Wanssum is a village in the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

province of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

. It is located in the municipality of

Venray Venray or Venraij (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the Netherlands. The municipality of Venray consists of 14 towns over an area of , with 43,494 inhabitants as of July 2016 ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1242 as Wanzem, and means "settlement of Wando or Wanso (person)". Wanssum developed at the confluence of the Grote Molenbeek with the maas. In 1485, it became an independent parish. In 1648, it became part of Spanish Guelders. In 1713, it was part of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, and in 1815, it became part of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...

. The St Michaels Church is a three aisled church built between 1950 and 1951 to replace the church which was destroyed in 1944. Wanssum was home to 460 people in 1840. Most of the village was destroyed by war in 1944, and later rebuilt. Wanssum was a separate municipality until 1969, when it merged with

Meerlo Meerlo is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Horst aan de Maas. History The village was first mentioned in the 1180s as Mirlare. The village name is a combination of "forest pasture" and swamp. Mee ...

. In 2010, it became part of the municipality of

References

Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands) Former municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands) Venray {{LimburgNL-geo-stub