Maastricht

 

(mäs'trĭkht') , city (1994 pop. 118,102), capital of Limburg prov., SE Netherlands, on the Maas (Meuse) River and on the Albert Canal system. It is an important rail and river transportation point and an industrial center. Manufactures include plastic ware, ceramics, building materials, fabricated metal products, consumer goods, and food processing. The Maas was forded in Roman times; the city derives its name from the Latin Mosae Trajectum [Maas ford]. An episcopal center from 382 to 721, Maastricht has the oldest church in the Netherlands, the Cathedral of St. Servatius, founded in the 6th cent. In 1284 the city came under the dual domination of the dukes of Brabant and the prince-bishop of Liège. The city was a strategic fortress and suffered many sieges. The Spanish under Alessandro Farnese captured it (1579) from the Dutch rebels during the revolt of the Netherlands and massacred a large part of the population. In 1632 the Dutch under Prince Frederick Henry recovered the city. It later fell into French hands during the wars of the 17th and 18th cent., notably in 1673 and 1794. A historic city, Maastricht has many old structures including the Romanesque Church of Our Lady (11th cent.), a 13th-century bridge across the Maas, and the town hall (17th cent.). In 1992, the Treaty of European Union (known as the Maastricht Treaty) was signed following a summit conference there. The treaty was an important step in the continuing integration of the countries of the European Union. The city is a cultural center. The district of Wijk occupies the right bank of the Maas.

(Dutch) Maastricht (Limburgish) Mestreech
Flag
Coordinates: 50°51′N 5°41′E / 50.85, 5.683
Country	Netherlands
Province	Limburg
Area (2006)
- Municipality	km²  ( sq mi)
- Land	km² ( sq mi)
- Water	km² ( sq mi)
Population (1 June, 2007)
- Municipality
- Density	/km² (/sq mi)
	Source: CBS, Statline.
Time zone	CET ([[UTC+1]])
- Summer (DST)	CEST ([[UTC+2]])

Coordinates: 50°51′N, 5°41′E

Maastricht (Dutch ( pronunciation?), Limburgish and city dialect: Mestreech) is a municipality, and capital of the province of Limburg. The city is situated on both sides of the Meuse river (Maas in Dutch) in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands between Belgium and Germany. The place-name is derived from its Latin name Trajectum Ad Mosam or Mosae Trajectum (Mosa-crossing), referring to the bridge built by the Romans during the reign of Augustus Caesar.

For years, the city has been arguing with Nijmegen as to which of them is the oldest city in the Netherlands. Nijmegen was the first city with Roman city rights in what is now the Netherlands. Maastricht was the first with Medieval city rights, a system which evolved to the current system and, thanks to the Romans, the first settlement with city allure. However, Maastricht was undoubtedly the first settlement in the Netherlands.^{[citation needed]} Roman sources mention a Celtic settlement (probably inhabited by the Eburones) at the location they used for the bridge. Other sources mention a Celtic settlement at a river crossing near where Wyck, a city district located on the eastern side of the Meuse river, is now located.

History

Paleolithic remains have been found to the west of Maastricht, between 8000 and 25 000 years old. At least 500 years before the Romans came, Celts lived here, at a spot where the river Meuse was shallow and therefore easy to cross. The Romans later built a bridge and a large road to connect the capitals of the Nervians and Tungri, Bavay and Tongeren, with the capital of the Ubians, Cologne.

Saint Servatius was the first bishop of the Netherlands. His tomb, in the crypt at the Basilica of Saint Servatius, is a favoured place of pilgrimage: Pope John Paul II visited it in 1984. The golden gilt shrine containing some of the saint's relics is carried around the town every seven years. During the medieval period these processions caused such rioting that they were forbidden. The city remained an early Christian bishopric until it lost this position to nearby Liège in the 8th century.

Middle Ages

Maastricht developed in the Middle Ages into a city of dual authority, with both the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Duchy of Brabant holding joint sovereignty over the city. It received city rights in 1204. The role of the Dukes was occupied by the Dutch States General from 1632 onwards when the city was taken from the Spanish by Frederik Hendrik. This duality remained in force until the conquest and annexation of the city by the French in 1794.

French & Napoleonic times

Seven skeletons uncovered in a front garden in Maastricht in May 2004 may be the remains of musketeers who died during a fierce 17th century battle between French attackers and Dutch defenders.

The famous Siege of Maastricht occurred here during the month of June, 1673, because battle supply lines were being threatened. During this siege, one of history's most famous military engineers, Vauban, synthesized the methods of attacking strong places, in order to break down the fortifications surrounding Maastricht. His introduction of a systematic approach by parallels resulted in a rapid breaching of the city's fortifications. (This technique, in principle, has remained until the 20th century the standard method of attacking a fortress.)

After the breaching of the fortifications occurred, Louis XIV's troops started to surround the city of Maastricht. Under the leadership of Captain-Lieutenant Charles de Batz de Castelmore, also known as Comte d'Artagnan, the First Company of "Mousquetaires du Roi" prepared to storm a rampart located in front of one of the city's gates. The assault on the bulwark took place not far from where the seven skeletons were found. D'Artagnan was killed by a musket shot on 25 June 1673 during a night attack on the Tongerse Gate (this event was portrayed by Alexandre Dumas in his novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne).

Maastricht surrendered to French troops on 30 June. The French troops occupied the Dutch city from 1673 to 1679. It was subsequently restored to Dutch rule.

Part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands

After the Napoleonic era, Maastricht became a part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. When the southern provinces sought independence from the North to form Belgium in 1830, the garrison in Maastricht remained loyal to the Dutch king and occupied the city despite anti-Dutch feelings amongst the population. Maastricht was neither Dutch nor Belgian between 1830 and 1839. In 1839 the Treaty of London was imposed on the Belgians and the city and the eastern part of Limburg, despite being geographically and culturally closer to Belgium, were permanently added to the Netherlands. Because of the resulting eccentric location Maastricht was often more focused on Belgium and Germany than on the rest of the Netherlands, adding to the distinct non-Dutch character of the city. Even now, the people of Maastricht (and the rest of Limburg) hold on to their language and culture, and some even hope to be re-united with Limburgian areas in Germany and Belgium.

20th century

On September 14, 1944, Maastricht was the first Dutch city to be liberated by allied forces during World War II. In 1976, Maastricht became part of the Euregio Maas-Rhine. In 1992, the Maastricht treaty was signed here, leading to the creation of the European Union.

21st century

Especially under current mayor Gerd Leers, Maastricht attracted many summits, like the OCSE-summit in 2003, and several gatherings during the Dutch EU-chairmanship in the second half of 2004.

Institutions and education

• Administration of the Dutch province of Limburg.
• Maastricht School of Management
• Universiteit Maastricht (Maastricht University)

Economical aspect

The following private companies are settled, or have sections in Maastricht:

• ENCI (First Dutch Cement Industry)
• Hewlett-Packard (previously Indigo)
• DaimlerChrysler
• Pie Medical
• Sappi
• Vodafone
• EDS

Neighbourhoods

Maastricht can be divided into 7 parts consisting of multiple neighborhoods:

1. Centrum (Centre); Binnenstad, Boschstraatkwartier, Jekerkwartier, Kommelkwartier, Statenkwartier, Sint Maartenspoort, Wyck.
2. Buitenwijk Noord-Oost (North-Eastern sections); Beatrixhaven, Borgharen, Itteren, Meerssenhoven.
3. Buitenwijk Oost (Eastern sections); Amby, Heugemerveld, Limmel, Nazareth, Scharn, Wittevrouwenveld, Wyckerpoort.
4. Buitenwijk Zuid-Oost (South-Eastern sections); De Heeg, Heer, Heugem, Randwyck, Vroendaal.
5. Buitenwijk Zuid-West (South-Western sections); Biesland, Campagne, Jekerdal, Sint Pieter, Villapark, Wolder.
6. Buitenwijk West (Western sections); Belfort, Brusselsepoort, Caberg, Daalhof, Dousberg-Hazendans, Malberg, Malpertuis, Mariaberg, Oud-Caberg, Pottenberg.
7. Buitenwijk Noord-West (North-Western sections); Belvédère, Boschpoort, Bosscherveld, Frontenkwartier, Lanakerveld).

