Geulhem is a rural village in the south-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...

, part of the former Berg en Terblijt

Berg en Terblijt

Berg en Terblijt is the official Dutch name of a village in the municipality of Valkenburg aan de Geul in the province of Limburg in the Southern part of the Netherlands.-History:...

 council, now Valkenburg aan de Geul

Valkenburg aan de Geul

Valkenburg aan de Geul is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands.-History:Siege and conquest were characteristic of the history of Valkenburg. Each event is withheld, followed by subsequent restorations. This most definitely holds for the castle perched atop of a hill in the middle of the...

 council. It is situated between Houthem and Berg en Terblijt

Berg en Terblijt

Berg en Terblijt is the official Dutch name of a village in the municipality of Valkenburg aan de Geul in the province of Limburg in the Southern part of the Netherlands.-History:...

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History

The name Geulhem was first mentioned in an act dating from 1360. The interpretation of the name is "hamlet on the river Geul". At the centre of Geulhem is its oldest building - the Geulhemmer watermill

Watermill

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...

. This watermill existed before 1306. Geulhem is situated partially in a valley and partially on a hillside known as the Geulhemmerberg.

Places of interest

Next to the Geulhemer watermill, which is now in use as a cafe, one finds himself in the environs of an underground network of corridors under the "Geulhemmerberg" hill. In the past, parts of this network were used as cave dwellings due to marl excavation. Part of the cave dwellings were restored and can be viewed on a group tour. At the entrance of the Geulhemmercave there is a marlstone statue of a 'block breaker' - the craftsman who, in the past, excavated blocks of marlstone with the help of primitive tools.

In Geulhem there is also a romantic castle - Castle Geulzicht - which was built at the end of the nineteenth century and is now in use as a hotel. It was developed by the architect Henri Reek and commissioned by Zuyderhoudt, its design is in the English Neo-Gothic style. Geulhem is a much loved holiday destination due its closeness to the sloped woods and the availability of many different hotels.

Literature

Fons Heijnens, Houthem en St. Gerlach in de literatuur : een geannoteerde bibliografie over Houthem, Broekhem en Geulhem, hun inwoners en Sint Gerlach en zijn verering, Houthem 1993

Jan G.M. Notten, Geulhem has always been small, available to read via the link http://www.houthem.info

External links

• http://www.houthem.info
• http://www.kasteelgeulzicht.nl