Nuth, Stein and Geleen

The Meuse rises in faraway France near Pouilly-en-Bassigny and is an important part of the cycling tour on Dutch territory. With the sound of the rippling water in the background, you can enjoy all the beauty that the Meuse and surrounding nature has to offer during this route.

In the past it was already an important shipping route, although it was sometimes difficult to navigate the Meuse. This problem worsened when in 1843 our southern neighbours constructed the Bocholt-Herentals canal and tapped water from the Meuse to irrigate infertile Kempen soils. Despite the fact that a treaty was concluded in 1863 to solve this problem for the Netherlands, from 1915 onwards hard work was done to increase the water supply of the Meuse by building weirs, constructing canals and cutting off Meuse bends. Because the water level is strongly dependent on rainfall, the water is metres high in the winter, while in the summer the river is almost dry.

The mysterious depth and power of the river is the atmosphere-defining aspect of your bike ride. It is wonderful to follow the banks of the Meuse and let your thoughts be carried away by the mass of water. Large and small freight, steam and sailing ships sail steadily past and give you a good idea of the importance of the Netherlands to water transport.

An interesting contrast is formed by the highly urbanised area of Stein and Geleen. The area of Geleen was once home to the oldest farming villages in the Netherlands. Hunters and gatherers were the first to settle here, more than 5000 years before Christ, to live from arable farming and cattle breeding. They built their settlements on the fertile loam soils near the Geleenbeek. Later, the Romans and other civilisations also left their mark here and a church village emerged, which grew spectacularly as an industrial community after the construction of the Royal State Mine Maurits. Construction of the coal mine, which would become the most modern in Europe, began in 1915 and in sixty years the population of Geleen rose from 4000 to 34000.

During your trip you will pass a beautiful mill in Urmond. The mill of Urmond was built in 1805. Until the beginning of the Second World War, the semi-closed post mill ground grain. After that, the corn mill fell out of operation, but the Vereniging De Hollandsche Molen had the mill renovated. In 1964, the then municipality of Urmond became the proud owner of the mill, which in 2013 only serves to beautify the landscape.