Sibbe (

Limburgish Limburgish ( li, Limburgs or ; nl, Limburgs ; german: Limburgisch ; french: Limbourgeois ), also called Limburgan, Limburgian, or Limburgic, is a West Germanic language spoken in the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg (Netherlands), L ...

: ''Sub'' or ''Süp'') is the official

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 ...

name of a village in the municipality of

Valkenburg aan de Geul Valkenburg aan de Geul (; li, Valkeberg ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the southeastern Dutch Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. The name refers to the central town in the ...

in the 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 ...

in the southern part of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

History

It has been proposed that the name of the village derives from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

word

sippe ''Sippe'' is German for "clan, kindred, extended family" ( Frisian ''Sibbe'', Norse ''Sifjar''). It continues a Proto-Germanic term ''*sebjō'', which referred to a band or confederation bound by a treaty or oath, not primarily restricted to blo ...

, meaning a clan of a limited number of families. Another possibility is that the name derives from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''cippus'', meaning young forest.J.G.M. Notten, ''Het Sibber Huis''. Valkenburg, 1995, page 9 However, both explanations do not fit with the local pronunciation ''Süp''. It is not known when the first inhabitants settled here. It is assumed that the ''Plateau of

Margraten Margraten (; li, Mergraote) is a village and a former municipality in the southeastern part of the Netherlands. On 1 January 2011 this former municipality merged with a neighbouring one, which resulted in the new Eijsden-Margraten municipality. ...

'', at the edge of which Sibbe is situated, was gradually deforested and settled after the year 1000.P.J.H. Ubachs, ''Handboek voor de geschiedenis van Limburg''. Hilversum, 2000, page 24-26, 114 The village was first mentioned ('Cybde') in a document in 1307.J.G.M. Notten, ''Het Sibber Huis''. Valkenburg, 1995, page 16 Until 1940 Sibbe was part of the municipality of

Oud-Valkenburg Oud-Valkenburg (''English: Old-Falkenburg'') is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Valkenburg aan de Geul, and has about 115 inhabitants. Although small, Oud-Valkenburg counts several monuments, among ...

Population: economy, leisure, religion

In spite of some small-scale building projects, population has decreased over the last decades. This is the case for most parts of

South Limburg South Limburg (Dutch: ''Zuid-Limburg'', Limburgish: ''Zuud-Limburg'') is both a COROP (statistical) region as well as a '' landstreek'' (area) of the Netherlands located in the province of Limburg. The Dutch term ''landstreek'', literally transla ...

, caused by

population ageing Population ageing is an increasing median age in a population because of declining fertility rates and rising life expectancy. Most countries have rising life expectancy and an ageing population, trends that emerged first in developed countries b ...

, low birthrates and negative

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

. Sibbe is situated at the edge of the Plateau of Margraten, a fertile

loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

at 160 meters above

NAP A nap is a short period of sleep, typically taken during daytime hours as an adjunct to the usual nocturnal sleep period. Naps are most often taken as a response to drowsiness during waking hours. A nap is a form of biphasic or polyphasic sl ...

. Until recently, agriculture was the main means of life on the Plateau. Nowadays, most villagers commute to work in nearby towns like Valkenburg,

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

and

Heerlen Heerlen (; li, Heële ) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the fourth municipality in the province of Limburg. ...

. Being close to tourist hotspot Valkenburg, the village offers some

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

accommodation, as well as a camping site. The last operating

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

quarry in the Netherlands is situated in Sibbe. Tours on

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

s and quads are offered in the underground labyrinth in parts of the quarry that are no longer used for mining. Sibbe has a very active community life with various sports clubs (

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...

), a

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

, a mixed

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

, a young adults club (''Jonkheid''), and a

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

club. Although church-going has steeply declined in recent years, most of the inhabitants of Sibbe are still, at least nominally, members of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The first church was built here in 1840. Before, villagers had to walk the two miles to the parish church of Oud-Valkenburg. Until 1948 the church of Sibbe remained dependent on the church in Oud-Valkenburg.

Sights

* ''Sibberhüske'' or ''Villaertshof''.

Manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

with a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

and a defensive tower, first mentioned in 1381.''J.G.M. Notten, ''Het Sibber Huis''. Valkenburg, 1995, page 21 Parts of the tower may be medieval but most of the existing house dates from the 17th century, built in the local Maasland Renaissance architectural style, with alternating layers of

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

and

stone. The outbuildings are partly 18th century, partly rebuilt after a damaging fire in the 1930s. * Various imposing ''carré farms'' (German: ''Vierkantshof''), mainly along Dorpsstraat. The 17th/18th century carré farm ''Hellinxhof'' stands at Klein Linde. * Church of

Saint Rose of Lima Rose of Lima (born Isabel Flores de Oliva; 20 April 1586 24 August 1617) was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic in Lima, Peru, who became known for both her life of severe penance and her care of the poverty stricken of the city throu ...

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

parish church, begun in 1840 and enlarged in 1866 and 1927. The nave is original from the 1840s and was designed by the

architect Matthias Soiron. *The 140 kilometer long underground maze of the ''Sibberberg'', the marlstone quarry, parts of which date from the 15th century. * ''French chapel'' inside the Sibberberg. Probably built during the years of the

French First Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...

, when Catholic priests that did not swear allegiance to the Republic, were restricted in their religious freedom. Some of the charcoal wall drawings date from around 1865. *

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

churchyard chapel. * Modern glass chapel dedicated to Saint Rose of Lima, containing the processional altar built of thousands of pieces of wood, ceramic and shells by a former mayor of the village. * Chapel ''Daalhemerweg'' and other small road chapels and crosses, dotted around the village.

Gallery

File:Sibbe-Suubberhuuske2.jpg, Villaertshof or Sibberhüske File:Sibbe-Dorpstraat 58 (6).JPG, Carré farm and gates belonging to Villaertshof File:Sibbe-Dorpstraat 47 (2).JPG, Carré farms Dorpsstraat File:Sibbe-Klein Linde 2 (1).JPG, Hellinxhof File:Sibbe-Kapel Sibbergroeve (2).JPG, Sibberberg: French chapel File:Sibbe-Kapel Sibbergroeve (3).JPG, Sibberberg: charcoal drawings File:Sibbe-Kapel Daalhemerweg.JPG, Chapel Daalhemerweg

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands) Valkenburg aan de Geul