Pictures of the Netherlands

[♥ Lily ♥]

The Venlo area - as Lily showed - is part of Northern Limburg. While Venlo has its bright spots - brutal American air raids at the end of the war (that overshot the vital bridges but hit the city head on) don't allow for many beautiful shots. Still.. some parts remain even today and the city has been undergoing a renovation for the last couple of years.









Its location, however, makes (or, increasingly made, as Dutch now shop in Germany to avoid taxes0 Venlo (together with Heerlen and Roermond) popular as a shopping destination for German tourists.

Dank u wel Meneer Lawspeaker!

[The Lawspeaker]

So beautiful.... and those fruit jams look delicious! I'd like to try some!

Limburg's deep South is actually famous for its stroop (much like how the Betuwe is famous for its jams). If you buy any appelstroop in the Netherlands, 99 percent would be from that particular area.

[♥ Lily ♥]

Limburg's deep South is actually famous for its stroop (much like how the Betuwe is famous for its jams). If you buy any appelstroop in the Netherlands, 99 percent would be from that particular area.

Mmmmooi!

[The Lawspeaker]

De Mijnstreek ("The Mining Area") - Heerlen (the Romans once knew it as Coriovalum):

Coal mining in the Netherlands 1100-1974 Coal mining in Limburg, a province of the Netherlands, has taken place since the 16th century. Near the Augustinian Abbey of Rolduc, coal is found very close to the surface. The abbey owned the coal, and beginning in the 16th century hired local miners to extract the coal for sale as fuel. The true extent of the coal reserves in the south-east corner of Limburg first became apparent in 1870, when the wealthy Count Marchant and Ansembourg of Brussels ordered the first boreholes to be drilled near Eygelshoven, and a substantial seam of coal was found at a depth of 154 metres. The demand for coal had grown explosively as a result of increased industrialization and urban expansion, but the national governments regarded any form of interference in the extraction and sale of this fuel as unnecessary.

Thus it came about that the first concessions for the extraction of coal in South Limburg were granted without hesitation to foreign firms, although most of the coal consumed in the Netherlands was imported from Germany, and Dutch investors preferred to invest their capital in foreign countries, such as in Russian government loans, American railways, and Hungarian waterworks.

DE MIJNSTREEK | Staatsmijnen OVS voorlichtingsfilm 1955 Kijk ook op : WWW.DEMIJNSTREEK.NL

Still an area of poverty and unemployment and even the new projects to patch up the area can't hide this:





But the government is now finally beginning to invest in the area: a new railway station and a new city center ("Het Maankwartier") have partially been finished with more on the way. Still - the economic drive isn't there.







The time when people could afford to shop in brand-new department stores - such as in the Glaspaleis (opened in 1935) and today a multifunctional center is well behind us.



"De kolonie" once the areas where the "white collar workers" of the mine (often imported from Holland) used to live:



Older buildings in the area:

[The Lawspeaker]

Roman and mediaeval remains in Heerlen:

The ruined remains of a Roman thermae (bathhouse) in Heerlen. Now preserved in the Thermenmuseum.





A reconstruction of the original building:



St. Pancras' Church (Sint-Pancratiuskerk) in Heerlen. One of the remaining mediaeval gems that can be found all over Limburg.







An original 16th century monstrance (made of gilded silver). Part of the church's treasures:



Remains of the city wall (picture taken in 1980):



And the so-called 'Schelmentoren" (Rogues' Tower or Bandit's Tower) is once served as the city lock-up:



Rolduc Abbey near Kerkrade with its famous library - at one time they controlled much of the South's mines (until the French revolution) and agriculture:




















The Brunssummerheide - in the Dutch-German borderland:

[The Lawspeaker]

Landscapes near Epen and Slenaken. In the South's South along the Belgian border.

[♥ Lily ♥]

Beautiful Limburg! Mooi! Très beau! Dank u wel! Merci bien! Grazie!

[The Lawspeaker]

To many Dutch, it's being abroad in your own country. Many Dutch wouldn't be able to understand any of the dialects from the opposite site of the Uerdingen line (particularly if you go deeper into Limburg) and the cuisine and manners change as well.

[The Lawspeaker]

Near Geleen:







The old town hall (the municipality was merged with Sittard):











The Sint-Marcellinus en Sint-Petruskerk - Geleen:









With its treasures:





And its small side chapel with calvary:

[The Lawspeaker]

Geleen-Sint-Janskluis - dating back to the late 17th century:



There are more of these so-called kluizenarijen (hermitages) here - like on the Schaesberg near Schin-op-Geul:





Schaloen Castle and the Schaesberg:





The train station of Houthem-St. Gerlach:



And the road leading through the village with its impressive farmsteads:







The church - a wonder of rococo baroque which is quite unique in the Netherlands: