Nekkerspoel

Nekkerspoel is a neighbourhood of Mechelen, Belgium, immediately east of the city. The name means pool of one or more Nekkers or water demons. |editor-link=C.P. Serrure |chapter-url=http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_vad004vade05_01/_vad004vade05_01_0003.htm |access-date=2007-01-27}} ("Necker is an old-Flemish word that means devil or evil spirit") footnote in 1865. In Digital Library for Dutch Literature. and it is presumed that in earlier centuries locals taking a shortcut through the marshlands, of which the Mechels Broek is a surviving remnant, may have strayed off safer pathways and lost their lives. In 1904, remnants dating from the La Tène era of a settlement of several wooden houses and an 8.4 metre long oaken dugout canoe were found at a depth of 5 metres. |access-date = January 27, 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070430185513/http://archeoweb.mechelen.be/NL/virtueel/tijdslijn-detail.asp?id=2 |archive-date = April 30, 2007

This hamlet was already well-populated and built-up at a time that otherwise mainly a few monasteries were seen outside the city's former walls. Meanwhile, it obtained Mechelen's secondary station on Belgium's major Brussels-Mechelen-Antwerp railway, and the Toy Museum (Speelgoedmuseum) with exhibits covering 7,000 m² in the former furniture manufacturer's Nova building.

By the end of the third quarter of the 20th century, sand from nearby rivers had been disposed on a part of the Mechels Broek along the river Dijle. Shortly thereafter sandwinning created two large pools while the remainder physically supports the provincial sports and recreation complex De Nekker, which in summer also offers swimming at the artificial beach in a safe-guarded part of the larger of the man-made pools. Though from beside its main building one may start walking along the Mechels Broek, the latter's visitor centre is at the Mechlinian suburb of Muizen and the nature reserve stretches onto the neighbouring municipality of Bonheiden.

Located between the actual hamlet and the sports complex, the 18,000 m² multi-functional events hall named Nekkerhal is widely known for e.g. erotica exhibitions (Mega Erotica Beurs) |access-date = January 27, 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061215222428/http://www.nekkerhal.be/toonevenement.php?id=44 |archive-date = December 15, 2006 |access-date = January 28, 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927015218/http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.aspx?articleID=g5416td31 |archive-date = September 27, 2007