Mook en Middelaar (; li, Mook en Middelar) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in the upper southeastern part of 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 ...

, at the northern tip of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

of Limburg and is a part of Stadsregio Arnhem Nijmegen. The municipality is located about 100 km from provincial capital

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 ...

and has an area of of which is water.

Population centres

History

The municipality is situated in wooded rolling

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris ( regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice sh ...

landscape, created during the last ice age, about 160,000 years ago. In Plasmolen the remains of a Roman villa from the 2nd century AD were found and on the banks of 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 ...

are the remains of a

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 lett ...

bridge. These remains are from the 4th century. The Mookerheide ("Mook Heath"), situated on the border of Mook, saw the Battle of Mookerheyde in 1574 which was fought as part of the

Eighty Years War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Ref ...

. Spanish forces under Sancho d'Avila defeated the rebel forces of Louis of Nassau, who was killed. The ''Mookerschans'' and ''Heumense schans'' were defenses on the ''Mookerheide'' probably from the 17th century. (At that time the Mookerheide area extended all the way to the citywalls of

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

) The historical ''Mookerheideschans'' (defense work) has been restored and offers a beautiful view over the Meuse valley. Middelaar belonged to Overkwartier (Upper Quarter) of

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders ( nl, Gelre, french: Gueldre, german: Geldern) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in p ...

Upper Guelders {{unreferenced, date=November 2011 Upper Guelders or Spanish Guelders was one of the four quarters in the Imperial Duchy of Guelders. In the Dutch Revolt, it was the only quarter that did not secede from the Habsburg monarchy to become part of t ...

. During the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

Middelaar was occupied by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

n troops, and it remained German for about a century (until 1814). In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

a fierce battle raged around this area. In May 1940 the invaders were stopped by large bunkers on the Brabant-side of the Meuse, the railway bridge between Mook and Katwijk was blown up. In September 1944 Mook, Plasmolen and Middelaar were in the front area and the war caused much devastation. While under fire of German guns that were shooting from the woods near Groesbeek, allied soldiers had to secure the Heumen bridge over the Maas-Waal canal that was an important hub for

operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, ...

. Fierce fighting caused the front to move so the little village, of which most houses were shot in this period, was liberated to fall back in German hands, to be liberated again. Soldiers killed in this vicinity during World War II found their final resting place in Mook War Cemetery Most inhabitants of Mook and Middelaar sought refuge elsewhere until the liberation. To support the cement industry, sand was dug out in the fields next to the river Maas (known as 'Cuyksesteeg') which consequently lead to the forming of the Mookerplassen recreational lakes, between Middelaar and the Mookerheide. After a couple of floodings in the 80's and 90's a removable lock was built to save the area from flooding again.

Public transport

Mook and the municipality is served by three bus lines and has its own train station, Mook-Molenhoek railway station.

Notable residents

Karel Martens Karel Martens (born 1939) is a Dutch freelance graphic designer, specialized in typography Biography Martens was born in Mook en Middelaar in 1939 and graduated from the Arnhem Academy of Art and Industrial Arts of the Netherlands in 1961 where ...

(born 1939) a Dutch freelance graphic designer, specialises in

typography Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

* Serge Daan (1940–2018) a Dutch scientist, contributed to the field of

chronobiology Chronobiology is a field of biology that examines timing processes, including periodic (cyclic) phenomena in living organisms, such as their adaptation to solar- and lunar-related rhythms. These cycles are known as biological rhythms. Chronob ...

Arjen Teeuwissen Arjen Gerald Teeuwissen (born March 29, 1971) is an equestrian from the Netherlands, who won the silver medal in the Team Dressage event at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He did so alongside Anky van Grunsven, Ellen Bontje, and Co ...

(born 1971), equestrian, team silver medallist at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

Marko Koers Marko Ewout Koers (born November 3, 1972, in Molenhoek, Limburg) is a retired middle distance runner from the Netherlands, who represented his native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1992. He competed in the 800 and 150 ...

(born 1972) a retired middle distance runner, competed at three consecutive Summer Olympics from 1992

Gallery

Image:Mook, voormalig stadhuis foto3 2010-06-21 11.59.JPG, Mook, former town hall Image:Mook, de Sint-Antoniuskerk RM30073 IMG 8394 2021-02-22 13.54.jpg, Mook, church Image:Mookerplas, panorama2 foto2 2010-06-21 12.22.JPG, Mookerplas Image:Middelaar Rijksmonument 30071 Lambertuskerk.JPG, Middelaar, church File:Molenhoek-stationsstraat-08200009.jpg, Molenhoek-stationsstraat Image:Mookerheide, view towards Cuijk, Mook, the Netherlands.jpg, Mookerheide near Mook File:Molenhoek (Mook en Middelaar, Limburg, NL) church.JPG, Molenhoek church, Mook en Middelaar File:Mookerheide.jpg, Mookerheide

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands)