Discover Baexem: Castle, Mill and Routes

Baexem reveals its history in many different places: at Kasteel Baexem, the Auroramolen, the former Exaten monastery, archaeological traces, and routes through the village and its immediate surroundings.

Castle History and Special Buildings

Kasteel Baexem is a U-shaped castle built in 1676. It may have been built as a replacement for the former De Borg Castle, which stood 400 metres to the southeast. Kasteel Baexem is protected under numbers 8572 and 8573 in the Dutch Rijksmonumentenregister. Excavations revealed that the former Kasteel Baexem consisted of a large donjon; its foundations lie beneath the eastern end of the present building. A signet ring dating from before 1293, belonging to the knight Lenvalus van Baexem, was also found at Kasteel Baexem.

The former Exaten monastery is a complex of several monastery buildings and a monastery chapel. It has been a Rijksmonument since 6 November 2001. The buildings have cultural-historical value as a special expression of cultural, religious and typological development. Huize De Brias adds to the picture with a rectangular brick building, pilasters and a hipped roof. The anchor date 1717 has been preserved, as has the main structure of the rectangular moat dating from the 18th century.

The Auroramolen also tells of a long past. It is a standerdmolen, a type of windmill considered the oldest type of windmill in the Netherlands; its history dates back to around 1520. Klockenberg Park is home to the site of Baexem's former Romanesque church, dating from the 13th century. The church was destroyed by the occupying forces in November 1944. At the De Klockeberg archaeological site, the Archeo Route Limburg app, together with a virtual archaeologist, offers an experience right at the site.

Holiday Apartment in Baexem for Culture and Active Days

When planning a stay in a holiday apartment in Baexem, the different route lengths provide clear guidance. The 6.2-kilometre Knopenlopen Baexem hiking route passes through Baexem and the immediate surroundings. It starts at the Knopen-Lopen sign on Lindelaan, near the car park of De Oude Smids restaurant. The 41.3-kilometre Leudal Zuid cycling route, on the other hand, is designed as a circular tour and passes through Nunhem, Neer, Buggenum, Haelen, Horn, Grathem and Baexem.

Baronsberg is a viewpoint in the grounds of nearby Kasteel Baexem. On its slope, a German monk from nearby Exaten founded a Marian grotto in 1878. Burial mounds, cemeteries and settlement remains have been found near Baronsberg, at the site of the vanished De Borg Castle. Another site of cultural remembrance is the Donald Barret Memorial in Baexem, which commemorates Donald Barret and all the other British soldiers. Every year on King's Day, the Sint Jan shooting guild lays flowers there.

More recent local history also includes changes to prominent buildings and transport routes. The Johannes de Doper Church in Baexem was withdrawn from use for worship with effect from 1 January 2025; work was undertaken to find a suitable new use for the building. The Tramweg was formerly part of the Deurne–Roermond tram line, which was operated in Limburg by De Limburgse Tramweg Maatschappij. The former railway station site recalls a station building erected in 1879, where travellers waited for the signal announcing the approach of steam trains.

Discover More Places

Hunsel, Buggenum, Horn, Roggel, Ittervoort, Kelpen-Oler, Haelen, Neer

For the higher-level travel overview: Leudal.