The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and flowing through

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 ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

before draining into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of .

History

From 1301, the upper Meuse roughly marked the western border 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 ...

with the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

, after Count Henry III of Bar had to receive the western part of the County of Bar (''Barrois mouvant'') as a French fief from the hands of King Philip IV. In 1408, a Burgundian army led by John the Fearless went to the aid of John III against the citizens of Liège, who were in open revolt. After the

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

, which saw the men from Liège defeated, John ordered the drowning in the Meuse of burghers and noblemen in Liège whose loyalties he suspected. The border remained relatively stable until the annexation of the Three Bishoprics Metz, Toul and Verdun by King Henry II in 1552 and the occupation of the Duchy of Lorraine by the forces of King Louis XIII in 1633. Its lower Belgian ( Walloon) portion, part of the sillon industriel, was the first fully industrialized area in continental Europe. The

Afgedamde Maas The Afgedamde Maas (; Dammed-up Meuse) is a former distributary of the Meuse, Maas River (French: Meuse) in the Netherlands, Dutch Provinces of the Netherlands, provinces of North Brabant and Gelderland. The Maas splits near Heusden with one chan ...

was created in the late Middle Ages, when a major flood made a connection between the Maas and the Merwede at the town of Woudrichem. From that moment on, the current Afgedamde Maas was the main branch of the lower Meuse. The former main branch eventually silted up and is today called the Oude Maasje. In the late 19th century and early 20th century the connection between the Maas and Rhine was closed off and the Maas was given a new, artificial mouth – the

Bergse Maas The Bergsche Maas (; History of Dutch orthography, current spelling: Bergsche Maas) is a canal that was constructed in 1904 to be a branch of the river Meuse, Maas (French: Meuse) in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The Maas splits near Heusde ...

. The resulting separation of the rivers Rhine and Maas reduced the risk of flooding and was considered to be the greatest achievement in Dutch hydraulic engineering before the completion of the

Zuiderzee Works The Zuiderzee Works () is a system of dams and Levee, dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, which was the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The project involved the dammin ...

and Delta Works. The former main branch was, after the dam at its southern inlet was completed in 1904, renamed ''Afgedamde Maas'' and no longer receives water from the Maas. The Meuse and its crossings were a key objective of the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

, the Battle of Sedan and also for the last major German WWII counter-offensive on the Western Front, the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

in December 1944 and January 1945. The Meuse is represented in the documentary ''The River People'' released in 2012 by Xavier Istasse. In July 2021, the Meuse basin was one of the many regions in Europe to experience catastrophic flooding during the 2021 European floods#Belgium, 2021 European floods.

Etymology

The name ''Meuse'' is derived from the French name of the river, derived from its Latin name, ''Mosa'', which ultimately derives from the Celtic or

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed throu ...

name *''Mosā''. This probably derives from the same root as English " maze", referring to the river's twists and turns. The Dutch name ''Maas'' descends from Middle Dutch ''Mase'', which comes from the presumed but unattested

Old Dutch In linguistics, Old Dutch ( Modern Dutch: ') or Old Low Franconian (Modern Dutch: ') is the set of dialects that evolved from Frankish spoken in the Low Countries during the Early Middle Ages, from around the 6th Page 55: "''Uit de zesde eeu ...

form *''Masa'', from

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

*''Masō''. Modern Dutch and German ''Maas'' and

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 ...

''Maos'' preserve this Germanic form. Despite the similarity, the Germanic name is not derived from the Celtic name, judging from the change from earlier ''o'' into ''a'', which is characteristic of the Germanic languages.

Geography

The Meuse rises in Pouilly-en-Bassigny, commune of Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse on the Langres plateau in France from where it flows northwards past Sedan (the head of

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

) and Charleville-Mézières into Belgium. At

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

it is joined by the Sambre. Beyond Namur the Meuse winds eastwards and passes

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 ...

before turning north. The river then forms part of the Belgian-Dutch border, except that at

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 border lies further to the west. In the Netherlands it continues northwards through

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), ...

closely along the border to Germany, then turns towards the west, where it runs parallel to the

Waal WAAL (99.1 FM broadcasting, FM; "The Whale") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station continuou ...

and forms part of the extensive Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, together with the Scheldt to its south and the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

to the north. The river has been divided near

Heusden Heusden () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the south of the Netherlands. It is located between the towns of Waalwijk and 's-Hertogenbosch. The municipality of Heusden, including Herpt, Heesbeen, Hedikhuizen, Do ...

into the

on the right and the

on the left. The Bergse Maas continues under the name of Amer, which is part of De Biesbosch. The Afgedamde Maas joins the Waal, the main stem of the Rhine at Woudrichem, and then flows under the name of Boven Merwede to Hardinxveld-Giessendam, where it splits into Nieuwe Merwede and Beneden Merwede. Near Lage Zwaluwe, the Nieuwe Merwede joins the Amer, forming the Hollands Diep, which splits into Grevelingen and Haringvliet, before finally flowing into the North Sea. The Meuse is crossed by railway bridges between the following stations (on the left and right banks respectively): * Belgium: **

