Groesbeek
Encyclopedia
Groesbeek is a municipalityMunicipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
and a town in the eastern Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Description
Groesbeek is named after a small stream called the Groesbeek, (beek means stream or burn in Dutch) which in its original form doesn't exist anymore. Hills and forests surround the town, and, because of this, Groesbeek was isolated in the past, with a close community and a strong dialect.Geography
Groesbeek and KranenburgKranenburg
Kranenburg is the name of* Kranenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, municipality in the district Cleves, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany,* Kranenburg, Lower Saxony, municipality in the district Stade, Lower Saxony, Germany....
are situated on the banks of the Groesbeek, a small stream in the Groesbeek valley, a large valley between the Nijmeegse heuvelrug and Reichswald
Reichswald
A Reichswald designates a historic woodland under imperial protection and usage in the lands of the former Holy Roman Empire. It may refer to:* Nürnberger Reichswald — an old cultivated forest with near Nuremberg, which is today a nature reserve....
. The Groesbeek valley was carved out by glaciers during the Saale glacial, marking the southernmost expansion of ice-age glaciers in the Netherlands. The hills surrounding the valley in which Groesbeek lies are technically the terminal moraines of those glaciers, but in contrast to the hills in the central and eastern Netherlands, these hills are rising by 0.5-0.8 mm/year due to tectonic uplift
Tectonic uplift
Tectonic uplift is a geological process most often caused by plate tectonics which increases elevation. The opposite of uplift is subsidence, which results in a decrease in elevation. Uplift may be orogenic or isostatic.-Orogenic uplift:...
.
Due to this, the topography is much more varied here than in other higher grounds with similar origins in the Netherlands.
Finally, during the Younger Dryas
Younger Dryas
The Younger Dryas stadial, also referred to as the Big Freeze, was a geologically brief period of cold climatic conditions and drought between approximately 12.8 and 11.5 ka BP, or 12,800 and 11,500 years before present...
stadial, large amounts of loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
were deposited in the valley, making it extremely fertile, while the hills around it are composed to this day of sandy loam unsuitable for intensive agriculture, so that the area has been covered with thick forests to this day. This contributed to the isolation of the area, especially considering the extent of the forests in the Middle Ages was much larger than today. The isolation of the valley was only alleviated by the arrival of the railway in 1865 and finally lifted in the interbellum by the construction of a high capacity paved road to nearby Nijmegen.
World War II
During Operation Market GardenOperation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time....
the 82nd Airborne Division landed near Groesbeek. In the subsequent fighting the town was nearly completely destroyed and inhabitants were evacuated. The National Liberation museum is based in Groesbeek on one of the landing sites of operation Market Garden, and the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery
Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery
The Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery and Memorial is located about three kilometers north of the village of Groesbeek, Netherlands. The cemetery contains 2,338 Canadian soldiers of World War II....
also resides there.
Modern Groesbeek
Groesbeek is also well known in the Netherlands for its football teams. Despite having under 20,000 inhabitants, Groesbeek had three clubs playing in the Hoofdklasse
Hoofdklasse
The Hoofdklasse is the 2nd highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fourth tier in general.-Background:The league is divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunday. This is a result of the traditional pillarisation , the segregation of Dutch society. The Saturday-clubs are by...
, the country's highest amateur level, at the same time (De Treffers
De Treffers
De Treffers is an amateur football club from Groesbeek, The Netherlands.The club is currently ranked in the Topklasse, the highest amateur league in the Netherlands and the third tier of Dutch football.-History:...
, Germania and Achilles '29
Achilles '29
Achilles '29 is a football club from Groesbeek, the Netherlands. The club, which was founded in 1929, is currently playing in the Topklasse.- Current squad :...
) for 2 seasons. There are also 3 other football teams named: D.V.S.G., Groesbeekse boys and Rood-Wit. The town's football culture has been featured both on Dutch national television (NOS) and in Panorama magazine.
The town is also well known as the setting of the third day of the Nijmeegse Vierdaagse
International Four Days Marches Nijmegen
The International Four Day Marches Nijmegen is the largest marching event in the world. It is organised every year in Nijmegen in mid-July as a means of promoting sport and exercise. Participants walk 30, 40 or 50 kilometers daily, and, on completion, receive a royally approved medal...
when walkers participating in this international event have to pass through the town and the surrounding hills.
Another thing Groesbeek is famous for is that it has one of the biggest parades in the Netherlands on the Sunday of the Catholic carnival. Because of its huge success places are now going to be limited as the parade is getting too big.
In the area
The town has three notable museums: the Africa Museum, the National Liberation Museum and the Bible Open Air Museum. The Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery and MemorialGroesbeek Canadian War Cemetery
The Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery and Memorial is located about three kilometers north of the village of Groesbeek, Netherlands. The cemetery contains 2,338 Canadian soldiers of World War II....
is located about two kilometers north of the town.
Population centres
- Berg en DalBerg en DalBerg en Dal is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located to the southeast of the city of Nijmegen. The largest part of the village lies in the municipality of Groesbeek, but a small part lies in Ubbergen....
(partly in UbbergenUbbergenUbbergen is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands.- Population centres :Beek, Berg en Dal, Erlecom, Groenlanden, Kekerdom, Leuth, Ooij, Persingen, Tiengeboden, Ubbergen and Wercheren.-External links:*...
municipality) - Breedeweg
- De HorstDe HorstDe Horst is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Groesbeek, about 2 km east of that village....
- De Heikant / Cranenburgestraat
- Groesbeek
- Heilig Landstichting (De factoDe factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
a neighbourhood of Nijmegen) - WylerWyler-People:* Allen Wyler, a neurosurgeon and author* Gretchen Wyler, American actress* Lia Wyler, a Brazilian translator* Mason Wyler, an actor in gay pornography* Robert Wyler, American film producer* William Wyler, film director-Other:...
(Mainly in German KranenburgKranenburgKranenburg is the name of* Kranenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, municipality in the district Cleves, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany,* Kranenburg, Lower Saxony, municipality in the district Stade, Lower Saxony, Germany....
municipality) - Grafwegen ( Mainly in KranenburgKranenburgKranenburg is the name of* Kranenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, municipality in the district Cleves, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany,* Kranenburg, Lower Saxony, municipality in the district Stade, Lower Saxony, Germany....
municipality).