Broekhuizen is a village in the
Dutch province of
Limburg. It is a part of the municipality of
Horst aan de Maas, and lies about 14 km north of
Venlo
Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), ...
.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1246 as Iohanne de Bruchusen, and means "houses near swampy land". Broekhuizen developed on the
Maas in the Early Middle Ages. It used to be part of the . In 1323, it became part of the
Duchy of Guelders
The Duchy of Guelders (; ; ) 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 present-day Germany. Though the present pr ...
. In 1484, it became an independent parish. In 1648, it became part of the
Spanish Netherlands
The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...
. In 1713, it belonged to
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
, and finally in 1815, it became part of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...
.
The St Nicolaas is a single-aisled church which was built around 1500. After a fire in 1862, it was extensively restored in 1885 and 1886. It was damaged in 1944, and partially rebuilt in 1951–1952.
The Broekhuizen castle had been known to exist since the 13th century. A tower was built around 1473, and in 1732 a manor house was attached to the tower. The castle was restored in 1399, but was destroyed during the
Battle of Broekhuizen in 1944. German ''
fallschirmjäger
The () were the airborne forces branch of the Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They were commanded by Kurt Student, the Luftwaffe's second-in-comman ...
'' had taken possession of the castle and were attacked by the British Army. The remains except for the cellar were later demolished in 1990.
Broekhuizen was home to 210 people in 1840.
It was a separate municipality until 2001, when it was merged with
Horst aan de Maas.
Gallery
File:Veerpont in de Maas bij Broekhuizen (Horst aan de Maas) in provincie Limburg in Nederland 03.jpg, Ferry over the Maas
File:Exterieur ruïne - Broekhuizen - 20043586 - RCE.jpg, Ruins of Broekhuizen Castle (1959)
File:Broekhuizen-veerweg-208356.jpg, House in Broekhuizen
File:Broekhuizen-veerweg-208358.jpg, Shop in Broekhuizen
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broekhuizen, Limburg
Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2001
Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands)
Former municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands)
Horst aan de Maas