Lingewaard


Lingewaard is a municipality in the eastern Netherlands. It is located in the province of Gelderland, in the most eastern part of the Betuwe. The municipality is situated in the lowlands between the major cities of Arnhem and Nijmegen, where most inhabitants work. Lingewaard was part of the Arnhem–Nijmegen metropolitan area until 2015.

Population centres

The municipality of Lingewaard consists of the undermentioned population centres. Lingewaard was formed in 2001 as a merger between the former municipalities of Bemmel, Gendt and Huissen. The municipality was initially named Bemmel after the largest former municipality, but later renamed 'Lingewaard' in a referendum. 'Lingewaard' itself is not a population centre but an artificial name for the municipality, which is favoured by the majority of the voters.
Towns/villagesPopulation
Huissen19,414
Bemmel12,161
Gendt7,230
Angeren2,857
Doornenburg2,759
Haalderen2,061
Ressen137
Looveer 6

The industrial park and hamlet of Looveer comprises a small area located across the Pannerden Canal. Other notable hamlets in Lingewaard are Hulhuizen, and Doornik. Before 1799, Doornik was a village. This village was destroyed because of a levee breach in 1799, whereby all houses were destroyed, including the church.

Landscape

The municipality lies entirely within the catchment area of the rivers Waal, Nederrijn, and Linge. It generally contains many fertile soils that lie on nutrient-rich river deposits. From an agricultural point of view, Lingewaard is well suited for horticulture. The area contains many greenhouses and orchards.
In the south of Lingewaard lies Dutch rewilding area Gelderse Poort, which is managed by Staatsbosbeheer. This nature reserve contains several Dutch riverscape habitats, including: riparian forests, grasslands, small marshes and kolks. Large herbivores roam through parts of the area, and play a major role in the landscape character because of their grazing behaviour.

Notable residents

Notable people from the municipality of Lingewaard include:
Notable annual festivals and events in Lingewaard include:

Twin towns

From 2009 to 2014, Lingewaard was twinned with:

Trivia

  • On 22 August 2018, an assault was committed on the municipal building of Lingewaard in Bemmel. A man drove into the building with a car with two gas cylinders in it. One of the gas cylinders exploded and caused serious fire and soot damage to the building. The driver died.