The Kendel, sometimes also called Hommersumer Kendel to distinguish it from other Kendels, is a river of

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 ...

that originates near Weeze and flows into the

Niers The Niers (, ) is a river in Germany and the Netherlands, a right tributary of the river Meuse (German and ). Its wellspring is near Erkelenz, south of Mönchengladbach, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). Course and length The Niers flows thr ...

after about near

Goch Goch (; archaic spelling: Gog) is a town in the Kleve (district), Kleve district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, close to the border with the Netherlands, south of Kleve and southeast of Nijmegen. History Goch is at least 750 years old: th ...

-Hommersum, on 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 ...

Geology

The Kendel follows almost its entire length, via five loops, a silted-up old channel of the Ur-Rhine (generally called "Kendel" on the Lower Rhine), which meanders through the Lower Rhine lowlands with a very slight gradient. This channel is already recognizable from

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

and is known in its southern section as Niepkuhlen.

History

The Kendel branches off from the Ottersgraben to the west of Weeze. From Weeze, the Kendel runs roughly parallel to the German-Dutch border on the west side and the Niers and the A57 on the east side, past the Goch districts of Hülm, Gaesdonck and Hassum to Hommersum. On the last 700 meters north of Hommersum to the confluence with the Niers, the Kendel is the border river between Germany (state of North Rhine-Westphalia) and the Netherlands (province of Limburg with the village of Gennep-Ottersum). On this portion there is still a bridge over the Kendel, which is also a border crossing. There used to be a railway bridge here for the Boxteler Bahn; however, this bridge was blown up by German troops in the final phase of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

during Operation Market Garden on September 18, 1944. Doublebordermarks.jpg, Bridge over the Kendel near Hommersum with German and Dutch boundary stones 462 Yshövelsche Mühle, Kendel, Goch-Hommersum.jpg, Kendel in Hommersum 462 Yshövelsche Mühle, Kendelbrücke, Goch-Hommersum.jpg, Pedestrian bridge near the Isshöveler mill Kendel in Hülm.jpg, Kendel in Hülm

References

Rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia Rivers of Germany {{NorthRhineWestphalia-river-stub

Geology

History

See also

References