Roermond

Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Roermond's town centre has become a designated conservation area.

Through the centuries, the town has filled the role of commercial centre and a principal town in the duchy of Guelders. Since 1559, it has served as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Roermond. The skyline of the town is dominated by the towers of its two churches, St. Christopher's Cathedral and Roermond Minster ("Munsterkerk" in Dutch). In addition to the churches, the town centre has many significant buildings and monuments.

It is located about 45 km south east of Eindhoven, 40 km north east of Maastricht and 50 km west of Düsseldorf.

History

Celtic inhabitants of this region used to live on both sides of the river Roer. Invading Romans built a bridge (now called the ''Steene Brök'', or stone bridge) and founded the first town at Roermond, now a suburb called Voorstad Sint Jacob.

Guelders

Around 1180–1543, Roermond belonged to the Duchy of Guelders. In 1213 Roermond was destroyed by Otto IV of Brunswick, the Holy Roman Emperor and German King. By 1232 the town had been rebuilt and was given its own seal, reign, mint, and court.

The first mention of the monastery of the Franciscan Friars Minor, the Minderbroederklooster, was in 1309. In 1361, the Chapter of the Holy Spirit moved from Sint Odiliënberg to Roermond. In 1376 Roermond Charterhouse was founded.

Around 1350, Roermond became the capital of the "Overkwartier van Gelre" ( Upper Quarter of Gelre). In 1388, during the Hundred Years' War, it was besieged by the French. A battle for the outer fortifications Buiten Op, destruction of these fortifications, and the old parish church followed.

In 1441, Roermond became a member of the Hanseatic League, and by 1472 acquired the right to mint its own coins.

Spanish Netherlands

Between 1543 and 1702 the area was part of the Spanish Netherlands.

On 23 April 1568 the Battle of Rheindalen occurred near Roermond, which signalled the start of the Eighty Years' War. In 1572, Roermond was occupied by the Dutch William the Silent. On 23 July 1572, 13 Catholic clerics were murdered in the town of Roermond by militant Dutch Calvinists ( Martyrs of Roermond). Roermond was recaptured by the Spanish duke Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo.

Under Spanish rule, Roermond became a bastion of the Counter-Reformation. On behalf of the Inquisition, people were encouraged to report suspects of witchcraft and heresy. In 1613, 64 witches were burnt on Galgeberg hill near the in Roermond, the largest witch trial in the Netherlands ever.

In 1632 the Dutch Stadhouder Frederik Hendrik conquered Roermond along with Venlo and Maastricht during his famous "March along the Meuse". Attempts in the next few years to annex Antwerp and Brussels failed, however. The northern Dutch were disappointed by the lack of local support. The Counter-Reformation had firmly reattached the local population to Roman Catholicism, and they now distrusted the Calvinist Northerners even more than they loathed the Spanish occupiers.

Between 1632 and 1637, Roermond was under the control of the Dutch Republic, and again from 1702 to 1716. Between 1716 and 1794, it was part of the Austrian Netherlands within the Habsburg monarchy.

French Period

On 11 December 1792, during the French Revolutionary Wars, the French under General De Miranda conquered Roermond, but by 5 March 1793, the city was under Habsburg control again. The city was again occupied by the French on 5 April 1794 and officially became part of the French département Meuse-Inférieure from 1795 to 1814. In 1814, during the War of the Sixth Coalition, Roermond was liberated by the Russians.

Kingdom of the Netherlands

After the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, Roermond became part of the new Kingdom of the Netherlands. The new province was to receive the name "Maastricht", after its capital. King William, who did not want the name Limburg to be lost, insisted that the name be changed to Limburg. As such, the name of the new province derived from the old Duchy of Limburg that had existed until 1648 within the triangle Maastricht – Liège – Aachen.

When the Netherlands and Belgium separated in 1830, there was support for adding Limburg to Belgium, but in the end (1839) the province was divided in two, with the eastern part going to the Netherlands and the western part to Belgium. From then on, Dutch Limburg was, the new Duchy of Limburg, also part of the German Confederation.

During World War II, the Germans occupied Roermond from 1940 to 1945. On 1 March 1945 the town was liberated by the Recce Troop of the 35th US Infantry Division during Operation Grenade. By the time of liberation, 90% of all buildings were either damaged or destroyed. Restoration returned the old town centre to its full glory.

On 1 May 1988 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) killed three British airmen and injured three others in a double attack. IRA members opened fire on a car in Roermond with Royal Air Force airmen, killing Ian Shinner. Half an hour later, a second attack elsewhere, in Nieuw-Bergen, killed two British airmen and injured another.

In a separate attack two years later two Australian nationals were killed. The two men were lawyers on holiday, whom the IRA shot believing they were off-duty British Army soldiers. Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke denounced the IRA explanation saying 'This sort of warped logic of war casualties adds insult to a mortal injury,' and a later Prime Minister John Howard refused to meet Gerry Adams from Sinn Féin on a visit to Australia in 2000.

