Mining in Limburg
Encyclopedia
Coal mining in Limburg
, a province of the Netherlands
, has taken place since the 16th century.
Near the Augustinian
Abbey
of Rolduc
, coal
is found very close to the surface. The abbey owned the coal, and beginning in the 16th century hired local miners to extract the coal for sale as fuel. The true extent of the coal reserves in the south-east corner of Limburg
first became apparent in 1870, when the wealthy Count Marchant and Ansembourg of Brussels
ordered the first boreholes to be drilled near Eygelshoven
, and a substantial seam of coal was found at a depth of 154 metres.
The demand for coal had grown explosively as a result of increased industrialization and urban expansion, but the national governments regarded any form of interference in the extraction and sale of this fuel as unnecessary. Thus it came about that the first concessions for the extraction of coal in South Limburg were granted without hesitation to foreign firms, although most of the coal consumed in the Netherlands
was imported from Germany
, and Dutch
investors preferred to invest their capital in foreign countries, such as in Russian government loans, American railways, and Hungarian waterworks.
-born priest parliamentarian Dr. Willem Nolens uttered in the Lower Chamber of the Dutch parliament the phrase that would eventually lead to the formation of the Limburg State Mines: "A country that does not know how to use its natural resources of wealth demonstrates that it is not worthy of them".
In 1903, a start was made on the Wilhelmina state mine, and four years later the first coal from this mine came onto the market. In 1910 the net production of the state mines was 192,000 tonnes, and the total personnel numbered 1,479. Thirty years later, four mines financed by state money had been taken into production, and had overtaken the private mining sector. Production had reached almost eight million tonnes and the number of employees was 23,633. The biggest mine in the Limburg coal basin, and the biggest in Europe, was the Maurits state mine, which was the last to be taken into operation, in 1926, and the first to be closed down, less than forty years later.
The twelve Limburg pits had together produced around 600 million tonnes of coal when the cabinet of Jo Cals
decided to completely close down coal production in the province of Limburg, and the then minister of economic affairs, Joop den Uyl
, decided to make a personal visit to the mining centre of Heerlen
to announce his decision. A natural gas field had been discovered in the province of Groningen
, a gigantic reservoir of clean energy that would be much cheaper to exploit than coal from Limburg, which by then had to be fetched to the surface from a depth of over 800 metres.
, the urban agglomoration in the western part of the country.
The mining industry had attracted a host of supply industries and an excellent infrastructure of railways and canals had been built to facilitate the transport of coal to domestic and foreign markets. The Juliana Canal
was constructed for this purpose in the years 1925-1936, and in the same period a 13 kilometer long railway line was built between Schaesberg and Simpelveld to cater for daily passenger traffic. This line became known as the 'million line', because it cost more than a million guilders per kilometre of track to lay it, a record sum for those days.
The most far-reaching changes, however, took place at the social level. There was a massive influx of workers to take up jobs in the mines. They came not only from all corners of the Netherlands, but also from older mining areas in Germany, Poland
, Italy
, Spain
, Morocco
and elsewhere. In 1939 almost 700 foreigners of nine different nationalities lived in Kerkrade
, which had become the largest mining town in Europe.
Mine management began to build houses for their workforce at an early stage, so that mineworker colonies arose, such as that at Lutterade
near Geleen
. Because there were numerous social problems in the mining area, and most of the miners were Roman Catholic, the bishop of Roermond took an interest in them. In 1910, the priest-exegete Dr. Henri Poels (1868-1948) was posted as a working chaplain
to the mine area, where he introduced the concept of social action. Dr. Poels, who was a member of one of the leading families of "De Grote Compagnie"
in Venray
, thereby laid the foundations for a social structure in which all the various population groups were integrated, and it was he who stood up for the material rights of the miners. He stimulated the formation of interest groups based on the 'harmony' model, and although this cooperative union between capital and labour found little or no resonance elsewhere in the Netherlands, it was to some degree responsible for the fact that the government-initiated mine closure
s in and after 1965 did not result in any significant social of political conflict.
