Slenaken (
Limburgish
Limburgish ( li, Limburgs or ; nl, Limburgs ; german: Limburgisch ; french: Limbourgeois ), also called Limburgan, Limburgian, or Limburgic, is a West Germanic language spoken in the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg and in the neig ...
: ''Sjlennich'') is a village in the
Dutch province of
Limburg.
Slenaken was a separate municipality until 1982, when it was merged with
Wittem.
History
On a bank of the
River Gulp, just to the south of Slenaken, is the
"grinding stone of Slenaken" (''"Slijpsteen van Slenaken"''), a large flint boulder used in the
Neolithic period
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...
to polish stone axe heads.
The earliest surviving written record of Slenaken dates from 1252. At that time, along with the parish, Slenaken comprised a handful of houses and farmsteads. At some point before 1428 a small chapel was constructed. There is a legend that this was triggered when a shepherd saw one of his sheep kneeling before a "cross" in a
burning bush
The burning bush (or the unburnt bush) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb. According to the b ...
.
[Gerard C. Ubaghs, Geschiedkundig overzigt van Gulpen en deszelfs onderhoorige plaatsen, Maastricht: Hollmann, 1865, 55 & 57.] This inspired the villagers to build the little chapel, where they came together each Friday to venerate the Holy Cross. Starting in 1495, the site expanded and became a monastery.
[
By 1676 the village was part of the (today Belgian) parish of St. Martens-Voeren. In 1793, after a number of conflicts, the St. Remigus church, the current church, was built.
]
Geography
Site
Slenaken is located in the municipality of Gulpen-Wittem in Limburg, and is one of the southernmost villages of the Netherlands, close to the frontier with Belgian Limburg, and along the valley of the Gulp river.
To the north of the village is the Loorberg Hill, with the village of Epen, beyond that, to the northeast. The village of Noorbeek
Noorbeek ( li, Norbik, English: ''Noor brook'') is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten (Limburgish: ''Megraote'') and about 12 km southeast of Maastricht. Noorbeek is one of th ...
lies to the west of Slenaken, and across the border to the south are the little settlements of Nurop and Teuven
Voeren (; ) is a Flemish Dutch-speaking municipality with facilities for the French-speaking minority, located in the Belgian province of Limburg. Bordering the Netherlands to the north and the Wallonia region's Liège Province () to the sout ...
. Slenaken itself is ringed by the hamlets of Beutenaken, Heijenrath and Schilberg
Rudolf Schilberg (29 September 1894 – 30 July 1961) was an Austrian male weightlifter, who competed in the heavyweight category and represented Austria at international competitions. He competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics and 1936 Summer Olym ...
, which for many purposes are treated as part of Slenaken.
Impressions
Image:Slenaken-Slenakermolen.JPG, The Slenaker mill
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands)
Former municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands)
Gulpen-Wittem