Mergelland
The Mergelland , also called Heuvelland ( German hill country ), is a part of the Netherlands in South Limburg . It forms the highest part of the Netherlands and is completely untypical for the Netherlands due to its hilly landscape. It is named after the calcareous soil from which limestone has been extracted for a long time .
The largest towns are Vaals , Simpelveld , Gulpen-Wittem and Valkenburg . The Mergelland is well developed for tourism and one of the most popular holiday destinations for domestic trips for the Dutch. Several hundred kilometers of hiking trails and bike paths, including the “ Mergelland route ”, run through the hilly area.
Because of the inclines, which are unusual for the Netherlands, all major Dutch road bike races run through this region. One of them is the Hel van het Mergelland race .
In English usage , the marl land is also referred to as the "Dutch Mountains". This name became internationally known through the song of the same name by the pop group " The Nits ".
literature
- Petra Vanderheiden-Berndt: Hiking in the Mergelland: 13 circular hiking trails. Meyer & Meyer Verlag, Aachen 2013 et al., P. 9 ( online )
- Ursula Kremer, Evy Zwolle: Hiking in South Limburg: 9 tours through the Mergelland. Meyer & Meyer Verlag, Aachen 2008 et al., P. 8 ([online])
- Reinhard Tiburzy: Netherlands. Travel Guide. DuMont Reiseverlag, 2014, pp. 279–282 ( online )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hiking in the South Limburg Mergelland ( Memento from November 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on outdoorseite.de . Retrieved November 25, 2015.
Coordinates: 50 ° 51 ′ 45.4 " N , 5 ° 49 ′ 48.5" E