At the end of the 1950s, more than 55,000 people were employed in the mines. At the peak of the mining industry in 1960, 70% of the population of the Limburg mining region was directly of indirectly dependent on the mines.
When the last mine closed its doors in 1976, 45,000 people had lost their jobs. In addition, another 30,000 indirectly linked jobs with supply industries (particularly in building and the metal sector) were lost. The newly unemployed had difficulty finding other work, because their training was usually inadequate or completely related to the mining industry. In 1977, unemployment within the province of Limburg was twice as high as in the Netherlands as a whole.
As a result of the marked decline in employment, the expendable income in the mining area also fell. This had serious consequences for the prosperity of the region and for the retail trade. The Limburg mining area was in danger of becoming one of the impoverished regions of Europe
.
On August 1, 1977, Dr. Kremers
was appointed as Queen's Commissioner
of the Dutch province of Limburg. As Queen's Commissioner, Dr. Kremers conducted an active economic policy to reduce the effects of the mine closures and to push back unemployment.
The economic restructuring policy for the province of Limburg was aimed at:
In 1975, the provincial government commissioned an independent company, the Industriebank LIOF to support existing employment and attract alternative employment. Since 1975, this organization has brought over 100 companies to the province of Limburg.
In 1982, the provincial government drew up a plan to stimulate tourism in South Limburg. The plan was aimed at four specific fields: conference tourism, holiday tourism, water sports and recreational facilities for a day trip. Conference tourism was given a considerable boost with the building of the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC).
The economic restructuring policy proved to be successful. The province of Limburg is not an impverished region, as was feared at the time, but has emerged as a prosperous region, with excellent prospects for the future, particularly in view of the process of European unification.
One of the offsprings of the mining industry that survives till today is the chemical company DSM
- a multinational active in various branches of the chemical industry. It still has a large industrial complex in Geleen
.
Limburg (Netherlands)
Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
, a province of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, has taken place since the 16th century.
Near the Augustinian
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
Abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
of Rolduc
Rolduc
Rolduc is the name of a medieval abbey in Kerkrade, the Netherlands, which is now a Roman Catholic seminary and an affiliated conferencing center.-History:...
, coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
is found very close to the surface. The abbey owned the coal, and beginning in the 16th century hired local miners to extract the coal for sale as fuel. The true extent of the coal reserves in the south-east corner of Limburg
Limburg (Netherlands)
Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
first became apparent in 1870, when the wealthy Count Marchant and Ansembourg of Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
ordered the first boreholes to be drilled near Eygelshoven
Eygelshoven
Eygelshoven is a small village near the town of Kerkrade in the southeast of the Netherlands, close to the German and Belgian borders.It has two former coal mines, Laura and Julia, which were named after the wives of the two owners...
, and a substantial seam of coal was found at a depth of 154 metres.
The demand for coal had grown explosively as a result of increased industrialization and urban expansion, but the national governments regarded any form of interference in the extraction and sale of this fuel as unnecessary. Thus it came about that the first concessions for the extraction of coal in South Limburg were granted without hesitation to foreign firms, although most of the coal consumed in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
was imported from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
investors preferred to invest their capital in foreign countries, such as in Russian government loans, American railways, and Hungarian waterworks.
State interference
Around 1900 the first voices were raised for nationalization of the Limburg coal fields, in the context of the threat of war in the Balkans. In 1897 the VenloVenlo
Venlo is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands, next to the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg.In 2001, the municipalities of Belfeld and Tegelen were merged into the municipality of Venlo. Tegelen was originally part of the Duchy of Jülich centuries ago,...
-born priest parliamentarian Dr. Willem Nolens uttered in the Lower Chamber of the Dutch parliament the phrase that would eventually lead to the formation of the Limburg State Mines: "A country that does not know how to use its natural resources of wealth demonstrates that it is not worthy of them".
