Nettetal is a municipality in the district of Viersen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated in the Lower Rhine region.

History

Nettetal was founded on January 1, 1970, when the former townships Leuth, Breyell, Hinsbeck and former towns/cities Lobberich and Kaldenkirchen were merged. All five communities had developed around the river Nette. Nettetal originally contained five boroughs, until Schaag separated from Breyell in 1995, becoming the sixth borough. At the time of its formation, it was considered too problematic to try and combine all five coats of arms into one, so a new coat of arm was introduced in 1971. It shows a water lily before a blue blackground, symbolizing the predominance of nature and the variety of lakes. Five water lily leaves represent the five founding boroughs of Nettetal.

Demographics

Nettetal's six boroughs, with populations per its own census, as of December 2020:

Geography

Nettetal is located in the middle of the cross-border Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park, along the border with the Netherlands (the northwest edges of Kaldenkirchen and Leuth touch the border), approximately 20 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, Germany, and 10 km south-east of Venlo, Netherlands. In addition to the river Nette, peat mining from the 16th to the 19th century has resulted in the formation of twelve lakes in the municipality. The Nette, broad forest, heath areas and lakes make Nettetal a central resort in the Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park.

Lakes

Nettetal features 12 lakes, with a combined area of 179 ha. Fed by the Nette: Fed by the Nette's Renne tributary: Fed by the Nette's Königsbach tributary:

Sights

Twin towns – sister cities

Nettetal is twinned with:

Notable people