Netherlands, Heerlen

Heerlen is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands and the fourth largest municipality in the province of Limburg. It is also part of Parkstad Limburg (formerly known as "Oostelijke Mijnstreek"), an agglomeration of around 220,000 inhabitants.

After its early Roman beginnings and a rather modest medieval period, Heerlen became a centre for the coal mining industry in the Netherlands in the late 19th century.

History

In 1997, a habitation from the Michelsberg culture (4400 - 3500 BC) was excavated at the Schelsberg, near Heerlen. Archeological finds from this period are rather unique in The Netherlands.

Even with these proofs of early habitation, the history of Heerlen proper starts with the arrival of the Romans.

Like many other Roman settlements in the Netherlands, Coriovallum was probably abandoned after the 3rd/4th century Roman retreat. Very little is known about Heerlen's history until the 10th century, when agricultural development continues once again in these parts of Europe.

Theoderich van Are (Udo van Toul's cousin) separated Heerlen from Voerendaal and chose Saint Pancratius as the patron saint of the church. The counts of Are where probably responsible for the construction of the Schelmentoren and the St-Pancratius church and also may have ordered the construction of a moated castle.

In the 19th century, Heerlen, like most of Limburg municipalities (Maastricht was an exception), did not partake in the Industrial Revolution and it remained largely agrarian until coalmining began in the late 19th/early 20th century. In March 1874, coal had been found at the Valkenburgerweg.

In the cityshape of modern-day Heerlen very little reminds us of the once omni-present mining industry. Most of the typical mounts of mining debris that surrounded the coal mines, have been removed Or transformed in to lushes green hills during an operation called van zwart naar groen (Dutch for from black to green).

Education

Among the educational institutes in Heerlen is Hogeschool Zuyd, which is a University of Professional Education with branches in Heerlen, Sittard and Maastricht. Also based in Heerlen is the administrative office of the Open University of the Netherlands (Open Universiteit or OU in Dutch), which is a university for distance learning with tens of thousands of students throughout the Netherlands.

Architecture

The city's best known architect is without doubt Frits Peutz. His legacy consist of at least 10 landmark buildings in Heerlen. In 1935 Heerlen's most famous landmark building, the Glaspaleis, was built next to the medieval church in the centre of the then modest town. It was commissioned by the merchant Peter Schunck and it was quite an extraordinary step for this conservative businessman to ask the young Heerlen-based architect Peutz to design the new Schunck department store.