In 1903, a start was made on the Wilhelmina state mine, and four years later the first coal from this mine came onto the market. In 1910 the net production of the state mines was 192,000 tonnes, and the total personnel numbered 1,479. Thirty years later, four mines financed by state money had been taken into production, and had overtaken the private mining sector. Production had reached almost eight million tonnes and the number of employees was 23,633. The biggest mine in the Limburg coal basin, and the biggest in Europe, was the Maurits state mine, which was the last to be taken into operation, in 1926, and the first to be closed down, less than forty years later.
The twelve Limburg pits had together produced around 600 million tonnes of coal when the cabinet of Jo Cals
Jo Cals
Jozef Maria Laurens Theo "Jo" Cals was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal...
decided to completely close down coal production in the province of Limburg, and the then minister of economic affairs, Joop den Uyl
Joop den Uyl
Johannes Marten den Uijl, known as Joop den Uyl was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from May 11, 1973 until December 19, 1977....
, decided to make a personal visit to the mining centre of Heerlen
Heerlen
Heerlen is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the province of Limburg. It forms part of Parkstad Limburg, , an agglomeration of about 220,000 inhabitants.After its early Roman beginnings and a rather modest medieval period, Heerlen...
to announce his decision. A natural gas field had been discovered in the province of Groningen
Groningen (province)
Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...
, a gigantic reservoir of clean energy that would be much cheaper to exploit than coal from Limburg, which by then had to be fetched to the surface from a depth of over 800 metres.
Impact of the mining industry
In three quarters of a century the mining industry had drastically altered the eastern corner of South Limburg in every aspect. When the first pitheads were built, this was an agricultural region of small villages with a population of scarcely 22,000. By the time the mines were closed down, more than ten times as many people lived there, and it was one of the most densely populated parts of the Netherlands, second only to the RandstadRandstad
Image:Randstad_with_scale.png|400px|thumb|right|Clickable schematic map of the Randstadcircle 528 380 26 Schipholrect 426 356 498 436 Haarlemmermeerrect 399 166 479 245 Velsencircle 250 716 32 Delftcircle 220 642 60 The Hague...
, the urban agglomoration in the western part of the country.
The mining industry had attracted a host of supply industries and an excellent infrastructure of railways and canals had been built to facilitate the transport of coal to domestic and foreign markets. The Juliana Canal
Juliana Canal
The Juliana Canal , named after Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, is a 36 km long canal in the southern Netherlands, providing a bypass of an unnavigable section of the river Meuse between Maastricht and Maasbracht...
was constructed for this purpose in the years 1925-1936, and in the same period a 13 kilometer long railway line was built between Schaesberg and Simpelveld to cater for daily passenger traffic. This line became known as the 'million line', because it cost more than a million guilders per kilometre of track to lay it, a record sum for those days.
The most far-reaching changes, however, took place at the social level. There was a massive influx of workers to take up jobs in the mines. They came not only from all corners of the Netherlands, but also from older mining areas in Germany, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and elsewhere. In 1939 almost 700 foreigners of nine different nationalities lived in Kerkrade
Kerkrade
Kerkrade is a town and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands.It is the western half of the divided region and de facto city, taken together with the eastern half, the German town of Herzogenrath...
, which had become the largest mining town in Europe.
Mine management began to build houses for their workforce at an early stage, so that mineworker colonies arose, such as that at Lutterade
Lutterade
Lutterade is a district of Geleen and later Sittard-Geleen .-External links:*...
near Geleen
Geleen
Geleen is a city in the southern part of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. With 33,960 inhabitants, it is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen. Geleen is situated along the river Geleenbeek, a right tributary to the river Meuse. The town centre is situated at about 60 m above sea...
