Wooden Hare Sculpture Groot Haasdal

Groot Haasdal and Klein Haasdal, together called Hazel, are two hamlets belonging to Schimmert in the municipality of Beekdaelen. The name Haasdal probably comes from the Germanic "habukas dala" = "valley of the hawk".

It is somewhat ironic that at the beginning of the hamlet of Groot Haasdal there is a large wooden hare along the road, reportedly made from the remains of the trunk of a giant sequoia that died during a storm in 2015. After all, Groot Haasdal is named after one of the more powerful birds of prey, the hawk. And in addition to birds, it also likes smaller mammals such as squirrels and rabbits. Incidentally, there are other places in the area named after birds of prey. For example, there is Valkenburg itself of course. In any case: the hare, which is located near the historic Bockhof and from where you can also see the large water tower De Reusch, makes it clear that you are in Groot Haasdal. And once the knightly family of Hafkesdalen, which was also named after the place, owned a castle and farm here on which De Bockhof was probably built. Alard Miles van Hafkesdale and his wife Agnes donated their allodium to the abbey of Val-Dieu in the land of Herve in 1253.You can read all that and more at groothaasdal.nl/groat-hazelThe fact about the giant sequoia can be read at wandelgidszuidlimburg.com/wp-content/uploads/word/1500.pdfAnd you can find more about De Bock(en)hof at komoot.com/nl-nl/highlight/7472114

For years, it has remained a beautiful sight to behold. And very fitting, of course, for the region... Groot Haasdal.