Huls ( Limburgish: ''De Huls'') is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the southeastern

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 part of the municipality of

Simpelveld Simpelveld (; li, Zumpelveld ) is a municipality and a town in the southeastern Netherlands. It is part of the municipal cooperative unit Parkstad Limburg. Simpelveld is part of the ''Mergelland'', named after the presence of chalk (mergel), hi ...

in the 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 ...

, about 20 km east of

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

. The village lies on a hill, north of

, and south of Ubachsberg. In 2008 the village had a population of 350 on an area of 0.44 km². On the hillside south of Huls lies Hulsveld, a hamlet sharing the same name with a population of 1630. Since the hamlets share a single built-up area, and are both located on the hill called Huls, the village Huls is sometimes mistaken to include Hulsveld. https://www.plaatsengids.nl/huls Huls], Plaatsengids.nl, viewed on 20 August 2016

Etymology

An archive from 1454 refers to Huls as "die Heuls". The name is believed to refer to Ilex aquifolium, holly plants, hulst in Dutch, that used to grow in the area.Huls (gemeente Simpelveld)
Rijckheyt archives for the municipalities Brunssum,

Gulpen-Wittem Gulpen-Wittem (; li, Gullepe-Wittem ) is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands (in the province of Limburg) with inhabitants as of . Gulpen-Wittem came into being after the merger of the municipalities Gulpen and Wittem. This took pla ...

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 ...

Nuth Nuth (; li, Nut ) is a village and was a municipality in the province of Limburg, situated in the southern Netherlands. In January 2019, the municipality merged with Schinnen and Onderbanken to form Beekdaelen. The village of Nuth has 4,595 inha ...

and

Voerendaal Voerendaal (; li, Voelender) is a municipality and a town in the southeastern Netherlands. Population centres ''Dutch topographic map of the municipality of Voerendaal, June 2015'' History The Romans left the ruins from a Roman villa rustic ...

, viewed on 20 August 2016 Due to the location on a hill the people off Huls are locally referred to as living "on Huls" instead of living "in Huls".

History

The remains of three

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

farms were found in the village, including a large villa, which were built between 75-100 CE by retired soldiers and public servants who were granted land in the area. These farms were destroyed around 250 CE by Germanic invaders. Archeological findings show Huls was inhabited during the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

and

Carolingian era The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lo ...

. In 1840 Huls was made up out of 29 houses and had a population of 135. At this time Huls also included the separate area of Lauvenberg, which is no longer mentioned in atlasses. In 2008 the village had a population of 350 on an area of 0.44 km², and a population density of 795 per km².

Geography

The area is made up out of inliers and outliers. The Huls hill lies on the southern edge of the Plateau of Ubachsberg above the

Eyserbeek The Eyserbeek (; li, Ezerbaek ) is a river in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. The Eyserbeek is a right-bank tributary to the river Geul, which later joins the Meuse. Rising in Bocholtz and flowing through Simpelveld and Eys, the Eyserbe ...

valley in the south. Between 1 and 2 million years ago it was part of the island of Ubachsberg in the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

river. With a height of 215 meters above NAP the Huls hill is one of the highest point in the European part of the Netherlands. It was long believed that the plateau of Ubachsberg was in fact the highest point in the Netherlands, because from the top at

Vrouwenheide The Vrouwenheide (''Women's heath'') is a hill in the Netherlands and former heath, heath land, just south of Ubachsberg in the municipality of Voerendaal. With a height of 218 metres above Amsterdam Ordnance Datum, NAP it is one of the highest p ...

you can see over the top of the

Vaalserberg The Vaalserberg (, Ripuarian: ) is a hill with a height of above NAP and is the highest point in the European part of the Netherlands, also known as "Dutch Mountains". The Vaalserberg is located in the province of Limburg, at the south-east ...

, to see the even higher hills from the German Eifel.

Culture

In the centre of the village lies the Joseph the Worker Church, which was built in 1955 on the top of the hill, and is surrounded by an open area. This was originally the location of a small chapel. The non-oriented aisleless church served as an assisting church for the Saint Remigius parish in Simpelveld. In 2012 the church was taken out of service due to a gradual general decline of

church attendance Church attendance is a central religious practice for many Christians; some Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church require church attendance on the Lord's Day (Sunday); the Westminster Confession of Faith is held by the Reformed ...

in the diocese. North of Huls lies the Keverberg manor. First mentioned in 1380 the manor burned down in the late 19th century and was rebuilt in

neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style in 1890. The manor retains its original arcaded basements. On the front of the manor is a tower with

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

s and a balcony with corbels. Before the municipal reorganisation of 1981 the castle was part of

.Keverberg, hoeve (Simpelveld)
Rijckheyt archives for the municipalities Brunssum,

and

, viewed on 20 August 2016 The Huls is part of the

Mergellandroute The Mergellandroute ("marl land route") is a tourist route through South Limburg, Netherlands, mapped out by the ANWB. The Mergellandroute goes mostly through the local hills, which are in contrast with the lesser relief found in the rest of the ...

, a tourist route for cars and bikes through

South Limburg South Limburg (Dutch: ''Zuid-Limburg'', Limburgish: ''Zuud-Limburg'') is both a COROP (statistical) region as well as a '' landstreek'' (area) of the Netherlands located in the province of Limburg. The Dutch term ''landstreek'', literally transla ...

, mapped out by the

ANWB The Royal Dutch Touring Club ANWB (), known simply as ANWB (), is a travelers' association in the Netherlands, supporting all modes of travel. It provides test reports, travel services and roadside assistance and is comparable to the German ''A ...

. Due to the hills, the Huls and surrounding areas are part of the

Amstel Gold Race The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic road cycling race held in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classic ...

, a

road bicycle race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

Gallery

File:Map - NL - Simpelveld - Wijk 00 Simpelveld - Buurt 02 Huls.svg, Location of Huls in Simpelveld File:Simpelveld-Zwingelput Huls (1).JPG, Water well File:De Huls.jpg, Huls hill looking south towards Simpelveld File:HulsWaegkruts.jpg, Wayside cross File:Boerderij nr. 29a te Huls - Huls - 20118974 - RCE.jpg, Farmhouse at Huls 29 File:Amstel Gold Race 2015.png, Huls (nr 19) on the route of the

2015 Amstel Gold Race The 2015 Amstel Gold Race was the 50th edition of the Amstel Gold Race one-day race. It took place on 19 April and was the eleventh race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The Amstel Gold Race formed part of the Ardennes classics season, although it too ...

File:Kaart met plateaus en dalen Zuid-Limburg.PNG, Elevation map of South Limburg, "U" is the Plateau of Ubachsberg File:Overzicht voorgevel woongedeelte met toren met kantelen - Simpelveld - 20355889 - RCE.jpg, Keverberg manor

References

External links

{{coord, 50.844722, 5.969444, type:landmark_region:NL, format=dms, display=title Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands) Simpelveld