Montfort () is a small city in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

. Montfort has about 3,000 inhabitants. It lies about 8 km south of

Roermond Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Roer ...

. It received

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1271 and is renowned for the ruins of Castle Montfort, built in the 13th century. Until 1991, Montfort was a separate municipality. It then became part of

Posterholt Posterholt is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Roerdalen. History The village was first mentioned in 1147 as Posterholt. The etymology is unclear. Posterholt is a linear forest cultivation village ...

, which was later renamed

Ambt Montfort Ambt Montfort () is a former municipality in the Dutch province of Limburg. In 1991, the municipalities of Montfort, Posterholt, Reutje and Sint Odiliënberg merged. The original name of the merged municipality was "Posterholt", but it was cha ...

.Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, "Repertorium van Nederlandse gemeenten", KNAW, 2006
Knaw.nl
Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW), Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Since 1 January 2007, Montfort has been part of the municipality of

Roerdalen Roerdalen (; li, Roerdale ) is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, in the province of Limburg. As of , it had about inhabitants and borders Germany. Roerdalen is the renaming of the municipality of Melick en Herkenbosch in 1993. P ...

Places of interest

* The ruin of

Castle Montfort A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

. This castle was built around 1260 by

Hendrik III of Gelre Hendrik may refer to: * Hendrik (given name) * Hans Hendrik, Greenlandic Arctic traveller and interpreter * Hendrik Island, an island in Greenland * Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, a municipality in the Netherlands * A character from ''Dragon Quest XI'' See ...

. For centuries it was the governmental centre of

. * The presbytery of Montfort is also one of Montfort's historic buildings. * The

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

s and

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

s on the cemetery. Most of the victims of the bombardments of Montfort at the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

are buried here. The number of victims was high because at the time Montfort was a regional refugee sanctuary with 6 times its current population. * The historical centre of Montfort. Most of the buildings in this part of the town are from the late 1950s because most of the original buildings were destroyed during the

. File:Ruine kasteel Montfort Limburg.jpg, The ruin of

File:Montfort (Roerdalen) Rijksmonument 47063 pastorie.JPG, presbytery of Montfort File:Montfort (Limburg) massagraf.JPG, The

s on the cemetery in Montfort File:Montfort (Roerdalen) sculpture de Sjiëper, by Henk Sillen, 1989.JPG, Sculpture of "Sjieëper" (Shepherd), by

Henk Sillen Henk is a Dutch male given name, originally a short form of Hendrik. It influenced "Hank" which is used in English-speaking countries (mainly in the US) as a form of "Henry". People named "Henk" include: Academics *Henk Aertsen (born 1943), Dutc ...

Landscape

* Montfort is surrounded by forests, such as 't Sweeltje, Munichsbosch, Roozendaal and Reigershorst.

Notable people

Jos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a former (Formula One) racing driver. Verstappen was the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993. In Formula 1, Verstappen raced for seven different t ...

(car racing driver)

References

External links

Roerdalen
Former municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands) Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands) Roerdalen {{LimburgNL-geo-stub