On 13 April 1992, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake occurred near the town of Roermond at a focal depth of about . This earthquake was the strongest seismic event in Western Europe since 1756. Following this earthquake, the water levels of numerous wells located in the Lower Rhine Embayment showed significant coseismic anomalies. The Roer Valley, which crosses three countries (Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany), is bounded by two north-northwest, south-southeast trending Quaternary normal fault systems. The eastern boundary is defined by the Peel boundary fault, along which the 1992 Roermond earthquake occurred, and the western boundary is defined by the Feldbiss fault zone, which is partly located in Belgium. Evidence of recent tectonic activity along the Feldbiss fault zone is visible on seismic profiles that show more than 600 m of offset in Neogene deposits. Although Ahorner demonstrated the existence of the Rhenish seismic zones and recommended a comprehensive analysis of Quaternary structures and background seismicity, coseismic movements were considered to be improbable and active faults remain largely unidentified.

Geography

Roermond is situated in the middle of the province of Limburg, which is bordered by the river Maas to the west and Germany to the east.

Population centres

The community of Roermond consists of the following population centres:

Climate

Nature and recreation

Roermond is encircled by a green belt, which offers many opportunities for hiking and cycling. To the east, nature reserves, such as the Meinweg National Park, the valley of the Leu (Leudal), and the Swalm and Roer rivers provide woodlands, heath and meadows. The Meinweg also contains a small amount of wildlife, including a small group of vipers, the only venomous snake to live in the Netherlands. To the west, the river Meuse and its lake area, known as " Maasplassen", offer opportunities for water recreation.

Floods

As a town near to and surrounded by water and close to two rivers, the Meuse and the Roer, Roermond often has to defend itself against floods. The worst floods were in 1993 and 1995.

Economy

Though Roermond grew and expanded steadily over the years, it was not until the start of the 21st century that Roermond saw another economic boost. This recent growth was mainly caused by the construction of the highway A73 circling Roermond on the east side. The highway was planned to open in January 2007 with the long Roertunnel leading traffic underneath a part of the city and the shorter Swalmertunnel underneath Swalmen. However, due to delays the tunnels only opened with a single carriageway available and frequent closures. The tunnels grew infamous during the first weeks when numerous closures due to technical problems caused constant traffic jams. The tunnels are now fully operational. Another highway connection under construction is the German autobahn A52. The last stretch from Düsseldorf to the German-Dutch border was recently completed. The highway leads from Roermond straight to Düsseldorf.

, the city itself had a fairly high unemployment rate of 10.7% and the average income was lower than the national average, despite an above-average economy in the region and an influx of new residents.

Designer Outlet Roermond

Since 2001, Roermond is home to a McArthurGlen Designer Outlet, which has become one of the largest and most successful designer outlets in Europe with an average of almost six million customers per year, making it one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Netherlands. In 2017 it reached 200 shops following its latest expansion. The Designer Outlet attracts many shoppers from Germany, Belgium and China.

Crime

In 2006, Roermond was ranked as the third most criminal place in the Netherlands, outscoring Amsterdam. In 2007, Roermond managed to improve its reputation, dropping to 9th place (though this figure is combined with the district of Swalmen, which had its own score in 2006). Efforts are being put in place to limit petty crime (especially car break-ins and house burglaries). In 2013, Roermond was in 13th place.

Culture

Events

Roermond hosts several festivals, including a Liberation Day festival on 5 May and the dance festival Solar Weekend.

Anthem

Roermond has had its own anthem since 1912. The text was written by A. F. van Beurden, the music is by H. Tijssen, who also composed the Limburg Anthem ('' Waar in 't bronsgroen eikenhout'').

In everyday life in Limburg around 1900, the Dutch language was of less importance. Everything was done in Limburgs. Newspapers in the 19th century were sometimes written in German, and in some parts of Limburg German was the language used in church and education. In this time Maastricht still had a very strong connection with French-speaking areas around Liège. Van Beurden's poem was used to force the people of Limburg into speaking Dutch. Proof of this is the very un-Limburg part in the anthem, the reference to the Dutch Royal family. In 1900 the people in Limburg had to swear their allegiance to the Dutch royal family of the House of Orange-Nassau in a "aanhankelijkheidsverklaring aan het Oranjehuis" and had to start using Dutch instead of Limburgs.

Attractions

Roermond's old town centre is home to several historic monuments, including:

Infrastructure

Access roads to Roermond have been upgraded recently, providing direct access to the Dutch and German highway networks. From north to south the A73 (Maastricht-Nijmegen) passes east of the city, partly through tunnels. Eastwards the German A52 leads to Düsseldorf. Westbound the provincial road N280 leads towards Weert and connects to the A2 towards Eindhoven

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