Wittem ( Dutch: [ˈʋɪtəm] , Limburgish : [ˈwɪtəm] ) is a small village in the Dutch province of Limburg . It is located in the municipality of Gulpen-Wittem .
6-637: The village was first mentioned in 1125 as Witham, and means "silted land in a bend in a waterway". Wittem developed in the Early Middle Ages. In the 13th century, a castle was built near the confluence of the Selzerbeek with the Geul . It used to be a free heerlijkheid (=no fief), but was bought by Ferdinand Adolph von Plettenberg in 1722 and elevated to barony in 1732. Wittem Castle is surrounded by two moats. The tower and southern wing date from
12-431: The 13th century. The west wing was added in the 15th century. In 1569, it was damaged by Spanish troops. The southern wing was extended around 1700. In 1968, the castle was restored and converted into a hotel-restaurant. The Catholic St Alphonsus of Liguori and Johannes Nepomuk Church was built between 1729 and 1733. Between 1845 and 1847, a chapel was added to the south-west side. Wittem was home to 130 people in 1840. It
18-565: The German border, south of the German town of Aachen . From there, after flowing some 20 kilometres (12 mi) in a northwestern direction, it leaves Belgium and enters the Netherlands at Cottessen in the Vaals municipality. After a further 38 kilometres (24 mi) in a west-northwestern direction through the southernmost part of Limburg , which in its turn is the most southern province of
24-773: The Meuse. This pollution is a result of former zinc and lead mining activities near the Belgian towns of Kelmis (La Calamine) and Plombières (formerly named Bleiberg). The last one of these mines have closed early in the 20th century. One of the reasons for giving up mining activities in Plombières was the occasional flooding of the mine by the Geul, as the bedrock (mainly Carboniferous limestone ) contains many faults and fissures. Although mine factory buildings have been demolished, old railway dikes still are abundantly present in
30-476: The Netherlands, it flows into the Meuse, north of the city of Maastricht . A tributary of the Geul is the Gulp . Places through which the Geul passes are among others Kelmis (Belgium), Valkenburg aan de Geul , including Schin op Geul , and Meerssen (Netherlands). The water of the Geul is polluted seriously with heavy metals zinc and lead and as a result also is a serious source of heavy metal inflow into
36-582: Was a separate municipality until 1999, when it merged with Gulpen . Geul The Geul ( [ˈɣøːl] , Limburgish: [ˈɣøːl] ; German : Göhl [ˈɡøːl] ; French : Gueule [ɡœl] ) is a river in Belgium and in the Netherlands , where it is a right-bank tributary to the river Meuse . The source of the Geul is at about 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level in northeastern Belgium near
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