Every neighbourhood has its own number which correspondents to the postal code.

Politics

Council seats

Party	seats	change from 2002
PvdA	13	+5
CDA	7	-4
GroenLinks	5	0
VVD	3(4)	-1
SP	3	+1
Senioren	3	0
D66	2	0
Stadsbelangen	2	-1
Liberalen Maastricht	1	0
Total	39	–

The mayor of Maastricht is the Christian Democrat Gerd Leers. His party, the CDA, became the largest party in the city council after the 2002 municipal elections, when they made up the coalition together with PvdA, VVD and GroenLinks.

The 2006 municipal elections saw a political landslide from right to left all over the Netherlands, and Maastricht was no exception. The present coalition still kept its majority, but the shift to the left made Maastricht one of the 39 Dutch municipalities in which an all-left-wing coalition of PvdA, GroenLinks and SP has become possible. Another factor that contributed to this situation in Maastricht, was the 2005 enduring disagreement within the VVD between the traditional and progressive members. September 2006, this lead to the establishement of the Liberalen Maastricht. Previously the VVD forced one of its members to leave the party, just a month after the 2006 municipal elections.

One issue that brought Maastricht in the news in 2005 and 2006 was the cannabis supply of coffeeshops. Under the gedoogbeleid the sale of cannabis is allowed under certain conditions, but the supply is not, resulting in an impossible situation. The police keep on tracking down plantations, but that just results in more and more plantations being set up, including many in attics of houses in 'ordinary streets', thus bringing small children in contact with illegal activities. Mayor Leers therefore proposed to let the government take over the growing, striking, in his opinion, a blow to the criminal scene. But the Netherlands are bound by international laws and a complication for Maastricht is its proximity to neighbouring countries, making it a major destination for drug tourism.

Sports

• In football, Maastricht is represented by MVV (Maastrichtse Voetbal Vereniging), currently playing in the Dutch first division (which is actually the second division).

Transportation

• By car; Maastricht is served by the A2 and the A79 highways. The city can be reached from Brussels and Cologne (Köln) within 1½ hours and from Amsterdam within 2½ hours. The A2 highway that runs through Maastricht is heavily congested and increasingly causes air pollution in the urban area. Construction plans for building a tunnel in order to improve traffic flow are currently being developed.
• By train; the Dutch Railways serves both the main station of Maastricht (Maastricht Centraal (CS)) and the station located near the business and university district (Maastricht Randwyck). A third station (Maastricht Balijeweg) is also planned. A railway branch passes through Maastricht that runs south to Liège, Belgium and north into the rest of The Netherlands, where it has a branch to Heerlen. Intercity trains to the northern city of Alkmaar connect Maastricht with Eindhoven, Utrecht and Amsterdam, amongst others. Express and commuter trains cover the regional area and an international intercity train connects the city to Liège and Brussels in Belgium. Another railway line to Hasselt, Belgium is no longer in use, although plans exist to restore it.
• By airplane; Maastricht is served by Maastricht Aachen Airport with scheduled flights to Alicante [as of November 14, 2007], Amsterdam, Girona, Milan [as of October 28, 2007], Valencia [as of October 31, 2007] and popular holiday destinations (e.g. Turkey) during the Summer season.
• By boat; Maastricht has a river port on the Meuse, and is connected with the rest of the Netherlands through the Juliana Canal and the Zuid-Willemsvaart.
• By bus; In Maastricht various buslines serve the majority of the city and suburbs. The regional bus network stretches to most of parts of Southern-Limburg as well as to Belgium (Hasselt, Tongeren and Liège) and Germany (Aachen)

Visiting Maastricht

Events & Festivals

• Carnival (Dutch: Carnaval, Limburgish: Vastelaovend) & November 11 (start Carnival-season)
• KunstTour
• Preuvenemint, culinary event in late August.
• The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF)
• Winterland

Museums

• Bonnefanten Museum of art.
• Natuurhistorisch Museum which exhibits collections relating to geology, paleontology and the flora and fauna of Limburg.

