Arcen

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Arcen
province Limburg Limburg
local community Flag of the municipality of Venlo Venlo
Area
 - land
 - water
14.64  km 2
13.13 km 2
1.51 km 2
Residents 2,525 (Jan. 1, 2018)
Coordinates 51 ° 29 ′  N , 6 ° 11 ′  E Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′  N , 6 ° 11 ′  E
Important traffic route N271
prefix 077
Postcodes 5856, 5943-5944

Arcen is a small Dutch fortified town and is located 10 km north of Venlo on the banks of the Meuse near the German border. It has belonged to Venlo in Limburg since January 1, 2010 , before that Arcen was part of the municipality of Arcen en Velden .

history

In the early Middle Ages , Arcen was part of the Straelen territory ; In 1064 Countess Irmentrudis donated the land to the Abbey of St. Michael (Siegburg) , which had it administered by a governor . Around 1275 this became Arnold van Straelen. Since he had no sons, he bequeathed the reign to his eldest daughter Elisabeth, who was married twice without children. Therefore, the reign was initially passed on to her sister Justina van Straelen. But after some time Elisabeth married for the third time, this time Arnold van Buren. Because Justina did not make the agreed compensation payments, Elisabeth demanded the regency back. This issue became a constant dispute within the family, which also affected the following generations. In 1330 Count Rainald II (Geldern) ended this situation by releasing Arcen from Straelen; thereby Arcen became a vrije heerlijkheid . She was assigned to the van Buren brothers. By marriage and inheritance, Arcen fell to the county of Geldern in 1543 (Oberquartier Geldern = Spanish-Obergeldern).

During the War of the Spanish Succession , Arcen was occupied by Prussian troops and remained German as part of Prussian Obergeldern from 1753 to 1814. It only became Dutch with the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Arcen and Velden formed the municipality of Velden, which was renamed Arcen en Velden on January 1, 1816 and has belonged to Venlo since January 1, 2010.

In 1993 and 1995 the place was affected by severe floods.

Site and sights

Former town hall

Arcen is on the right bank of the Meuse. It has a promenade decorated with geranium lanterns in summer and a small harbor, which is accessed by excursion boats across the river.

The town center is limited to a few streets around the former town hall, a brick building with a portal guarded by two stone lions, on a central square. The infrastructure (small hotels, boarding houses, cafes, restaurants, retail shops) is geared towards lively tourism. A number of events, markets and festivals bring the small town to life in the summer season, for example the asparagus four-day tour and the Elf Fantasy Fair .

Tourist attractions are the castle gardens of Arcen Castle, the ruins of a toll tower (part of the city wall) from the 15th century, the church, the thermal bath, the brewery "Hertog Jan" and the Wijmarsche watermill with the liqueur distillery "De IJsvogel".

Arcen Castle with castle gardens

Arcen Castle was built in its present form in the 17th century by the dukes of Geldern . A previous building from the 16th century was destroyed in 1646.

The outer bailey is surrounded by a moat. You can reach the castle courtyard over a small bridge through the main portal of this outer bailey. The stone alliance coat of arms of Geldern-von Lützerode is attached above the portal. With the exception of the main portal, which is made of natural stone, the entire castle is a brick building.

The main building (mansion) in the castle courtyard initially had two protruding side wings in the French style; the northern one was razed after a fire in the 19th century. Until 2012, the rooms of the castle, which today belongs to the Het Limburgs Landschap Foundation , regularly served as exhibition space and could be rented for social events (especially weddings). An outbuilding (former orangery) has been preserved as a garden pavilion.

The Arcen Castle Gardens are a popular tourist attraction in the summer season. Various gardens from around the world surround several ponds with waterfalls. You can visit a forest with historic trees, an island with squirrel monkeys ( Lommerijk ), a greenhouse with Mediterranean and subtropical plants ( Casa Verde ), a rose garden, a water garden, an Italian garden and gardens in a Far Eastern style. There are black swans , flamingos , white storks and guinea fowl , and koi and beluga sturgeon live in the water . The gardens are closed in winter.

Toll tower

Toll tower, 2020

The toll tower, preserved as a relic of what was once a much larger fortification from the 15th century, stands directly on the banks of the Meuse. The heavily damaged structure was restored for the first time in the 1970s and refurbished again in 2011. It is remarkable that the original joints of the medieval building are still completely intact.

