Amstenrade is a village in the municipality of

Beekdaelen Beekdaelen (; li, Baekdale ) is a municipality in the province of Limburg, situated in the southern Netherlands. It was formed as a merger of Nuth, Onderbanken and Schinnen. Beekdaelen has 35,853 inhabitants. It does not have a capital. The town ...

, in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It is located about 7 km northwest of

Heerlen Heerlen (; li, Heële ) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the fourth municipality in the province of Limburg. ...

. The Amstenrade Castle is located in the village.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1274 as Anstenroden, and means "cultivation of the forest of Ansto (person)". Amstenrade developed in the Middle Ages on a plateau. The area was cultivated in the 13th century from the

Geleenbeek The Geleenbeek (; li, Gelaenbaek ) is a river in Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the Netherlands. Its source is near the village Benzenrade, part of the city of Heerlen. It flows generally northwest, along Nuth, Schinnen, Spaubeek, turns north at ...

onwards. It was originally a ''

heerlijkheid A ''heerlijkheid'' (a Dutch word; pl. ''heerlijkheden''; also called ''heerschap''; Latin: ''Dominium'') was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas in the Dutch-speaking Low Countries before 1800. ...

''. In 1654, it was elevated to

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. The village concentrated around Amstenrade Castle and the road from

Sittard Sittard (; ) is a city in the Netherlands, situated in the southernmost province of Limburg. The town is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen and has almost 37.500 inhabitants in 2016. In its east, Sittard borders the German municipali ...

. The Catholic Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church is a three aisled church with two tower which was built between 1852 and 1856. In 1932, it was enlarged according to a design by

Pierre Cuypers Petrus Josephus Hubertus "Pierre" Cuypers (16 May 1827 – 3 March 1921) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889) and the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885), both in Amsterdam. M ...

and his son

Joseph Cuypers Josephus Theodorus Joannes Cuypers (10 June 1861, Roermond - 20 January 1949, Meerssen) was a Dutch architect; primarily known for his Catholic churches. Life and work He was born to the architect, Pierre Cuypers, and his wife, Antoinette née ...

. Amstenrade was home to 502 people in 1840. Between 1839 and 1982, Amstenrade was a separate municipality. It became part of the municipality of

in 2019.

Amstenrade Castle

The original dated from the late-13th century. The tower is the oldest extant part and dates from 1609. In 1780, most of the castle was demolished, and a new castle was built in neoclassic style, however the right wing and north-eastern tower remained unchanged. The castle is still in use as a residential house.

Gallery

File:Kasteel Amstenrade.jpg, Amstenrade Castle File:Amstenrade-Kerk (2).JPG, Catholic church File:Amstenrade-Oudestraat 5.JPG, House in Amstenrade File:Amstenrade-Hommerter Allee 78 (2).JPG, Farm in Amstenrade

References

{{Authority control Former municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands) Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands) Beekdaelen