The Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park (German : Naturpark Maas-Schwalm-Nette; Dutch : Grenspark Maas-Swalm-Nette) or NMSM is a cross-border nature park in Germany and the Netherlands, which was founded in 2002. It is a regionally important recreation area.
The park has an area of 870 km². Its name comes from the major rivers that flow through it, the Maas (English: Meuse), Schwalm and Nette.
The park is often confused with the Schwalm-Nette Nature Park which was founded in 1965 and has since been integrated into the NMSN.
It covers an area that includes the counties of Kleve, Viersen and Heinsberg as well as the town of Mönchengladbach in Germany and in the municipalities of Roermond, Roerdalen, Venlo, Echt-Susteren, Leudal and Maasgouw in the Netherlands.
Within the Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park is the nature reserve of Krickenbecker Seen with its four lakes that were formed by peat cutting. On the territory of Niederkrüchten lies the only juniper heath of the Lower Rhine Region, surrounded by the Elmpter Schwalmbruch. In addition the Kaldenkirchen Border Forest (Nettetal) with its arboretum, the Sequoia Farm and the geo-hydrological water garden is part of the park.
21 visitor centres provide information about the landscape, art, nature, culture and history of the park. Numerous excursions and activities are also offered.
Its water balance was and is affected by the brown coal open-cast pits south of Mönchengladbach. After the Garzweiler I pit had been exhausted, work began on Garzweiler II. This is slowly approaching Mönchengladbach and also the NMSN. [1]
Limburg is the southernmost of the 12 provinces of the Netherlands. The province is in the southern part of the country, stretched out from the north, where it touches the province of Gelderland. Its northern part has the province of North Brabant to its west. Its long eastern boundary is the international border with the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Much of the western and southern boundary is the international border with the Belgium, much of it delineated by the Meuse river, across from the Belgian Liège Province and the Belgian province also named Limburg. The Vaalserberg is on the extreme south-eastern point, marking the tripoint of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
Roermond is a city, a municipality, and a diocese in the southeastern part of the Netherlands.
Venlo is a city and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, within a couple of miles of the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg. The municipality of Venlo counted 101,578 inhabitants as of January 2019.
An arboretum in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees. More commonly a modern arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants and is intended at least in part for scientific study.
The Schwalm (German) or Swalm (Dutch), is a small river in Germany and the Netherlands, tributary to the river Meuse. Its source is near Wegberg, in the district Heinsberg, south-west of Mönchengladbach, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). The Schwalm flows through Wegberg and Brüggen before flowing into the Meuse across the border with the Netherlands, in Swalmen. Its total length is 45 km.
The Iron Rhine or Steel Rhine is a partially nonoperational freight railway connecting the port of Antwerp (Belgium) and Mönchengladbach (Germany) by way of Neerpelt and the Dutch towns of Weert and Roermond.
Brüggen is a municipality in the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Schwalm, approx. 15 km south of Venlo and 20 km north-west of Mönchengladbach.
Wegberg is the northernmost town in the district of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Royal Air Force Wildenrath, commonly known as RAF Wildenrath, was a Royal Air Force military airbase near Wildenrath in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany that operated from 1952 to 1992. Wildenrath was the first of four 'Clutch' stations built for the RAF in Germany during the early 1950s. It opened on 15 January 1952, and was followed by RAF Geilenkirchen on 24 May 1953, RAF Brüggen in July 1953 and RAF Laarbruch that opened on 15 October 1954. RAF Wildenrath, RAF Brüggen and RAF Laarbruch were close to each other and came under the auspices of NATO's Second Allied Tactical Air Force (2ATAF).
Nettetal is a municipality in the district of Viersen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated in the Lower Rhine region.
The Nette is a small river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, a left tributary of the Niers. It rises near Dülken, a borough of Viersen. The Nette flows through Viersen-Boisheim and Nettetal before reaching the Niers in Wachtendonk. Its total length is 28 kilometres (17 mi); its drainage area is 166 km2 (64 sq mi).
Dülken is a town located in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany. It has a population of about 20,000. It is part of the municipality of Viersen. It received its town charter in 1364 thus being the oldest part of the municipality of Viersen. It lies in the administrative region of Düsseldorf. The river Nette having its source underground in the middle of the town rises near the town. The town motto is, "Gloria tibi Duelken", or "Glory to you, Duelken".
Venlo railway station is located in Venlo, the Netherlands. It is situated on the Maastricht–Venlo railway, the Viersen–Venlo railway, the Venlo–Eindhoven railway and the Nijmegen–Venlo railway.
Wildenrath is a township within the municipality of Wegberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town is situated on the Bundesstraße 221 between Wassenberg and Arsbeck on the edge of the Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park and close to the border with the Netherlands.
Service Children's Education (SCE) is an organisation of the United Kingdom government responsible for the education of the children of British Armed Forces families and Ministry of Defence (MoD) personnel serving outside of the United Kingdom. They provide schools and educational support services from Foundation Stage through to sixth form. They are headquartered at Trenchard Lines, Upavon, Wiltshire.
Claes Oldenburg is a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions of everyday objects. Many of his works were made in collaboration with his wife, Coosje van Bruggen, who died in 2009; they had been married for 32 years. Oldenburg lives and works in New York.
Kaldenkirchen is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, situated close to the Dutch border at Venlo. It is part of the municipality of Nettetal.
The Kaldenkirchen Sequoia Farm is a German arboretum that has been used as a biological institute for many years. Part of the protected area in the city of Nettetal, it is situated in the "Kaldenkirchen Grenzwald". Nettetal lies in the Lower Rhine region of Germany.
Nick Spanos and Stephen Melrose were Australian tourists shot dead in Roermond, the Netherlands by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 27 May 1990, which stated it had mistaken them for off-duty British soldiers. The attack was part of an IRA campaign in Continental Europe.
The Viersen–Venlo railway is a railway line running from Viersen in Germany to Venlo in the Netherlands. The line was opened in 1866 by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company. Formerly used by international passenger trains between The Hague and Cologne, it is now only used by the Maas-Wupper-Express service from Venlo to Hamm via Düsseldorf and Hagen. It is also an important link for freight transport.
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