Small Town Touring - Elsloo

Most people that come to The Netherlands visit the big tourist attractions; Amsterdam, Delft, Kinderdijk, Keukenhof, Maastricht, Valkenburg, etc. And those are all nice places to see. But if you only go to the tourist areas you will never get a good feel for the real Netherlands, The Netherlands off the beaten path. I have been to the big attractions, several times in many cases, and enjoyed them every time. But I also like to get off the main roads and find little towns and villages and see what they have to offer. So I'm going to start highlighting some of the out-of-the-way places I have visited.

The first place I'll highlight is the little town of Elsloo. There is evidence of habitation going back 7,000 years. Digs in the area have found stone age tools and pottery. Evidence of Roman settlements have also been found. This is not surprising, man has always lived along rivers and waterways. The other attraction was the fine, fertile loam soil. It is very easy to work and the early settlers to this area followed the loam soil deposits and established farming communities on it.

Elsloo is easy to get to by heading toward the train station in Beek and then going straight past it to the next round about. Take the second exit and you are in the newer part of Elsloo. Just plug this address into your GPS and it will take you to Kasteelelsloo and you can park there for free. Maasberg 1, 6181 GV, Elsloo, Nederland. 

The old, original part of the town is in the area of the kasteel, which is now a hotel and convention center. More than half of the town was destroyed when the Julianakanaal was built in the early 1930's. The buildings that remain were mostly built in the early to mid 1600's.

Kasteel Elsloo, where you will park, was built on the site of a former brewery. 

There had earlier been a fortress castle in this area, to the west, but between several wars and constant flooding of the River Maas, it was finally destroyed completely. This castle had been plundered by Viking raidiers traveling on the Maas and they set up an encampment where the village stands today. The Maas has changed its route many times and the former castle is now under the Maas. When water levels are extremely low you can see parts of the foundation in the river. 

The current Kasteel was built as a residence. The first Lord of Elsloo was Arnulf or Arnoldus van Elsloo and there were many intermarriages between minor nobility and aristocrats and the kasteel passed down through these various families. One of the last noble women to own the residence later married Charles de Grimaldi, the Prince of Monaco. In 1887 the kasteel was bought by Hendrikus Leonardus Jurgens, the oleo margarine magnate. He used the residence as a summer retreat. Lastly it was purchased by the town of Elsloo.

Behind the kasteel is a large botanical garden. I never seem to be there when it is open so I can't really say much about it except when I read customer comments from the hotel, they mostly said how nice the garden and strolling park were. The garden is supposed to be open on Sundays between 1 April and 1 October but only from 1400 - 1700 hrs. The strolling park is free and open to the public. I have walked in the park many times and there is a network (a maze really) of marked trails that you can walk. It is mostly on a hillside so be prepared for that. Also at the kasteel is an old water mill. I have tried many times to see that as well but always seem to miss the open times. The kasteel lies right beside the Juliana Canal and that is also a pleasant walk or a nice place to just sit and watch the birds and barges. I have eaten lunch beside the canal a couple times and it's always nice.

The Maas was a very important waterway used for transporting supplies and trade goods. The Maas flows from France to the North Sea. It is 575 miles long and drops in elevation from 1,342 feet in France to sea level. In Elsloo there was a Shipper's Exchange (Schippersbeurs) where fees and schedules were negotiated and paid. Shippers used the "Beurs" to arrange their shipping contracts. This building has very thick stone walls, heavy wood doors, and in the back of the building (now a residence) you can still see the iron bars used to protect the windows. I imagine quite a bit of money was stored here for business transactions. The yellow building in this photo is the current Schippersbeurs Musea. It is only open for limited hours but it is an interesting if small museum. You can see everything in a bit less than two hours. The museum is open:

Dinsdag (Tue)      : 13.00 - 16.00 uur  | Donderdag (Thu): 13.00 - 16.00 uur
Woensdag (Wed) : 13.00 - 16.00 uur  |  Zondag (Sun)     : 14.00 - 17.00 uur

 There are many interesting buildings in the old part of the town if you like that sort of thing (I do). The church there is also quite nice. Between strolling through the town, walking in the park, seeing the kasteel's garden and mill (if you are lucky), and maybe visiting the museum, I think you could spend a whole day here. Luckily I live 12 minutes away so I can come and go to see things.

On 10 May, 1940, the Germans attacked The Netherlands with no warning. Their main goal was France but unfortunately The Netherlands was in the way. The Netherlands capitulated after four days of hard fighting. One of the places the Germans went through on their way to France was Elsloo. The Dutch army blew up the bridge crossing the Juliana Canal to attempt to slow down the German attack on their close ally, Belgium. 

But this was only a temporary setback for the German war machine. They quickly built a pontoon bridge to span the canal and then the River Maas. The Netherlands endured almost five years of German occupation and then the fighting as the American's and their allies came through this area pushing the Germans out of The Netherlands and eventually back to Berlin.