Limburg had a population of about 1,128,000[3] in January 2023. Its mainmunicipalities are the provincial capitalMaastricht (population 120,837 as of January 2022),[6]Venlo (population 102,176) in the northeast, as well asSittard-Geleen (population 91,760, bordering both Belgium and Germany) andHeerlen (population 86,874) in the south. More than half of the population, approximately 650,000 people, live in the south of Limburg, which corresponds to roughly one-third of the province's area proper. InSouth Limburg, most people live in the urban agglomerations of Maastricht,Parkstad and Sittard-Geleen.
Limburg's name derives from theBelgian fortified town of the same name,Limbourg-sur-Vesdre, now in the nearbyLiège Province, immediately south of Limburg. The name of Limbourg-sur-Vesdre was important to the region because it had been the seat of the medievalDuchy of Limburg.
There are several proposals concerning the etymology of Limbourg. The second part, "bourg" or "burg" is common in placenames, and refers to a fortified town. The first part is often suggested to refer to lime or linden trees (species ofTilia). The historian Jean-Louis Kupper has proposed that its founderFrederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine named it afterLimburg Abbey in Germany. He favours a derivation from a Germanic word "lint" meaning "dragon".[7]
Map showing the two contemporary provinces called "Limburg" as well as the medieval duchy they are both named after. The small overlap is Teuven and Remersdaal, two villages in the eastern part ofVoeren, a municipality in Belgian Limburg since 1977.
The area under the direct lordship of the old Duchy did not overlap the modern Belgian and Dutch provinces named after it, though the medieval Duchy was a high status title in the region. On the other hand, while the Duchy's effective power was limited, the Duchy and what is nowSouth Limburg (referred to as the (Lands of Overmaas) did have a long history of connection under the lordship of theDukes of Brabant. During this long period, from theMiddle Ages until theFrench Revolution, they were sometimes referred to collectively under one name (Overmaas or Limburg).
After 1794, it was theFrench First Republic which unified the region, along with Belgian Limburg, and removed all ties to the old feudal society (theancien regime). The new name, as with all the names of thedépartements, was based on natural features such as rivers, in this caseMeuse-Inférieure or Neder-Maas ("Lower Meuse").
After the defeat of Napoleon, the newly createdUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands desired a new name for this province. It was decided that the historic connection to the duchy of Limburg was to be restored, albeit only in name.
The current province Limburg of the Netherlands only came into existence in 1839, after the finalization of the separation of Belgium from the Netherlands which had begun in 1830. The two Limburgs had been brought together under French revolutionary administration some decades earlier, but they and the surrounding region shared much of their history. For long periods of history however, the region was not united under the same rule.
The first inhabitants of whom traces have been found wereNeanderthals who camped in South Limburg. InNeolithic times,flint was mined in underground mines.
Julius Caesar conquered the area in 53 BC, and wrote that he had extinguished the name of theEburones, the inhabitants of most of the area of current Limburg, as a punishment for their revolt underAmbiorix.
The north–south route along the Maas was crossed by theVia Belgica, a road crossing South Limburg and connecting the two local capitals ofTongeren andCologne.Mosa Trajectum (Maastricht) andCoriovallum (Heerlen) were founded by the Romans upon this route. The area became strongly Romanized. BishopServatius introduced Christianity in Roman Maastricht, where he died in 384. Maastricht appears to have taken over fromTongeren for some time as regional capital for the Romanized and Christian population, before the bishopric was re-established inLiège, 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Maastricht.
Map showing the medieval "lands of Overmaas" and the Duchy of Limburg, both in the Middle Ages possessed by the Dukes of Brabant. Together these formed one province in theSeventeen Provinces. (The dark lines are the modern borders).
As Roman authority in the area weakened,Franks took over from the Romans, but the area came to flourish under their rule, with Cologne continuing to be the most important local capital. The Maas valley, especially the middle and southern part of the current province, formed an important part of the heartland ofMerovingianAustrasia.
With the rise of the Carolingian dynasty, who were themselves from this region, the Maas valley became more culturally and politically one of the most important regions in Europe. In 714Susteren Abbey was founded, as far as is known the firstproprietary abbey in the current Netherlands. The main benefactor wasPlectrude, the consort ofPepin of Herstal.Charles Martel was born in nearbyHerstal.Charlemagne madeAachen, today a German city which has suburban sprawl stretching into South Limburg, the capital of theFrankish empire.
