The Oude Maasje ("Little Old Meuse") is a former distributary of the river Maas (or

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 ...

), which runs parallel to the current canalised

Bergse Maas The Bergse Maas (; pre-1947 spelling: Bergsche Maas) is a canal that was constructed in 1904 to be a branch of the river Maas (French: Meuse) in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The Maas splits near Heusden into the Afgedamde Maas and the Be ...

History

The hydrological distribution of the Maas changed during the later Middle Ages, when a major flood forced it to shift its main course towards the

Merwede The Merwede () etymology uncertain, possibly derived from the ancient Dutch language, Dutch ''Merwe'' or ''Merowe'', a word meaning "wide water") is the name of several connected stretches of river in the Netherlands, between the cities of Woudrich ...

river. However, during another series of severe floods the Maas found an additional path towards the sea near

Geertruidenberg Geertruidenberg () is a city and municipality in the province North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands. The city, named after Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, received city rights in 1213 from the count of Holland. The fortified city prospered un ...

, resulting in the creation of the

Biesbosch De Biesbosch National Park is one of the largest national parks of the Netherlands and one of the last extensive areas of freshwater tidal wetlands in Northwestern Europe. The Biesbosch ('forest of sedges' or 'rushwoods') consists of a large n ...

wetlands and

Hollands Diep Hollands Diep ( pre-1947 spelling: Hollandsch Diep) is a wide river in the Netherlands and an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. Through the Scheldt-Rhine Canal it connects to the Scheldt river and Antwerp. The Bergse Maas river and the N ...

estuaries. Thereafter, the Maas split near

Heusden Heusden () is a municipality and a town in the South of the Netherlands. It is located between the towns of Waalwijk and 's-Hertogenbosch. The municipality of Heusden, including Herpt, Heesbeen, Hedikhuizen, Doeveren, and Oudheusden, merged with ...

into two main distributaries, one flowing north to join the Merwede, and one flowing directly to the sea. This latter branch is the current Oude Maasje. The branch eventually silted up, and in 1904 a new parallel channel was dug in the drainage basin, the

. This channel then took over the functions of the silted-up branch, which has since been known as the Oude Maasje. At the same time, the branch leading to the Merwede was dammed at Heusden, (and has since been known as the

Afgedamde Maas The Afgedamde Maas (; Dammed-up Meuse) is a former distributary of the Maas River (French: Meuse) in the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Gelderland. The Maas splits near Heusden with one channel flowing north until its confluence with the r ...

) so that the vast majority of water from the Maas now enters the old Hollands Diep estuary, rather than mixing with the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

distributaries. Like many old river beds in the Netherlands, the Oude Maasje now primarily acts to drain the surrounding fields, and does not receive water from the Maas river. However, it drains into the Bergse Maas near Geertruidenberg, therefore retaining a connection with the Maas. {{coord, 51, 43, N, 4, 59, E, display=title, region:NL-NB_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Rivers of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Rivers of North Brabant Rivers of the Netherlands Geertruidenberg Waalwijk