Nettetal

Nettetal is a municipality in the district of Viersen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated in the Lower Rhine region.

Nettetal
Town
Krickenbeck Castle
Coat of arms
Location of Nettetal within Viersen district
Nettetal Show map of Germany Nettetal Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates: 51°19′N 6°17′E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Düsseldorf
District	Viersen
Founded	1970
Subdivisions	6 boroughs
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Christian Küsters[1]
Area
• Total	84 km2 (32 sq mi)
Elevation	38 m (125 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)[2]
• Total	43,425
• Density	520/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	41334
Dialling codes	02153, 02157, 02158
Vehicle registration	VIE, KK
Website	www.nettetal.de

History

Coat of arms

Nettetal was founded on January 1, 1970, when the former townships Leuth, Breyell, Hinsbeck and former towns/cities Lobberich and Kaldenkirchen were merged. All five communities had developed around the river Nette.

Nettetal originally contained five boroughs, until Schaag separated from Breyell in 1995, becoming the sixth borough.

At the time of its formation, it was considered too problematic to try and combine all five coats of arms into one, so a new coat of arm was introduced in 1971. It shows a water lily before a blue blackground, symbolizing the predominance of nature and the variety of lakes. Five water lily leaves represent the five founding boroughs of Nettetal.

Demographics

Boroughs of Nettetal

Nettetal's six boroughs, with populations per its own census, as of December 2020:^[3]

Borough	Population	Area (km2)
Lobberich	14,067	17.64
Kaldenkirchen	10,025	15.24
Breyell	8,589	11.85
Hinsbeck	4,632	18.98
Schaag	3,741	6.95
Leuth	1,796	13.21
Total Nettetal	42,850	83.87

Geography

Nettetal is located in the middle of the cross-border Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park, along the border with the Netherlands (the northwest edges of Kaldenkirchen and Leuth touch the border), approximately 20 km (12 mi) north-west of Mönchengladbach, Germany, and 10 km (6.2 mi) south-east of Venlo, Netherlands.

In addition to the river Nette, peat mining from the 16th to the 19th century has resulted in the formation of twelve lakes in the municipality.

The Nette, broad forest, heath areas and lakes make Nettetal a central resort in the Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park.

Lakes

Nettetal features 12 lakes, with a combined area of 179 hectares (440 acres).

Fed by the Nette:

• Kleiner Breyeller See (5.3 ha)
• Großer Breyeller See (9.2 ha)
• Nettebruch (13.2 ha)
• Windmühlenbruch (6 ha)
• Ferkensbruch (4.5 ha)
• Kleiner de Wittsee (4.5 ha)
• Großer de Wittsee (22.5 ha)
• Schrolik (15.5 ha)
• Poelvennsee (24.5 ha)

Fed by the Nette's Renne tributary:

• Hinsbecker Bruch (37.5 ha)
• Glabbacher Bruch (36 ha)

Fed by the Nette's Königsbach tributary:

• Kälberweide (5 ha)

Sights

Krickenbeck Castle (c. 1857 – c. 1883)

Kaldenkirchen Sequoia Farm (2010)

• The 11th century Krickenbeck Castle and its park, set in the Leuth borough, surrounded by the Hinsbecker Bruch, Glabbacher Bruch, Schrolik and Poelvennsee lakes
• The Kaldenkirchen Sequoia Farm, in the Kaldenkirchen borough, an arboretum with Giant Sequoias and more than 400 other varieties of trees, part of the "Protected area of Maas-Schwalm-Nette"
• A portion of the 100 km-long (62 mi) Fietsallee am Nordkanal, an international long-distance cycling route between Neuss, Germany, and Nederweert, Netherlands
• The 11.2 km-long (7.0 mi) Galgenvenn hiking trail, voted "Germany's second most beautiful hiking trail" in 2016^[4]

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Nettetal is twinned with:^[5]

• Ełk, Poland
• Fenland, England, United Kingdom
• Rives-en-Seine, France

Notable people

Werner Jaeger 1915

• Leo Anton Karl de Ball (1853–1916), German-Austrian astronomer
• Werner Jaeger (1888–1961), classicist
• Michael Hardt (born 1951), designer
• Sascha Lappessen (born 1970), DJ and bandleader
• Tuğrul Erat (born 1992), Azerbaijani footballer

References

1. Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 30 June 2021.
2. "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2023 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus vom 9. Mai 2011" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
3. "Rathaus | Daten & Fakten | Bevölkerung" [Town Hall | Data and Facts | Population]. Stadt Nettetal (in German). 2020-12-31. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
4. "Galgenvenn: Deutschlands zweitschönster Wanderweg" [Galgenvenn: Germany's second most beautiful hiking trail]. Westdeutscher Rundfunk (in German). Wandermagazin. 2016-08-11. Archived from the original on 2016-08-28. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
5. "Städtepartnerschaften". nettetal.de (in German). Nettetal. Retrieved 2021-02-27.

External links

• Official website (in German)
• Website of Arboretum Sequoiafarm Kaldenkirchen (German)
• Volksbank Krefeld eG