What is "berkel"

The Berkel is a river in the Netherlands and Germany. It is a right tributary of the River IJssel.

The river rises in Billerbeck, near the German city of Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia, and crosses the border with the Netherlands near Vreden (Germany) and Rekken (Netherlands). From there, it flows through the province of Gelderland to join the IJssel at Zutphen after about 110 kilometres.

Before the coming of the railway, the Berkel was a major shipping route for goods from Münster to Eibergen, Borculo, and Zutphen, transported in flat-bottomed boats called Berkelzompen. In the 1950s, the Dutch stretch of the river was channelized to prevent flooding and to improve drainage. Recently old bends have been reconnected to the straightened lengths of the river.

Towns along the course of the Berkel include:

• in Germany: Billerbeck, Coesfeld, Gescher, Stadtlohn, Vreden
• in the Netherlands: Eibergen, Borculo, Lochem, Almen, Warnsveld, Zutphen

Berkel may refer to:

• The river Berkel in the east of the Netherlands
  • Berkel Westpolder RandstadRail station
• The former village of Berkel (South Holland), now part of Berkel en Rodenrijs
• The former village of Berkel (North Brabant), now part of Berkel-Enschot
• Avery Berkel, a major manufacturer of weighing systems
• The Berkel meat slicer
• Berkel (crater), a crater on Mercury
• Berkel-Enschot railway station
• Berkel railway station

Berkel is a crater on Mercury. The crater contains dark material in its center and in a ring immediately surrounding it. Moreover, Berkel is surrounded by a blanket of bright ejecta and a system of bright rays. Other craters on Mercury’s surface, such as Basho, also exhibit both bright rays and dark halos. In contrast, two neighboring craters have bright rays but lack dark halos.