After the death of Charlemagne, the Frankish dominions were again split between kings. While the Austrasian lands remained a separate "Middle Kingdom", sometimes now referred to asLotharingia, in the treaties ofVerdun (843), andPrüm (855), in the 870Treaty of Meerssen, signed in South Limburg itself, Lotharingia was divided. The riverMeuse became the border between theWestern- andEastern Frankish kingdoms, placing most of the current Dutch province of Limburg on the western boundary of the Eastern Frankish kingdom, with Belgian Limburg in the Western Kingdom. In theTreaty of Ribemont of 888, the Eastern Kingdom was granted control of the whole of Lotharingia, including all of the modern Netherlands and Luxembourg, and most of modern Belgium.
During the period of West Frankish control under the Treaty of Meerssen, effective Frankish power in the area of the current Netherlands more or less collapsed. For two or more years a largeViking army, operating from a place on or near the Meuse called Ascloa (or Hasloa or Haslon), wrought havoc in the neighbourhood. The damage was such that the emperor,Charles the Fat was forced to assemble a large multinational army, that in 882 unsuccessfullybesieged this island.
In the 10th century, the Eastern kingdom consolidated its control of Lotharingia and became theHoly Roman Empire. In the first decades of this empire the founding imperial family had close ties to areas in what is today northern Limburg. The emperorOtto III for instance was born in 980 inKessel, practically on the current border between Limburg andNorth Rhine-Westphalia, just east fromGennep. In 1080 inGenneperhuis [nl], just north of Gennep,Norbert of Gennep was born as a son of the count of Gennep. He was the founder of the order of thePremonstratensians.South Limburg in the early Middle Ages was mainly made up of the lordships ofValkenburg [de],Dalhem, andHerzogenrath. All of these lands were, however, united with the Duchy of Limburg, under the rule of theDuchy of Brabant, when they were known collectively as theLands of Overmaas.
The Duchy of Limburg and its dependencies first came under Brabantian control in 1288, as a result of theBattle of Worringen, then in the 15th century under theDuchy of Burgundy. By 1473, the Lands of Overmaas and the Duchy of Limburg formed one unified delegation to the States General of theBurgundian Netherlands. Both the terms Overmaas and Limburg came to be used loosely to refer to this sparsely populated province of the so-calledSeventeen Provinces. Maastricht was never part of this polity: as acondominium, sovereignty over this city was held jointly by thePrince-Bishopric of Liège and theDuchy of Brabant. Also, the central and northern part of present-day Limburg belonged to different political entities, notably theDuchy of Jülich and theDuchy of Guelders.
By the late Middle Ages most of the present day territory of Limburg had been partitioned to the Duchy of Brabant, the Duchy of Gelderland, the Duchy of Jülich, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège or theElectorate of Cologne. These dukes,prince-bishops andprince-electors were nominal subordinates of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, but in practice acted as independent sovereigns who were often at war with each other. These conflicts were often fought in and over Limburg, contributing to its fragmentation and a loss of economic importance.
The modern boundaries of Dutch Limburg, along with its neighbour, Belgian Limburg, were basically set during the period after theFrench Revolution, which erased much of the "ancien regime" of Europe, with all its old boundaries and titles. These two provinces were part of a new Frenchdépartement, named (like manydépartements) after the river running through it, "Meuse-Inférieure", meaning simply "lower Maas".
When theCatholic andFrench-speaking Belgians split away from the mainlyCalvinist northern Netherlands in theBelgian Revolution of 1830, the Province of Limburg was at first almost entirely under Belgian rule. However, by the1839 Treaty of London, the province was divided in two, with the eastern part going to the Netherlands and the western part to Belgium, a division that remains today.
With the Treaty of London, what is now the BelgianProvince of Luxembourg was handed over to Belgium and removed from theGerman Confederation. To appease Prussia, which had also lostaccess to the Meuse after the Congress of Vienna, the Dutch province of Limburg (excluding the cities ofMaastricht andVenlo because without them Limburg's population equalled that of the Province of Luxembourg, 150,000[8]), was joined to the German Confederation between 5 September 1839 and 23 August 1866 as theDuchy of Limburg. On 11 May 1867, the Duchy, which from 1839 on had beende jure a separate polity in personal union with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was reincorporated into the latter with the1867 Treaty of London, though the term "Duchy of Limburg" remained in some official use until February 1907. Another idiosyncrasy survives today: the head of the province, referred to as the "King's Commissioner" in other provinces, is addressed as "Governor" in Limburg.
TheSecond World War cost the lives of many civilians in Limburg, and a large number of towns and villages were destroyed by bombings and artillery battles. Various cemeteries, too, bear witness to this dark chapter in Limburg's history. Almost 8,500American soldiers, who perished during the liberation of the Netherlands, lie buried at theNetherlands American Cemetery and Memorial inMargraten. Other big war cemeteries are to be found atOverloon (British soldiers) and theYsselsteyn German war cemetery was constructed in the Municipality ofVenray for the 31,000German soldiers who died.
