The Duchy of Limburg or Limbourg was an
imperial estate
An Imperial Estate (; , plural: ') was an entity or an individual of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise signi ...
of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. Much of the area of the duchy is today located within
Liège Province
Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is the easternmost province of the Wallonia region of Belgium.
Liège Province is the only Belgian province that has borders with three countries. It borders (clockwise from the north) the Dutch province of Limburg, the ...
of
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, with a small portion in the municipality of
Voeren
Voeren (; ) is a Flanders, Flemish Dutch language, Dutch-speaking Municipalities of Belgium, municipality with Municipalities with language facilities, facilities for the Walloons, French-speaking minority, located in the Belgium, Belgian provi ...
, an
exclave
An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
of the neighbouring
Limburg Province. Its chief town was
Limbourg-sur-Vesdre, in today's Liège Province.
The duchy evolved from a county which was first assembled under the lordship of a junior member of the
House of Ardenne–Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg (or Luxembourg), also known as the House of Ardenne–Luxembourg in order to distinguish it from later families, were a Lotharingian noble family known from the tenth and eleventh centuries. They are one of the three main br ...
,
Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Given name
Nobility
= Anhalt-Harzgerode =
* Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
= Austria =
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...
. He and his successors built and apparently named the fortified town which the county, and later the duchy, were named after. Despite being a younger son, Frederick had a successful career and also became duke of
Lower Lotharingia
The Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, also called Northern Lotharingia, Lower Lorraine or Northern Lorraine (and also referred to as '' Lothier'' or '' Lottier'' in 1046. Lordship of this county was not originally automatically linked with possession of a ducal title (''
Herzog
(; feminine ; masculine plural ; feminine plural ) is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to ...
'' in German, ''Hertog'' in Dutch), and the same title was also eventually contested by the
counts of Brabant, leading to the invention of two new ducal titles: Brabant and Limbourg.
The extinction of the line of Frederick's grandson Henry in 1283 sparked the
War of the Limburg Succession, whereafter Limburg was ruled by the
dukes of Brabant
The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Leuven (who was duke of L ...
in
personal union
A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...
, eventually being grouped together with the Brabantian "
Overmaas" territories bordering it (including
Dalhem
Dalhem (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
On 1 January 2012 Dalhem had a total population of 6,996. The total area is 36.06 km² which gives a population density of 180 inhabitants per km². Th ...
,
Valkenburg, and
's-Hertogenrade), to be one of the
Seventeen Provinces
The Seventeen Provinces were the Imperial states of the Habsburg Netherlands in the 16th century. They roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e., what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the France, French Departments of Franc ...
of the
Burgundian Netherlands
The Burgundian Netherlands were those parts of the Low Countries ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy during the Burgundian Age between 1384 and 1482. Within their Burgundian State, which itself belonged partly to the Holy Roman Empire and partly t ...
. Unlike other parts of this province, the lands of the duchy stayed intact within the Southern Netherlands, under
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
control, after the divisions caused by the
Eighty Years' War
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...
and the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
. However finally, after the failed
Brabant Revolution
The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution (, ), sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790 in older writing, was an armed revolution, insurrection that occurred in the Austrian Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) between O ...
in 1789, the duchy's history was terminated with the occupation by
French Revolutionary troops in 1793. The easternmost lands were reunited within modern Belgium only after
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
The duchy was multilingual, being the place where Dutch, French, and German dialects border upon each other and coexist at their geographical extremes, both now and in medieval times. Its northern and eastern borders are the approximate boundaries of the modern state of Belgium with the Netherlands and
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, at their "
tripoint
A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...
". The eastern part, which includes
Eupen
Eupen (, , ; ; ; former ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Liège Province, province of Liège, from the Germany, German border (Aachen ...
, is the administrative capital and northernmost part of the modern
German-speaking Community of Belgium
The German-speaking Community (, , DG), also known as East Belgium ( ), is one of the three Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, federal communities of Belgium. The community is composed of nine municipalities in Liège Province, ...
. The duchy also included the main part of the
Pays de Herve, famous for its pungent-smelling soft cheese known as
Limburger or
Herve.
Geography
The state's territory was situated in the
Low Countries
The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...
between the river
Meuse
The Meuse or Maas 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 total length of .
History
From 1301, the upper ...