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

(Belgium) –

(Netherlands) * Netherlands: ** Weert - Roermond ** Blerick –

** Cuijk – Mook-Molenhoek ** Ravenstein – Wijchen ** 's-Hertogenbosch – Zaltbommel There are also numerous road bridges and around 32 ferry crossings. The Meuse is navigable over a substantial part of its total length: In the Netherlands and Belgium, the river is part of the major inland navigation infrastructure, connecting the Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Antwerp port areas to the industrial areas upstream: 's-Hertogenbosch, Venlo, Maastricht, Liège, Namur. Between Maastricht and Maasbracht, an unnavigable section of the Meuse is bypassed by the Juliana Canal. South of Namur, further upstream, the river can only carry more modest vessels, although a barge as long as . can still reach the French border town of Givet. From Givet, the river is canalized over a distance of . The canalized Meuse used to be called the "Canal de l'Est — Branche Nord" but was recently rebaptized into "Canal de la Meuse". The waterway can be used by the smallest barges that are still in use commercially almost long and just over wide. Just upstream of the town of Commercy, the Canal de la Meuse connects with the Marne–Rhine Canal by means of a short diversion canal. The Cretaceous sea reptile '' Mosasaurus'' is named after the river Meuse. The first fossils of it were discovered outside Maastricht in 1780.

Basin area

An international agreement was signed in 2002 in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, Belgium, about the management of the river amongst France, Germany,

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 ...

, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Also participating in the agreement were the Belgian regional governments of

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

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 ...

, and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

(which is not in the basin of the Meuse but pumps running water into the Meuse). Most of the basin area (approximately 36,000 km²) is in Wallonia (12,000 km²), followed by France (9,000 km²), the Netherlands (8,000 km²), Germany (2,000 km²), Flanders (2,000 km²) and Luxembourg (a few km²). An International Commission on the Meuse has the responsibility of the implementation of the treaty. The costs of this Commission are met by all these countries, in proportion of their own territory in the basin of the Meuse: Netherlands 30%, Wallonia 30%, France 15%, Germany 14.5%, Flanders 5%, Brussels 4.5%, Kingdom of Belgium 0.5%, and Luxembourg 0.5%. The map of the basin area of Meuse was joined to the text of the treaty. As for culture, as a major communication route the River Meuse is the origin of Mosan art, principally (Wallonia and France). The first landscape painted in the Renaissance was the landscape of Meuse by Joachim Patinir. He was likely the uncle of Henri Blès, who is sometimes defined as a Mosan landscape painter active during the second third of the 16th century (i.e. second generation of landscape painters).

Tributaries

The main tributaries of the Meuse are listed below in downstream-upstream order, with the town where the tributary meets the river: *

Dieze The Dieze is a short river in North Brabant, the Netherlands, tributary of the Meuse (). It is formed by the confluence of the rivers Aa River (Meuse), Aa and Dommel in 's-Hertogenbosch. The part of the Dieze in the centre of 's-Hertogenbosch is ...

(near 's-Hertogenbosch) ** Aa (in 's-Hertogenbosch) ** Binnendieze (in 's-Hertogenbosch) ** Dommel (in 's-Hertogenbosch) ***

Gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

(in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

) * Raam (in

Grave A grave is a location where a cadaver, dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is burial, buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of buria ...

) * Niers (in Gennep) * Swalm (in Swalmen) * Rur/Roer (in Roermond) ** Wurm (in Heinsberg, Germany) ** Merzbach (in Linnich, Germany) ** Inde (in Jülich, Germany) * Kingbeek (near Illikhoven) * Geleenbeek (near Maasbracht) * Geul (near Meerssen) * Geer/Jeker (in

) ** Yerne (in Lens-sur-Geer) * Voer/Fouron (in Eijsden) * Berwinne/Berwijn (near Moelingen, part of Voeren) * Ourthe (in

) ** Weser/Vesdre (near

) ** Amel/Amblève (in Comblain-au-Pont) *** Salm (in Trois-Ponts) *** Warche (near Malmedy) * Hoyoux (in Huy) * Mehaigne (in Wanze) * Sambre (in

) *

Houyoux The Houyoux () is a northern tributary stream of the river Meuse in Belgium, flowing through Hesbaye in the province of Namur (province), Namur. The Houyoux rises in Warisoulx passing through the villages of Villers-lez-Heest, Rhisnes, the Namur ...

(in Namur) * Bocq (in Yvoir) * Molignée (in Anhée) * Lesse (in Anseremme, part of Dinant) * Viroin (in Vireux-Molhain) * Faux (in Revin) * Semois or Semoy (in Monthermé) *

Sormonne Sormonne () is a commune in the Ardennes department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. Geography The river Sormonne, a left tributary of the Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing thr ...

