Kanne (

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 ...

: ''Kan'') is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the municipality of

Riemst Riemst (; ) is a small town and a municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. Riemst is in the Flemish speaking area of Belgium. On January 1, 2018 Riemst had a total population of 16,665. The total area is 57.88 km² which gives a p ...

in the southeastern part of the Belgian 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 ...

. As of 2021, the village has 1,162 inhabitants, a significant number of whom have Dutch nationality.

Location

Kanne is situated right on the border with the city of

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 ...

in the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

province of

. It is also on the border with the Walloon municipality of

Visé Visé (; , ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, located on the river Meuse in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Argenteau, Cheratte, Lanaye, Lixhe, Richelle, and Visé. In the ...

. Kanne is situated in the valley of the river

Geer Geer (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Geer had a total population of 2,854. The total area is 23.62 km² which gives a population density of 121 inhabitants per km². Geer ...

(

: ''Jeker'') between Cannerberg (part of the

Hesbaye The Hesbaye ( French, ), or Haspengouw ( Dutch and Limburgish, ), is a traditional cultural and geophysical region in eastern Belgium. It is a loamy plateau region which forms a watershed between the Meuse and Scheldt drainage basins. It has b ...

Plateau) in the west and

Mount Saint Peter Mount Saint Peter ( French: ''Montagne Saint-Pierre''; Dutch: ''Sint-Pietersberg''), also referred to as Caestert Plateau, is the northern part of a plateau running north to south between the valleys of the river Geer to the west, and the Meus ...

( Caestert Plateau) in the east. The village is also situated on the

Albert Canal The Albert Canal (, ; , ) is a canal located in northeastern Belgium, which was named for King Albert I of Belgium. The Albert Canal connects Antwerp with Liège, and also the Meuse river with the Scheldt river. It also connects with the Des ...

, at the western end of the canal's passage through Mount Saint Peter.

History

The name Kanne ("Cannes") was mentioned first in a document of 965. In 1079 it was referred to as ''apud Kanne''. The meaning of the name is not known. Kanne consists of two parts: Opkanne ("Upper Kanne") and Neercanne ("Lower Kanne"). Opkanne belonged in 965 to the chapter of Saint Martin's church in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

. In 1391 the Van den Bosch family owned Opkanne. Their castle in Opkanne, Castle Harff, stood near present-day Bovenstraat. In 1486 Gijs (Guy) van den Bosch, lord of Opkanne and a companion of William I de La Marck, was murdered by an angry mob in Liège. Neercanne was always privately owned. From 1794 till 1843 the two parts of Kanne were briefly united, but they were separated again as a result of the

Treaty of London (1839) The Treaty of London of 1839, was signed on 19 April 1839 between the major European powers, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Kingdom of Belgium. It was a direct follow-up to the 1831 Treaty of the XVIII Articles, which the Neth ...

. Situated close to Maastricht, which was besieged many times, Kanne was often a battleground. In the 1930s, along with the construction of the

, an important military fortress was built near Kanne,

Fort Eben-Emael A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

. In May 1940, at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 217 Belgian soldiers died here when they tried to stop the German invaders as part of the

Battle of Belgium The invasion of Belgium or Belgian campaign (10–28 May 1940), often referred to within Belgium as the 18 Days' Campaign (; ), formed part of the larger Battle of France, an Military offensive, offensive campaign by Nazi Germany, Germany during ...

Sights

A major historical monument in Kanne is

Château Neercanne __NOTOC__ Château Neercanne (also known as ''Agimont'' or ''kasteel Neercanne'') is a restaurant located in Maastricht in the Netherlands. It is a Types of restaurant#Fine dining, fine dining restaurant that was awarded one or two Michelin stars i ...

, although technically it is not in Kanne but a few meters across the border in

, the Netherlands. The meaning of the name Neercanne is "lower Kanne", as it is situated lower, downstream from the river. The castle with terraced gardens was built in 1698 by Daniël Wolf baron van Dopff, at that time military governor of Maastricht. The small baroque chapel of the

Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Some ...

was built in 1647. The village's parish church, dedicated to

Saint Hubert In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Ortho ...

, was built in 1938, but the tower dates from the 15th or 16th century. There are two historic

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

s on the river Geer in Kanne. A sinister reminder of

is the Eben-Emael fortress, constructed in 1931–35 to protect the Belgian border near the Albert Canal.

Gallery

Image:Chateau neercanne.jpg,

, near Kanne Image:H._Grafkapel_Kanne_15-04-2007_13-29-38.jpg, Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre Image:Kannekèrkwkped05.JPG, Church of Saint Hubert Image:Ebenemael 002.jpg, Fortress Eben-Emael

References

{{Commons category, position=left Belgium–Netherlands border crossings Populated places in Limburg (Belgium)