Ruud Streefkerk

We are admiring a sunset over the valley at Epen (Limburg), one of the southernmost villages in the Netherlands. In Roman times, this area was already colonized. Legionnaires who served their time were assigned a piece of land, on which large Roman villas and farms were built, several of which are excavated. Since the late Middle Ages, the area suffered greatly from acts of war and from wandering gangs of deserted soldiers. Poverty was common, until around the two World Wars Epen was discovered by people with an interest in nature and geology. One of the first tourists was Eli Heimans, a teacher from Amsterdam and passionate nature propagandist. After holidays he spent  in 1910 in Epen he wrote a booklet with the title From our Chalkland, by which the village gained more fame. Heimans was also one of the founders of the Association for the Conservation of Natural Monuments, together with the Maastricht-born Jac.P.Thijsse, author of well-known nature books at the time.