(Maas) in the west and the
Imperial city of
Aachen
Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants.
Aachen is locat ...
in the east. These lands had formed a very large lordship under Baelen on the route between the important imperial centres of Liège and Aachen. They had chiefly been used for hunting, and not yet developed very much for agriculture. Frederick selected a natural prominence at an important intersection of roads which had probably been called "Heimersberch" or Hèvremont, and built his new comital ''caput'' there in about 1030. Kupper has proposed that the new name for this place, Limburg, was taken from the name of the fort of the ruling
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty () was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125).
After the death of the last Ottonia ...
who had in about the same period given their possession to become
Limburg Abbey.
The most important towns in the eventual duchy were Limbourg, the capital, and
Eupen
Eupen (, , ; ; ; former ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Liège Province, province of Liège, from the Germany, German border (Aachen ...
. The Limburg estates were commonly divided into five
legal districts (''Hochbänke''):

*The original
manor of
Baelen in the southeast with the fortified town of Limburg, and also Eupen, and
Welkenraedt
Welkenraedt (; Ripuarian: ; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
On January 1, 2018, Welkenraedt had a total population of 9,920. The total area is 24.47 km2 which gives a population density of 405 i ...
;
*
Herve in the southwest with
Dison
Dison (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium.
On January 1, 2006, Dison had a total population of 14,243. The total area is 14.01 km2 which gives a population ...
,
Thimister and Clermont.
*Montzen (today part of
Plombières) in the northwest with
Kelmis
Kelmis (; , ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Liège (province), Liège, named for the historical deposits of Calamine (mineral), calamine (zinc ore) nearby. , the population was 10,881; the ...
,
Moresnet
Neutral Moresnet (, , , ) was a small Belgium, Belgian–Prussian condominium (international law), condominium in western Europe that existed from 1816 to 1921 and was administered jointly by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (Belgium after ...
, and
Teuven;
*
Walhorn in the northeast with
Eynatten
Eynatten is a village in the Belgian municipality of Raeren, part of the German-speaking Community of Belgium. Eynatten is on the border to Germany, south from Aachen. Around half of the population are non-Belgians, most of them Germans.
Eynatte ...
,
Hauset
Hauset is a village in the Belgian municipality of Raeren, part of the German-speaking Community of Belgium. The village is around 260m over Mean Sea Level, along the small river Geul and borders the Forest of Aachen. The population, around 1700 in ...
, and
Lontzen;
*The southwestern
exclave
An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
of
Sprimont
Sprimont (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Dolembreux, Gomzé-Andoumont, Louveigné, Rouvreux, and Sprimont.
Other villages: Banneux, Damré, ...
, surrounded by the
Prince-Bishopric of Liège
The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as ...
.
The territory of Limburg formed a complex patchwork with those of the
Prince-Bishopric of Liège
The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as ...
, based to the west, the
Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy
The Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy, also Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy, sometimes known with its German name Stablo, was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Princely power was exercised by the Order of Sai ...
to the south, and the
County of Luxembourg
The County of Luxembourg (; ) was a Imperial State, State of the Holy Roman Empire. It arose from medieval ''Bock (Luxembourg), Lucilinburhuc'' ("Little Fortress") Castle in the present-day Luxembourg (city), City of Luxembourg, purchased by ...
, to the south. In the east the main neighbour was the Rhenish
Duchy of Jülich
The Duchy of Jülich (; ; ) comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay west of the Rhine river and was bordered by the Electorate of Cologne to the east and the Duchy of Limburg to the wes ...
. To the north were the smaller lordships such as Slenaken, and Wittem and the lordships of Dalhem and Rolduc ('s-Hertogenrade), today in the Dutch province of Limburg, which came under Brabant control and were referred to in that context as the "Overmaas" territory, or even Limburg. In the northeast was the imperial city of
Aachen
Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants.
Aachen is locat ...
.
Linguistically Limburg was situated on the border of
Germanic with
Romance Europe. While in the northern and eastern districts
Limburgish
Limburgish ( or ; ; also Limburgian, Limburgic or Limburgan) refers to a group of South Low Franconian Variety (linguistics), varieties spoken in Belgium and the Netherlands, characterized by their distance to, and limited participation ...
and
Ripuarian dialects were spoken, the southwestern part around
Herve was dominated by
Walloon.
