Helle (; ) is a

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

in the

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

Beekdaelen Beekdaelen (; ) 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 hall of the m ...

in the province of Limburg, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is one of the so-called ''Bovengehuchten'', or Upper Hamlets, of Beekdaelen. It is located between the village of

Schimmert Schimmert (; ) is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Beekdaelen. History The village was first mentioned in the mid-11th century as "de Scinmottera". The etymology is unclear. Schimmert is a villa ...

and the hamlet Terstraten. The name Helle probably originates from ''helde'', or ''hill''. This could be a reference to the many

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

s and hollow ways near the hamlet. South of Helle flows the stream Platsbeek through a varied landscape of forest, grassland and

puddle A puddle is a very small accumulation of liquid, usually water, on a surface. It can form either by pooling in a depression on the surface, or by surface tension upon a flat surface. Puddles are often characterized by murky water or mud due to t ...

s. It used to have place name signs, but they have removed the signs after 2005. Helle was home to 180 people in 1840. Nowadays, it consists of about 10 houses.

References

* Hoven, Frank van den (2003) Op ontdekkingsreis door Zuid-Limburg : Reisgids en naslagwerk voor toeristen en streekbewoners (Filatop Streekreeks nr.3). , p. 420 Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands) Beekdaelen {{LimburgNL-geo-stub