Sights

• Bassin, an inner harbour with various restaurants.
• The Helpoort and the city wall.
• The Hoge Fronten (also Linie van du Moulin), 17th/18th century bastion.
• The Kazematten, the tunnels beneath the Hoge Fronten.
• The Markt (Marketsquare) with the city hall.
• Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe square with the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw basilica.
• To the south of the city is the hill of St. Pietersberg which has an old fort and a network of caves within. The caves maintain a constant temperature of 10°C and are a hibernation place for bats. The caves were formed by digging out the Marl that was used to build houses. This led to a very extensive network of caves that were used as hiding places during World War II. Later, the marl was used by ENCI to make cement. In the process a large chunk was removed from one side of the hill. The unused material was used to make a new hill, d'n Observant. In the process of carving out the marl, fossils were found, most notably one of a mosasaur in 1780 (which, contrary to popular belief, was not a dinosaur). The find was so famous it led to naming a 6-million-year epoch after the city: the Maastrichtian.
• The statue of d'Artagnan in the Aldenhofpark.
• Various shopping streets e.g. the Stokstraatkwartier, the Grote Staat & Kleine Staat and the recently restored mall Entre Deux.
• Vrijthof square, with the Vrijthoftheatre (Theater aan het Vrijthof), the Saint Servatius basilica (Sint-Servaasbasiliek) and the Saint Johns church (Sint-Janskerk).

Other

• MosaeGusto!, a 3.500 m² fine food market.

Native of Maastricht

See also People from Maastricht

• Gerard Bergholtz (1939); former soccerplayer; 9 time international.
• Peter Debye (1884-1966), Nobel prize winning chemist
• André Rieu (1949), musician
• Fred Rompelberg (1945); cyclist; current holder of the Absolute Speed World Record Cycling with 268,831 km/h
• Maxime Verhagen (1956), politician
• Ad Wijnands (1959); former cyclist; two time stage winner in Tour de France
• Boudewijn Zenden (1976), football (soccer) player

Sister Cities

• Liège, Belgium
• Koblenz, Germany
• Rama, Nicaragua

See also

• Jewish Maastricht

External links

General

• City of Maastricht, official site (Dutch)
• City of Maastricht, official site (English)
• Wikimaas Wiki on Maastricht
• Destadmaastricht.com All you want to know about Maastricht, esp. current projects like Entre-Deux and Mosae Forum
• Famous inhabitants of Maastricht

Tourism

• Tourist Board, Dutch, English, French or German
• MaastrichtNet, Agenda for Maastricht with English Section Highlights of the Week
• Maastricht360.nl, 360° view of Maastricht
• FoToL.nl, pictures of Maastricht
• Bonnefanten Museum

History

• Maastricht in Roman times
• Churches of Maastricht
• News Reports of Musketeer Skeletons found
• Webpage about the fortifications
• Webpage about the 1632 siege
• Webpage about the 1673 siege
• D’Artagnan’s death at the 1673 siege of Maastricht, an article by H. Reuvers in Crossroads, 19 December 2006
• The history of carnival in Maastricht, an article by H. Reuvers in Crossroads, 31 January 2007

Higher education and research

• Maastricht University
• Maastricht Graduate School of Governance
• Academie van Bouwkunst Maastricht (Academy of Architecture) [1]
• Maastricht Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology - United Nation University [2]
• Maastricht School of Management [3]
• Center for European Studies (CES) [4]
• Conservatorium Maastricht (Academy of Music)
• Toneelacademie Maastricht (Academy of Dramatic Arts)
• Academie Beeldende Kunsten Maastricht (Academy of Fine Arts)
• Jan van Eyck Academie [5]

Resources for expatriates

• Crossroads English-language website for expatriates in Maastricht, published by the European Journalism Centre
• International Women's Club South Limburg a non profit international women's organisation with over 200 members in South Limburg
• Maastricht International Playgroup a non-profit organisation comprising expatriate and local parents living in and around Maastricht

Other

• Vastelaoftrap Kickoff of the carnival days
• WebCAM Maastricht Randwijck WebCAM Maastricht Randwijck

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