History

The territory of the duchy of Limburg was formed in the 11th century around the town of
Limbourg
Limbourg (; German and Dutch: ''Limburg''; ) or Limbourg-sur-Vesdre is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
On 1 January 2008, Limbourg had a total population of 5,680. The total area is 24.63 k ...
in present-day
Wallonia
Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...
. About 1020, Duke
Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Given name
Nobility
= Anhalt-Harzgerode =
* Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
= Austria =
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...
of Lower Lorraine, a descendant of Count Palatine
Wigeric of Lotharingia
Wigeric or Wideric (; or ; died before 923) was a Frankish nobleman and the count of the Bidgau (''pagus Bedensis'') and held the rights of a count within the city of Trier. He received also the advocacy of the Abbey of Saint RumboldThe abbey f ...
, had Limbourg Castle built on the banks of the
Vesdre river. His estates then comprised the districts of
Baelen (with Limbourg), Herve, Montzen (since 1975 part of
Plombières),
Walhorn, and the southwestern exclave of
Sprimont
Sprimont (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Dolembreux, Gomzé-Andoumont, Louveigné, Rouvreux, and Sprimont.
Other villages: Banneux, Damré, ...
. Frederick's eventual successor (probably a grandson) was
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters
* Henry (surname)
* Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone
Arts and entertainmen ...
, although between them was
Count Udon, who about 1065 was also called a "count of Limburg". (It has been proposed that he married Frederick's daughter, and was the father of Henry.)
[Jean-Louis Kupper (2007) Les origines du duché de Limbourg-sur-Vesdre", ''Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire'' Année 85-3-4 pp. 609-63]
Henry also claimed Frederick's ducal title, which was finally acknowledged by Emperor
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV in 1101. The Duchy of Limburg, like most of modern Belgium, was originally within the Duchy of
Lower Lorraine
The Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, also called Northern Lotharingia, Lower Lorraine or Northern Lorraine (and also referred to as '' Lothier'' or '' Lottier'' . For a while, Lower Lorraine had its own
duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
. It is from this duchy that the Duchy of Limbourg derived its ducal status (as did the Duchy of Brabant, in a competitive claim to succession). This meant that Lower Lorraine came to have two duchies, that of Brabant, and that of Limburg, and the title of
Duke of Lothier
The Duke of Lothier was purely an honorific title. It is often associated with the territory within the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, governed by the dukes of Brabant and their successors after 1190 until the end of the Ancien Régime in 1796.
In ...
, still held by Brabant, eventually became ineffective. As the Lorrainian ducal dignity was contested the title "duke of Limburg" arose, achieving confirmation from Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...
in 1165.
The rise of the Limburg dynasty continued, when Duke
Waleran III in 1214 became Count of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
by marriage with the heiress
Ermesinde[Péporté, P., ''Historiography, Collective Memory and Nation-Building in Luxembourg''. Brill, 2011, p. 109] and his son
Henry IV in 1225 became Count of
Berg
Berg may refer to:
People
*Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* General Berg (disambiguation)
* Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor
* Berg (footballer, born 1963), Ninimbergue dos Santos Guerra, Brazilian footba ...
as husband of heiress
Irmgard.

However, upon the death of Henry's son
Waleran IV in 1279, leaving only one heiress Irmgard, who had married Count
Reginald I of Guelders but died childless in 1283, the
War of the Limburg Succession broke out. The
duke of Brabant
The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I, Duke of Brabant, Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Le ...
won the final
Battle of Worringen
The Battle of Worringen was fought on 5 June 1288 near the town of Worringen (also spelled Woeringen), which is now part of Chorweiler, the northernmost borough (Stadtbezirk) of Cologne. It was the decisive battle of the War of the Limburg Succe ...
in 1288, thereby gaining control of the Duchy of Limburg with the consent of King
Rudolph I of Germany
Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany of the Habsburg dynasty from 1273 until his death.
Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which had begun after the death of the Hohenstaufen Emperor ...
. Though it shared the fate of Brabant, Limburg remained a separate
Imperial State
An Imperial Estate (; , plural: ') was an entity or an individual of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise signi ...
, which in 1404 passed from
Joanna of Brabant to
Anthony of Valois, son of the
Burgundian duke
Philip the Bold
Philip II the Bold (; ; 17 January 1342 – 27 April 1404) was Duke of Burgundy and ''jure uxoris'' Count of Flanders, Artois and Burgundy. He was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxembourg.