(in Warcq) * Bar (near Dom-le-Mesnil) * Chiers (in Bazeilles) ** Othain (in Montmédy) * Vair (in Maxey-sur-Meuse) * Mouzon (in Neufchâteau, Vosges) * Saônelle (in Coussey)

Distributaries

The mean annual discharge rate of the Meuse has been relatively stable over the last few thousand years. One recent study estimates that average flow has increased by about 10% since 2000 BC. The hydrological distribution of the Meuse changed during the later Middle Ages, when a major flood forced it to shift its main course northwards towards the river Merwede. From then on several stretches of the original Merwede were renamed "Maas" (i.e. Meuse) and served as the primary outflow of that river. Those branches are currently known as the Nieuwe Maas and Oude Maas. However during another series of severe floods the Meuse found an additional path towards the sea, resulting in the creation of the Biesbosch wetlands and Hollands Diep estuaries. Thereafter the Meuse split near

into two main distributaries, one flowing north to join the Merwede and one flowing direct to the sea. The branch of the Meuse leading direct to the sea eventually silted up (and now forms the Oude Maasje stream), but in 1904 the canalised

was dug to take over the functions of the silted-up branch. At the same time the branch leading to the Merwede was dammed at Heusden (and has since been known as the

) so that little water from the Meuse entered the old Maas courses or the Rhine distributaries. The resulting separation of the rivers Rhine and Meuse is considered to be the greatest achievement in Dutch hydraulic engineering before the completion of the

and Delta Works. In 1970 the Haringvlietdam has been finished. Since then the reunited Rhine and Meuse waters have reached the North Sea either at this site or, during times of lower discharges of the Rhine, at

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland (, ) is a coastal village in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was in use before the word ''wikt:kaap#Dutch, kaap'' – "cape". The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of t ...

. A 2008 studyWard ''et al.'', 2008 notes that the difference between summer and winter flow volumes has increased significantly in the last 100–200 years. It points out that the frequency of serious floods (''i.e.'' flows > 1000% of normal) has increased markedly. They predict that winter flooding of the Meuse may become a recurring problem in the coming decades.

Départements, provinces and towns

The Meuse flows through the following

departments of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the Regions of France, administrative regions a ...

provinces of Belgium The Kingdom of Belgium is divided into three Communities, regions, and language areas of Belgium, regions. Two of these regions, Flanders and Wallonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, Brussels, does not belong to any p ...

provinces of the Netherlands There are twelve provinces ( or ; Grammatical number#Overview, sing. ) of the Netherlands representing the administrative layer between the cabinet of the Netherlands, national government and the municipalities of the Netherlands, local ...

and towns: * Haute-Marne * Vosges: Neufchâteau *

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 ...

: Commercy, Saint-Mihiel,

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

, Stenay * Ardennes: Sedan, Charleville-Mézières, Givet *

: Dinant,

: Huy,

, Visé * Limburg: Eijsden,

, Stein, Maasbracht, Roermond,

, Gennep * Limburg: Stokkem, Maaseik (between Stein and Maasbracht) * North Brabant: Boxmeer, Cuijk,

, Ravenstein, Lith,

, Aalburg, Woudrichem *

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

: Maasdriel * South Holland:

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

, Maassluis,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Detailed route

''Main cities and tributaries will be in bold.''

Mention in patriotic songs

The Meuse (''Maas'') is mentioned in the first stanza of Germany's old national anthem, the . However, since its re-adoption as national anthem in 1952, only the third stanza of the ''Deutschlandlied'' has been sung as the German national anthem, the first and second stanzas being omitted. This was confirmed after German reunification in 1991 when only the third stanza was defined as the official anthem. The lyrics written in 1841 describe a then–disunited Germany with the river as its western boundary, where King William I of the Netherlands had joined the German Confederation with his Duchy of Limburg in 1839. Though the duchy's territory officially became an integral part of the Netherlands by the 1867 Treaty of London, the text passage remained unchanged when the ''Deutschlandlied'' was declared the national anthem of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

in 1922. The name of the rivers also forms part of the title of " Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse", written after the French defeat in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870, and a popular patriotic song for the rest of the 19th century and into the 20th.

Notes

References

External links

Site of the Walloon regional archives. flooding of the Meuse in 1993.

Site of the Walloon regional archives. Flooding of the Meuse in January 1995.

Peace Palace Library's Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law regarding ''Meuse River''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meuse (River) Belgium–Netherlands border International rivers of Europe Rivers of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Rivers of France Rivers of Belgium Rivers of the Netherlands Rivers of Flanders Rivers of Wallonia Rivers of Grand Est Rivers of Ardennes (department) Rivers of Haute-Marne Rivers of Meuse (department) Rivers of Vosges (department) Rivers of Liège Province Rivers of Namur (province) Rivers of Gelderland Rivers of Limburg (Netherlands) Rivers of North Brabant Rivers of South Limburg (Netherlands) Rivers of the Ardennes (Belgium) Rivers of the Ardennes (France) Transport in 's-Hertogenbosch Transport in Liège Transport in Maastricht Transport in Namur (city) Transport in Roermond Transport in Sittard-Geleen Transport in Venlo Geography of Liège Geography of Namur (city) Border rivers