Mook en Middelaar is a municipality in the far north of the Dutch province of Limburg. The municipality has 7,879 inhabitants (1 August 2020, source: CBS) and has an area of 18.82 km² (of which 0.48 km² is water). Until this collaboration model was discontinued by the national government, the municipality of Mook en Middelaar was part of the Arnhem Nijmegen City Region. In the west the municipality borders on North Brabant, in the north on Gelderland. The municipality of Mook en Middelaar is called the bridge between the Maas and the hills. The hills, the forest and the heather largely make the municipality a special nature reserve. Tourism and recreation are important pillars of municipal policy.
Remains of a villa in Plasmolen and a bridge over the
Maas between Middelaar and Cuijk point to the Roman past. At the
bottom of the Sint-Jansberg estate in Plasmolen are the remains of a
Roman villa from the 2nd century AD. In the 1930s, Leiden
archaeologist Braat conducted extensive research into the villa
remains. According to information from the then National Service for
Archaeological Soil Research (ROB), this concerns the remains of the
largest known Roman main building in the Netherlands. The dimensions
are approximately 85 × 24 meters. These remains were designated in
1978 as a legally protected archaeological national monument. In
2001, the city council decided to conserve and visualize the remains
of the Roman villa. The size of this Roman villa is made clear by
means of an information board and a steel construction.
The
remains of a Roman bridge are located on the banks of the Maas near
the Cuijksesteeg. These remains date from the 4th century AD. The
bridge had a length of 450 meters. The Roman bridge has been
designated as a protected archaeological monument by the national
government.
Mook is best known for the Battle of the
Mookerheide on April 14, 1574, a battle between the Orange and the
Spaniards during the Eighty Years' War. At that time, the
Mookerheide still stretched to the city walls of Nijmegen. One of
the most famous stories about the Battle of the Mookerheide is about
Kiste Trui, who dedicated her life to searching for the treasure of
the Nassau brothers.
The Mookerschans and Heumense schans are
defenses on the Mookerheide, probably from the 17th century. From
these redoubts one had an unobstructed view of the lower Maas valley
with the north-south route over land and water. The Mookerschans is
located in a mixed coniferous and deciduous forest in a sloping
moray landscape, which originated in the penultimate ice age, about
160,000 years ago. The historic Mookerheideschans (defense work) has
been restored and offers a beautiful view over the Maasdal. The area
is located northeast of Mook and north of Groesbeekseweg. The area
is owned by the municipality of Mook en Middelaar. Walking is
possible in the area, it is also possible to obtain a map or map of
the terrain. The Heumense redoubt is a similar fieldwork and is
owned by Natuurmonumenten.
The places between the Meuse and
the German border were owned by large landowners. The entire area
that now forms the province of Limburg consisted of a large number
of duchies and manors. The tip of North Limburg was then still
Prussian territory. Mook was located in the Duchy of Cleves and
Mediator in the Duchy of Guelders. During the French occupation, the
municipality of Mook en Middelaar was formed on October 23, 1800. An
old boundary stone on the Katerbosseweg recalls the former duchies.
Mediator belonged to the Overkwartier of Gelre or Spanish Upper
Guelders. During the War of the Spanish Succession it was occupied
by Prussian troops, and as part of Prussian Upper Gelre it remained
Prussian for about a century (until 1814).
From 1900, in the
footsteps of the Amsterdam painter Jacques van Mourik, many dozens
of artists for short and longer periods settled in the municipality,
especially in Plasmolen, which quickly developed into a lively
artists' colony.
During the Second World War, a fierce battle
raged in the municipality of Mook en Middelaar. In May 1940, the
invaders were stopped by the large casemate line on the Brabant side
of the Maas, where Katwijk (a / d Maas) caught fire and the railway
bridge between Mook and Katwijk was blown up.
In September
1944 Mook, Plasmolen and Middelaar were also in the front area and
the violence of war caused much devastation. On September 17 during
Operation Market Garden, American paratroopers landed between
Groesbeek and Mook, the Germans blew up the railway bridge over the
Maas. The Americans managed to free Mook that day. On February 20,
the Germans launched a counter-attack, but on September 21, Mook was
finally liberated. The inhabitants of the municipality of Mook en
Middelaar sought refuge elsewhere until the liberation. On February
8, the Allied advance towards Germany was resumed with Operation
Veritable.
On March 30, 1994, the congregation formed a
friendship with the Czech Přibyslav.