According to the research of Herman van Rens, the residents of Limburg were especially active in hiding local and refugee Jews during theHolocaust, to the extent that the Jewish population even increased during the war. Jews in hiding were three times as likely to survive in Limburg as in Amsterdam.[9]
In December 1991, theEuropean Community (nowEuropean Union) held a summit in Maastricht. At that summit, the "Treaty on European Union" or so-calledMaastricht Treaty was signed by the European Community member states. With that treaty, the European Union came into existence.
Although standardDutch is the official language and the one most used,Limburgish is currently considered a regional language as described in the a page of the Dutch Government.[10] It has been an officialregional language since 1997 and it receives moderate protection under Chapter 2 of theEuropean Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. TheGerman andBelgian governments do not recognise it as an official language. Before the 20th century, most newspapers were inFrench or in German, and schools in Maastricht taught French, as the city has historic ties with the Belgian city ofLiège. Other parts of the province taught German.
Limburgish is spoken by an estimated 1.6 million people in Dutch Limburg,Belgian Limburg, and Germany.[citation needed] There are many differentdialects of Limburgish; almost every town and village has its own. A lot ofisoglosses cross through Limburg. No single dialect can fully represent Limburgish as a whole. Dialects in the north, nearbyVenray andGennep, are classified asKleverlandish and are closely connected to the dialects in the northeast ofBrabant (Land van Cuijk) and the region ofNijmegen. Dialects in the southeast (nearAachen) are closer toRipuarian and are sometimes classified asSoutheast Limburgish. Dialects in the western part of Limburg, surroundingWeert, are influenced by the neighbouring dialects of southeastBrabant, which means that the tone is moreBrabantic than in the rest of Limburg.
The provincial council (States-Provincial -Provinciale Staten) has 47 seats, and is headed by aKing's Commissioner (Commissaris van de Koning) who unofficially is called theGovernor. While the provincial council is elected by the inhabitants, the King's Commissioner is appointed by the King and the cabinet of the Netherlands. Since December 2021Emile Roemer (SP) has been holding the office of governor.
Since the 2011 elections theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA) was the largest party in the council, although theParty for Freedom (PVV) won the most votes during the election. However, two members of the PVV left the party, taking their seats with them, which lost the PVV their number one status.
Since the 2015 elections the CDA (11 seats) has again been the largest party, followed by the PVV (9 seats) and theSocialist Party (SP) (8 seats).
The province's daily affairs are taken care of by theProvincial-Executive (Gedeputeerde Staten), which are also headed by the King's Commissioner; its members (gedeputeerden) can be compared with ministers.
Cities and villages in Limburg including the outlying areas.
Limburg is asalient of the Netherlands into Belgium.
Compared to the rest of the Netherlands the southern part of Limburg is less flat, slightly undulated. The highest point in the continental Netherlands is theVaalserberg (meaning 'mountain' of Vaals) with a height of 322.4 metres[11] (1,058 ft) aboveNAP, rising approximately 110 metres above the village Vaals, where three countries (Netherlands,Belgium andGermany) border each other at the so-called "Three-country-point".
Limburg's main river is theMeuse, which passes through the province's entire length from south to north.
Limburg's surface is largely formed by deposits from the Meuse, consisting of river clay, fertileloessial soil and large deposits of pebblestone, currently being quarried for the construction industry. In the north of the province, further away from the riverbed, the soil primarily consists of sand and peat.
Apples, with cherries, pears and prunes, are the major produce of Limburgian fruit-growing businessesBlooming fruit trees, a tourist attraction in southern Limburg
TheGross domestic product (GDP) of the province was €44.5 billion in 2018, accounting for 5.7% of the Netherlands economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €34,700 or 115% of the EU27 average in the same year.[12]
In the pastpeat andcoal were mined in Limburg. In 1965–75 the coal mines were finally closed. As a result, 60,000 people lost their jobs in the twocoal mining areas, Heerlen-Kerkrade-Brunssum and Sittard-Geleen. A difficult period of economic readjustment started. The Dutch government partly eased the pain by moving several government offices (includingStichting Pensioenfonds ABP and CBSStatistics Netherlands) to Heerlen.
The state-owned corporation that once mined in Limburg,DSM, is now a major chemical company, still operating in Limburg. In 2002 DSM sold its petrochemical division (naphtha crackers and polyolefin plants) toSABIC of Saudi Arabia. In 2010, the agro and melamine business groups were sold toOCI Nitrogen.SABIC is located on theChemelot campus inSittard-Geleen, which is bounded by the Chemelot Industrial Park, one of Western Europe's biggest industrial sites. At this moment 8000 people work at Chemelot, of which 1000 are active at the Campus. The innovation and licensing division Stamicarbon of DSM was sold in 2009 to Maire Tecnimont, the parent company of an engineering, main contracting and licensing group that operates worldwide in the oil, gas & petrochemicals, power, infrastructure and civil engineering sectors.Stamicarbon is based in Sittard-Geleen.