Philip was th ...
. After the death of
Mary of Burgundy
Mary of Burgundy (; ; 13 February 1457 – 27 March 1482), nicknamed the Rich, was a member of the House of Valois-Burgundy who ruled the Burgundian lands, comprising the Duchy of Burgundy, Duchy and Free County of Burgundy, County of Burgundy a ...
in 1482, it passed to her descendants from the Austrian
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...
. Combined with the
Lands of Overmaas (the lands beyond the Meuse:
Dalhem
Dalhem (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
On 1 January 2012 Dalhem had a total population of 6,996. The total area is 36.06 km² which gives a population density of 180 inhabitants per km². Th ...
,
Herzogenrath and
Valkenburg) and
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...
, the duchy became one of the
Seventeen Provinces
The Seventeen Provinces were the Imperial states of the Habsburg Netherlands in the 16th century. They roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e., what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the France, French Departments of Franc ...
held by the Habsburgs within the
Burgundian Circle
The Burgundian Circle (, , ) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire created in 1512 and significantly enlarged in 1548. In addition to the Free County of Burgundy (the former administrative region of Franche-Comté), the Burgundian Circle ...
established in 1512. Significant towns in Limburg proper were Herve, Montzen,
Lontzen,
Eupen
Eupen (, , ; ; ; former ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Liège Province, province of Liège, from the Germany, German border (Aachen ...
, Baelen and
Esneux.
After the abdication of Emperor
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
Kings and Emperors
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
Others
* Charles V, Duke ...
in 1556, the Burgundian fiefs passed to his son King
Philip II of Spain
Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...
. The measures of the
Council of Troubles implemented by Philip's stern governor,
the duke of Alba, sparked the
Eighty Years' War
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...
, ended by the 1648
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...
. An area known as
Limburg of the States, consisting of parts of Overmaas (but no part of the Duchy of Limburg itself), was ceded to the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
. In 1661, the Dutch and the Spanish agreed on a re-partition of the county of
Dalhem
Dalhem (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
On 1 January 2012 Dalhem had a total population of 6,996. The total area is 36.06 km² which gives a population density of 180 inhabitants per km². Th ...
. The Duchy of Limburg itself remained undivided under Spanish Habsburg rule as part of the
Southern Netherlands
The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the ...
, passing to the Austrian Habsburgs under the
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...
in 1713.
When the region was occupied by the
French in 1794, the Austrian Duchy of Limburg proper was disbanded and was incorporated into the département of
Ourthe
The Ourthe (; Walloon: ''Aiwe d' Oûte'') is a long river in the Ardennes in Wallonia, Belgium.
River
It is a right tributary to the river Meuse. The Ourthe is formed at the confluence of the ''Ourthe Occidentale'' (Western Ourthe) and the '' ...
, while most of the Overmaas lands became part of the department
Meuse-Inférieure, which is the basis of today's Belgian and Dutch provinces called Limburg. After the defeat of the French empire, the eastern, German-speaking part of duchy's lands were given to
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
in the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...
along with several other territories along what is today the Belgian-German border, but after the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, these lands became Belgian, re-uniting the original parts of the old duchy.
See also
*
Dukes of Limburg
*
Duchy of Limburg (1839–1867)
The Duchy of Limburg () was created in 1839 from parts of the Dutch Province of Limburg as a result of the Treaty of London. Its territory was the territory of the modern day province of Limburg with the exceptions of the cities of Maastricht ...
*
Limburger cheese
*
Neutral Moresnet
Neutral Moresnet (, , , ) was a small Belgian–Prussian condominium in western Europe that existed from 1816 to 1921 and was administered jointly by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (Belgium after its independence in 1830) and the Kingdo ...
References
External links
Map of the Duchy of Limburg in 1789
{{DEFAULTSORT:Limburg, Duchy of
*
*
1794 disestablishments
States and territories established in 1065
Duchy of Limburg
The Duchy of Limburg or Limbourg was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire. Much of the area of the duchy is today located within Liège Province of Belgium, with a small portion in the municipality of Voeren, an Enclave and exclave, excla ...
Limburg
Duchy of Limbourg
Territories of the Valois dukes of Burgundy
States and territories disestablished in 1797