Huls (

Limburgish Limburgish ( or ; ; also Limburgian, Limburgic or Limburgan) refers to a group of South Low Franconian Variety (linguistics), varieties spoken in Belgium and the Netherlands, characterized by their distance to, and limited participation ...

: ''De Huls'') is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in the southeastern

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 ...

. It is part of the municipality of

Simpelveld Simpelveld (; ) is a municipality and a town in the southeastern Netherlands. It is part of the municipal cooperative unit Parkstad Limburg. Simpelveld is part of the ''Mergelland'', named after the presence of chalk (mergel), hill country popu ...

in the province of Limburg, about 20 km east of

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

. The village lies on a hill, north of

, and south of

Ubachsberg Ubachsberg () is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Voerendaal.''ANWB Topografische Atlas Nederland'', Topografische Dienst and ANWB, 2005. The village was first mentioned in 1380 as "opten Berch", ...

. In 2008 the village had a population of 350 on an area of 0.44 km². On the hillside south of Huls lies Hulsveld, a hamlet sharing the same name with a population of 1630. Since the hamlets share a single built-up area, and are both located on the hill called Huls, the village Huls is sometimes mistaken to include Hulsveld. https://www.plaatsengids.nl/huls Huls], Plaatsengids.nl, viewed on 20 August 2016

Etymology

An archive from 1454 refers to Huls as "die Heuls". The name is believed to refer to Ilex aquifolium, holly plants, hulst in Dutch, that used to grow in the area.Huls (gemeente Simpelveld)
Rijckheyt archives for the municipalities

Brunssum Brunssum (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg in the Netherlands. The municipality of Brunssum has residents as of . Brunssum was a center of coal mining until 197 ...

Gulpen-Wittem Gulpen-Wittem (; ) is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands (in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg) with inhabitants as of . Gulpen-Wittem came into being after the merger of the municipalities Gulpen and Wittem. This took ...

Heerlen Heerlen (; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the f ...

Nuth Nuth (; ) is a village and a former Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Limburg, situated in the southern Netherlands. In January 2019, the municipality merged with Schinnen and Onderbanken to form Beekdaelen. The v ...

and

Voerendaal Voerendaal (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the southeastern Netherlands. Population centres ''Dutch topographic map of the municipality of Voerendaal, June 2015'' History The Romans left the ruins from ...

, viewed on 20 August 2016 Due to the location on a hill the people off Huls are locally referred to as living "on Huls" instead of living "in Huls".

History

The remains of three

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

farms were found in the village, including a large villa, which were built between 75-100 CE by retired soldiers and public servants who were granted land in the area. These farms were destroyed around 250 CE by Germanic invaders. Archeological findings show Huls was inhabited during the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

and Carolingian era. In 1840 Huls was made up out of 29 houses and had a population of 135. At this time Huls also included the separate area of Lauvenberg, which is no longer mentioned in atlasses. In 2008 the village had a population of 350 on an area of 0.44 km², and a population density of 795 per km².

Geography

The area is made up out of inliers and outliers. The Huls hill lies on the southern edge of the Plateau of Ubachsberg above the

Eyserbeek The Eyserbeek (; ) is a river in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. The Eyserbeek is a right-bank tributary to the river Geul, which later joins the Meuse. Rising in Bocholtz and flowing through Simpelveld and Eys, the Eyserbeek eventually ...

valley in the south. Between 1 and 2 million years ago it was part of the island of Ubachsberg in the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

river. With a height of 215 meters above

NAP A nap is a short period of sleep, typically taken during daytime hours as an adjunct to the usual nocturnal sleep period. Naps are most often taken as a response to Somnolence, drowsiness during waking hours or as a means to supplement before ...

the Huls hill is one of the highest point in the European part of the Netherlands. It was long believed that the plateau of Ubachsberg was in fact the highest point in the Netherlands, because from the top at Vrouwenheide you can see over the top of the

Vaalserberg The Vaalserberg (; ) is a hill with a height of above Amsterdam Ordnance Datum, NAP and is the highest point in the Netherlands#Geography, European part of the Netherlands. The Vaalserberg is located in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), ...

, to see the even higher hills from the German

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

Culture

In the centre of the village lies the Joseph the Worker Church, which was built in 1955 on the top of the hill, and is surrounded by an open area. This was originally the location of a small chapel. The non-oriented aisleless church served as an assisting church for the Saint Remigius parish in Simpelveld. In 2012 the church was taken out of service due to a gradual general decline of

church attendance Church attendance is a central religious practice for many Christians; some Christian denominations require church attendance on the Lord's Day (Sunday). The Catholic Church teaches that on Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithf ...

in the diocese. North of Huls lies the Keverberg manor. First mentioned in 1380 the manor burned down in the late 19th century and was rebuilt in

neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

style in 1890. The manor retains its original arcaded basements. On the front of the manor is a tower with

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

s and a balcony with

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

s. Before the municipal reorganisation of 1981 the castle was part of

.Keverberg, hoeve (Simpelveld)
Rijckheyt archives for the municipalities

and

, viewed on 20 August 2016 The Huls is part of the Mergellandroute, a tourist route for cars and bikes through South Limburg,

, mapped out by the ANWB. Due to the hills, the Huls and surrounding areas are part of the

Amstel Gold Race Amstel Gold Race may refer to: * Amstel Gold Race (men's race) The Amstel Gold Race is a one-day classic cycle races, classic road bicycle race, road cycling race held annually since 1966 Amstel Gold Race, 1966 in the province of Limburg (Netherl ...

, a

road bicycle race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

Gallery

File:Map - NL - Simpelveld - Wijk 00 Simpelveld - Buurt 02 Huls.svg, Location of Huls in Simpelveld File:Simpelveld-Zwingelput Huls (1).JPG, Water well File:De Huls.jpg, Huls hill looking south towards Simpelveld File:HulsWaegkruts.jpg, Wayside cross File:Boerderij nr. 29a te Huls - Huls - 20118974 - RCE.jpg, Farmhouse at Huls 29 File:Amstel Gold Race 2015.png, Huls (nr 19) on the route of the 2015 Amstel Gold Race File:Kaart met plateaus en dalen Zuid-Limburg.PNG, Elevation map of South Limburg, "U" is the Plateau of Ubachsberg File:Overzicht voorgevel woongedeelte met toren met kantelen - Simpelveld - 20355889 - RCE.jpg, Keverberg manor

References

External links

{{coord, 50.844722, 5.969444, type:landmark_region:NL, format=dms, display=title Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands) Simpelveld