Gronsveld ( li, Groêselt or Groéselt) is a village 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 ...

. It is part of the municipality of

Eijsden-Margraten Eijsden-Margraten (; ( li, Èèsjde-Mergraote) is a municipality situated in the very south of the Netherlands. There it is located in the southeastern part of the province of Limburg. This municipality was formed in 2011 from the former municipa ...

and situated southeast of the municipality of

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 ...

, to which it is bordering. Gronsveld was a separate municipality until 1982, when it was merged with Eijsden. The municipality also included

Rijckholt Rijckholt ( Limburgish: ''Riêkelt'') is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten. History The village was first mentioned in 1330 as Rykilt, and means "mighty forest". Rijckholt develop ...

, Eckelrade, Heugem (now part of

) and Honthem. The derivation of the name is uncertain, although it is commonly accepted to be quite literally referring to its evergreen pastures, and indeed the village is favourably situated at the foot of the Margraten Plateau which retains water in its bedrock. This provides for a constant gentle irrigation, and the lush clay soil carried here by the river

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

is excellent for growing fruit trees.

History

Gronsveld used to be an autonomous county until the end of the ancienne regime at the closing of the 18th century and was part of the imperial circle of

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

. Its first and most famous count was Josse Maximilaan van Gronsveld né van Bronckhorst who fought in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

and invented the Gronsfeld cipher, a

substitution cipher In cryptography, a substitution cipher is a method of encrypting in which units of plaintext are replaced with the ciphertext, in a defined manner, with the help of a key; the "units" may be single letters (the most common), pairs of letters, tri ...

. The lords, barons and counts of Gronsfeld had the right to mint their own coins which were frequently banned from circulation elsewhere because of their insufficient weight and/or alloy.

Folklore

Gronsveld has a rich tradition when it comes to folklore. The local marching band Koninklijke Harmonie van Gronsveld est. 1835 and the Koninklijke Schutterij St. Sebastianus (= historic 'army') est. 1619 are the most well known parts of this. Also, every year the village celebrates the traditional bronck, which dates back to the Middle Ages when the people of the village would honour God in order to get a good harvest. The village is then ruled by a king and his queen. Every four years (most recent occurrence 2004) this position is 'battled' for. Who will be king is determined on Pentecost Monday by a contest where the candidates take turns shooting a wooden bird atop a long pole on the church square. Whoever manages to shoot the bird down will be king. Two weeks after Pentecost the actual celebrations start. During these three days (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) the king and his army make their way through the whole village clearing road blocks (put there as a reminder of the problems they ran into in the old days) along the way. On Sunday there is also a mass and procession through the village. Two weeks after these celebrations, the king and queen treat the whole village to a so-called 'koffietafel' (literally: coffee table). Which includes drinks and the traditional limburgish pastry vlaai.

Sights

Historic buildings in Gronsveld include the castle and the church built in the 18th century. Another landmark of the village is the Savelsbos, a protected hillside forest.

References

Gallery

Image:grenedeer.jpg, 'The Grenedeer' statue Image:Gronsveld, kerk foto3 2010-07-11 12.47.JPG, Gronsveld church File:Savelsbosch-Vuursteenmijn (3).JPG, Above-ground relic of flintstone mine in forest near Gronsveld {{Authority control Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands) Former municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands) Eijsden-Margraten