VDL Nedcar inBorn (Sittard-Geleen) is the only large-scale car manufacturer in the Netherlands, currently manufacturingMINIs andBMW X1s. Other industries includerockwool in Roermond,Océ copiers and printers manufacturers inVenlo and a paper factory in Maastricht. There are four largebeer breweries in Limburg.
Southern Limburg has long been one of the country's two mainfruit-growing areas, but over the last four decades, many fruit-growing areas have been replaced by water as a result ofgravel quarrying near theMeuse.
Limburg is one of the most important provinces when it comes toDutch wine production.[13]South Limburg has the highest concentration of vineyards in the Netherlands. Limburg's wine regions have 3Appellations: Maasvallei, Mergelland and Vijlen. Voerendaalse bergen is expected to be recognized somewhere in 2021.[14]
Tourism is an essential sector of the economy, especially in the hilly southern part of the province. The town of Valkenburg is the main centre.
In 2005, the two provincial newspapers,De Limburger andLimburgs Dagblad, merged.
Gronsveld castleEijsden town hallTypical half-timbered housesFolkloreBicycle-racingSquare in front of the Munsterchurch at Roermond, where the provincial diocese of the Roman Catholic church seats
Essential elements in Limburgian culture are
Music;
Religion (predominantly Roman Catholic);
Folklore (in especially the southern part of the province);
Choral singing is popular in Limburg. One of its best-known choruses is the Mastreechter Staar (Maastricht Star), which performs nationally and internationally.
Wind music ("bloasmuzeek", blown music) is also widespread, most villages and cities have one or more amateurfanfare orwind orchestras ("harmonie").
Every four years theWorld Music Contest, a competition for professional, amateur and military band sometimes called the Olympic Games of brass band music is held in Kerkrade.In 2013 and 2009 the winner in the World Concert Division was the Koninklijke Harmonie Sainte Cécile, fromEijsden (Limburg).[15]
Also held in Kerkrade (situated on the German border) is the Schlagerfestival, a nationally broadcast event presenting singers of German-language pop music calledSchlagers.
Since 1969 yearly on the Pentecost weekend an international pop music festival calledPinkpop Festival takes place in the southern part of Limburg; initially at Geleen, since 1988 atSchaesberg.
More nationally or internationally known musicians from this province are mentioned hereunder in section "Famous Limburgians".
TheLimburg Symphony Orchestra, that resided and rehearsed in Maastricht, and was the oldest symphony orchestra of the Netherlands (founded in 1883) following elimination of government grants merged withHet Brabants Orkest to form a single ensemble with the new name of thephilharmonie zuidnederland, as of April 2013.[16]
Many places in both Netherlands' and Belgian Limburg still have their own (by now folkloristic)schutterij. An annual festival is held in which all 160 of them compete for the highest honours to be gained, in the "OLS" (Oud Limburgs Schuttersfeest), which is held somewhere in either Belgian or Netherlands' Limburg.
Team handball is the third-most popular sport in Limburg. The women's team,HV Swift Roermond, has won the national championship in the highest division 19 times. The male teams,Sittardia (Sittard), Vlug en Lenig (Geleen) and BFC (Beek), which in 2008 merged as theLimburg Lions, have in total won the national championship 25 times.
Limburg is one of two Dutch provinces (North Brabant being the other) that has historically been dominated by theRoman Catholic faith.
In 2015, 64.5% of the population of Limburg identified as Catholic, while 3.3% identified asMuslim, 2.2% with theProtestant Church in the Netherlands, and 2.1% with other churches or faiths. Over a quarter (27.9%) of the population reported being non-religious.
In contrast, theDiocese of Roermond, which covers the entire province of Limburg, reports that out of a population of 1,115,895, roughly 1,071,000 or 96% of them were Catholics in 2022.[18]
In 2012, from April 5 to October 7, the ten-yearly world horticulture expo "Floriade" was held in Venlo.
Nationally and internationally known are nature films and nature television series produced by film director Maurice Nijsten and nature protector Jo Erkens.
AtEijsden the riverMeuse enters this province as well as the country
^"CBS Statline".opendata.cbs.nl.Archived from the original on 2018-08-18. Retrieved2020-01-09.
^Jean-Louis Kupper (2007) Les origines du duché de Limbourg-sur-Vesdre",Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire Année 85-3-4 pp. 609-637[1]Archived 2018-06-02 at theWayback Machine
^"Limburg (1839-1865)"(PDF) (in German). HGIS Germany.Archived(PDF) from the original on 2023-07-02. Retrieved2023-01-29.
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