couberg'. Although the road via Cauberg formed the shortest connection between Valkenburg and

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

, in former ages most unmotorized traffic due to the steepness of the hill followed the longer but much more level route along the

Geul The Geul (, ; german: Göhl ; french: la Gueule) is a river in Belgium and in the Netherlands, where it is a right-bank tributary to the river Meuse. Geography The source of the Geul is at about above sea level in northeastern Belgium near ...

river. The road was paved with cobblestones only in 1934; in 1969 the cobblestone surface was replaced by

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

. On 29 September 1954 a serious accident happened on Cauberg when the driver of a Belgian coach lost control over his vehicle after a malfunction of the brakes. The coach, which had a group of miners from the Liège area on board, who had been on an outing to Valkenburg zoo, rushed down the hill, crashed into a limestone monument at the bottom of the hill and then drove into the gable of a hotel on Grendelplein. 18 passengers and a bystander lost their lives. In the 19th century Valkenburg developed as an early tourist destination in the Netherlands. Cauberg, with its

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

quarries, played an important role in this. Dutch architect

Pierre Cuypers Petrus Josephus Hubertus "Pierre" Cuypers (16 May 1827 – 3 March 1921) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889) and the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885), both in Amsterdam. ...

, who lived in Valkenburg for some years, helped design ''Rotspark'' ('Rocky Park') on the northeastern slope of Cauberg, which featured a viewing tower (1898, demolished) and an open-air theater (1916). After the Second World War a zoo and an 'aquarium grotto' were added to this. In the 1960s and 70s, Valkenburg became very popular with teenage tourists. On top of Cauberg, ''Europacamping'' became one of the largest camping sites in the country, with mostly youthful campers. Nearby on Cauberg was a racing circuit for

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on ...

(''skelterbaan''). The area was redeveloped in the 1980s and now features a

holiday village A holiday village (also abbreviated HV) is a holiday resort where the visitors stay in villas. There is a central area with shops, entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience ...

, a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

center and a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

Sights

The foot of Cauberg hill is situated almost in the center of Valkenburg, outside the medieval

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goo ...

of Grendelpoort. At the bottom of the hill is one of Valkenburg's main visitor attractions, ''Gemeentegrot'', an abandoned chalk quarry offering guided tours through a labyrinth of man-made caves which include an underground lake, limestone sculptures of prehistoric animals and charcoal drawings depicting local history scenes. Higher up the hill is a

Lourdes grotto The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes () is a Catholic Marian shrine and pilgrimage site dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes in the town of Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France. The sanctuary includes several religious buildings and monuments around ...

, a 1926 copy of the original grotto at Lourdes with an open air chapel. Only a few yards further up the hill stands a memorial chapel with a

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmon ...

, commemorating the Limburgian members of the Dutch resistance that were killed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Here the underground fighters Sjeng (John) Coenen and Joep (Joe) Francotte were murdered on 5 September 1944, just before the liberation of Valkenburg.Resistance in Valkenburg during World War II.
(Website) Opposite lies a leafy hill cemetery, that features terraced graves, unique in the Netherlands, as well as a Gothic revival graveyard chapel and some limestone

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be con ...

s, one of which was designed by

. Halfway up the hill is situated ''Thermae 2000'', a

facility in a pyramidal building that opened in 1989. On the other side of the road, amidst an extension of ''Rotspark'', is a branch of

Holland Casino Holland Casino is a Dutch state-owned company and has the legal monopoly on gambling in the Netherlands, and has fourteen casinos located throughout the country. Profits from Holland Casino go directly to the Dutch treasury. In 2007, profit was aro ...

in a modern building with an imposing view of the town and the

valley. On top of the hill, close to the village of Vilt, is a Landal holiday village, built in a postmodern style to resemble a typical Limburg village, as well as a castle site. File:Valkenburg, Cauberg, Gemeentegrot01.jpg, ''Gemeentegrot'', entrance File:Valkenburg-Mariagrot Cauberg (1).JPG, Lourdes grotto File:Valkenburg, Cauberg, begraafplaats13.jpg, Cauberg cemetery File:Valkenburg aan de Geul-Provinciaal Verzetsmonument op de Cauberg (1).JPG, Memorial for the resistance in the province of Limburg File:Valkenburg, Cauberg, Kuurpark, uitzicht03.jpg, View from Holland Casino

Road cycling

The

Amstel Gold Race The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic cycle races, classic road bicycle race, road cycling race held in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the Classic cycle races#S ...

had its finish on or within a few kilometres of the Cauberg from 2003 to 2016. Now the finish is 2 kilometres further near Vilt and contains 2 climbs of the Cauberg in total. The Cauberg has been included in many other Dutch cycling races such as Eneco Tour, Ster ZLM Toer, Olympia's Tour and Dutch National Road Racing Championships. Three Grand-Tours have included Cauberg in their route: the

1992 Tour de France The 1992 Tour de France was the 79th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 4 to 26 July. The total race distance was 21 stages and a prologue over . In honor of the Maastricht Treaty, which created the European Union, the Tour visi ...

(7th stage), the

2006 Tour de France The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between the 1st and the 23rd of July. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of Floyd Landis. Due to the Unite ...

(3rd stage) and the

2009 Vuelta a España The 2009 Vuelta a España was the 64th Vuelta a España. The event took place from 29 August to 20 September 2009. For only the second time in the race's history, it began away from Spanish soil, with the race not in fact reaching Spain until Stag ...

(4th stage). The

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

has included the Cauberg five times ( 1938,

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and

2012 UCI Road World Championships The 2012 UCI Road World Championships took place in the southern part of the Dutch province of Limburg, also known as South Limburg, between September 15 and 23. The event consisted of a road race and a time trial for men, women and men under ...

). File:Cauberg criterium Weeknummer 43-36 - Open Beelden - 73653.ogv, Dutch Championships cycling 1943 File:De Wereldkampioenschappen op de weg de Belg Schotte wint bij de profs.webm,

1948 UCI Road World Championships The 1948 UCI Road World Championships took place in Valkenburg, the Netherlands. For the first time, six riders per country were allowed to participate in the professional race. The Cauberg had to be climbed every lap. Briek Schotte Alberic " ...

File:Wielerwedstrijden op de weg om het kampioenschap van Nederland-PGM4012042.webm, Dutch Championships cycling 1949 File:Philippe Gilbert, 2012 Road World Championships, Cauberg.jpg,

Other sports

Since 2011 a cyclo-cross race has been held on and around Cauberg and the

2018 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships The 2018 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships were the World Championship for cyclo-cross for the season 2017–18. These were held in Valkenburg in the Netherlands on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 February 2018. The championships featured five event ...

was held on Cauberg. Also, in 2011 and 2012

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwide, inc ...

organized a

Crashed Ice Crashed Ice (full official name: ''Red Bull Crashed Ice'') is a world tour in the winter extreme sporting event, ''ice cross downhill'' (or downhill ice cross), which involves downhill skating in an urban environment, on a track which includes ...

event on the slopes of Cauberg.

References

External links

*
Red Bull Crashed Ice Valkenburg
{{coord, 50, 51, 39.82, N, 5, 49, 25.25, E, region:NL-LI_type:mountain_source:dewiki, display=title Climbs in cycle racing in the Netherlands Amstel Gold Race Cyclo-cross races Mountains and hills of the Netherlands Hills of South Limburg (Netherlands) Valkenburg aan de Geul