For a long time there were doubts whether the tower belonged to the defensive work of the Fossa Eugeniana (hence called Schanstoren ); However, since this canal ran a few kilometers east of the Meuse (between Arcen and Straelen the Fossa Eugeniana bent parallel to the river to the south towards Venlo), we know today that the tower was not part of the bastion for defending the canal, but for the local fortification of the city belonged to. In addition to being a toll tower, it also served as a city gate ( Maaspoort ). Passing ships had to stop here and pay customs.

Church of St. Peter and Paul

The Petrus en Pauluskerk is located in the center of Arcen, slightly elevated and surrounded by a small square with a green area. The brick building is a three-aisled basilica on a cross-shaped floor plan with a transept, double tower facade and crossing tower.

A medieval hall building preceded it, which was restored in 1893 and provided with new, neo-Gothic towers. In 1944/45 the church was so badly damaged by war damage that it collapsed. The foundation stone for the reconstruction building was laid on September 28, 1958 and the inauguration on December 20, 1959. The new building of the choir with access dates from 1966.

The inside is arched. The middle and side aisles are separated by pointed arches with pillars, from the crossing the structure changes to columns with profiled capitals ("column change"). The different heights of the nave, choir and chapels create special lighting effects.

The historic interior has been destroyed. The main altar below the crossing, as well as the sacred altar and tabernacle in the choir date from 1966. The colored glass windows were created by various artists between 1961 and 1979 (Ad Maas, Frans Timmermans, F. Rievers, Frans Cox); Both Old and New Testament scenes as well as the patron saints Peter and Paul are depicted.

Two bells from the previous building have survived, one from 1684, cast by Peter von Trier IV , and one from 1861. The older one can be seen outside in the park in front of the church in a modern holder.

Wijmarsche watermill

Restored Wijmarsche Watermill (2019)

In the Middle Ages, there were two water mills on the Meuse near Arcen, in the Barbara's Weerd nature reserve . The older one from the 15th century has not been preserved. The core of the existing building dates from 1677, but was rebuilt in 1865. It served as an oil mill with an overshot water wheel and a grain mill with an undershot water wheel (from 1882 only as a grain mill). The mill got its water from a rerouted stream (Lingsforter Beek), to which it is connected by a bridge.

Before the Second World War , the grinding operation was stopped. The badly damaged building was restored in 1984.

Today the "De IJsvogel" distillery is located in the mill building and produces genever , herbal bitters and liqueurs. A café is attached. The mill and distillery can be visited with a guide.

Surrounding area

Arcen is surrounded by forest, heather and pond areas, which can be accessed by several marked cycling and hiking trails.

Between the toll tower, the Wijmarschen watermill and about 1 km south of them, the Barbara's Weerd nature development area extends along the Maas over 22 hectares . It is named after the medieval monastery Insula Sancta Barbara , which was destroyed in 1586. The grasslands are grazed by wild Galloway cattle , which sometimes invade the trail on the dike. Although used to people in this respect, signs warn against approaching them within 25 m, as they are not pets.

The birch and oak forest on Zwarte Berg (= Black Mountain) south-east of Arcen grows on sandy dune land. The "mountain" is the highest of the Meuse sand dunes; the ascent is steep. Traditionally, stick rash ( hakhout ) dominated the landscape, although this was partially displaced by planted firs and American white oaks . As a result, the mountain no longer offers a view. The Het Limburgs Landschap Foundation had planned measures to partially restore the original open land vegetation; These measures could no longer be carried out until autumn 2012 (the foundation's bankruptcy).

Schuitwater is the name of the 313 hectare moorland and pond landscape in North Limburg, which also includes the swamps and ponds between Arcen and Straelen ( Straelens Schuitwater ). The landscape was created by former arms of the Meuse that were separated from the river and silted up. The name is traced back to the schuit (= trek barge ), with which peat was removed from the fen in the past.

The cross-border moor Straelens Veen / Holter Bruch was once much larger at 1000 ha, but was decimated by economic use. On the German side, the reed area with wet meadows and swamp pastures has been under nature protection since 1992. On the Dutch side, the Het Limburgs Landschap Foundation only carried out ecological protection and renovation measures in the 21st century. In 2003/2004 a new shallow pond was created, where numerous water birds have settled. This core zone of the biotope is left out of the hiking trails, but can be viewed through binoculars.

Culture

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Arcen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2018 Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek , accessed on September 1, 2018 (Dutch)
  2. Welcome to the Arcen Castle Garden