. Because there were numerous social problems in the mining area, and most of the miners were Roman Catholic, the bishop of Roermond took an interest in them. In 1910, the priest-exegete Dr. Henri Poels (1868-1948) was posted as a working chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
to the mine area, where he introduced the concept of social action. Dr. Poels, who was a member of one of the leading families of "De Grote Compagnie"
Venray sheep companies
The Venray sheep companies were a group of Dutch livestock merchant companies who dominated the European trade in sheep in the 19th century.- Background :...
in Venray
Venray
Venray is a municipality and a town in Limburg, Netherlands, 115 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam. Venray has about 43,000 inhabitants.- Population centres :...
, thereby laid the foundations for a social structure in which all the various population groups were integrated, and it was he who stood up for the material rights of the miners. He stimulated the formation of interest groups based on the 'harmony' model, and although this cooperative union between capital and labour found little or no resonance elsewhere in the Netherlands, it was to some degree responsible for the fact that the government-initiated mine closure
Mine closure
Mine closure is the period of time when the ore-extracting activities of a mine have ceased, and final decommissioning and mine reclamation are being completed. It is generally associated with reduced employment levels, which can have a significant negative impact on local economies...
s in and after 1965 did not result in any significant social of political conflict.
The end of mining
On December 17, 1965, the Dutch government announced the complete termination of coal mining. The consequence of the decision for employment, the social and economic structure and cultural and social developments in South Limburg were enormous, as all the Dutch mines were located in this area. Seventy-five years of mining had turned the south of the province of Limburg into one of the most densely populated areas of the Netherlands. The mines had resulted in the creation of supply industries and an infrastructure of roads, railways and waterways, mainly aimed at the transportation of coal within the Netherlands and abroad.At the end of the 1950s, more than 55,000 people were employed in the mines. At the peak of the mining industry in 1960, 70% of the population of the Limburg mining region was directly of indirectly dependent on the mines.
When the last mine closed its doors in 1976, 45,000 people had lost their jobs. In addition, another 30,000 indirectly linked jobs with supply industries (particularly in building and the metal sector) were lost. The newly unemployed had difficulty finding other work, because their training was usually inadequate or completely related to the mining industry. In 1977, unemployment within the province of Limburg was twice as high as in the Netherlands as a whole.
As a result of the marked decline in employment, the expendable income in the mining area also fell. This had serious consequences for the prosperity of the region and for the retail trade. The Limburg mining area was in danger of becoming one of the impoverished regions of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
On August 1, 1977, Dr. Kremers
Johan Kremers
Dr. Johan Kremers was the Queen's Commissioner of the Dutch province of Limburg from 1977 to 1990.- Early life :Johan Kremers was born on May 10, 1933 in Nieuwenhagen, a village in the province of Limburg, in the very south of The Netherlands...
was appointed as Queen's Commissioner
Queen's Commissioner
The Queen's Commissioner is the head of a province in the Netherlands, who is chairman of both the Provinciale Staten and the Gedeputeerde Staten , but only has a right to vote in the latter...
of the Dutch province of Limburg. As Queen's Commissioner, Dr. Kremers conducted an active economic policy to reduce the effects of the mine closures and to push back unemployment.
The economic restructuring policy for the province of Limburg was aimed at:
- the creation of alternative employment within the already existing chemical factories of the mines.
- the stimulation of new industries.
- the relocation of a number of large government services from the seat of the government in The Hague to the province of Limburg.
In 1975, the provincial government commissioned an independent company, the Industriebank LIOF to support existing employment and attract alternative employment. Since 1975, this organization has brought over 100 companies to the province of Limburg.
In 1982, the provincial government drew up a plan to stimulate tourism in South Limburg. The plan was aimed at four specific fields: conference tourism, holiday tourism, water sports and recreational facilities for a day trip. Conference tourism was given a considerable boost with the building of the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC).
The economic restructuring policy proved to be successful. The province of Limburg is not an impverished region, as was feared at the time, but has emerged as a prosperous region, with excellent prospects for the future, particularly in view of the process of European unification.
One of the offsprings of the mining industry that survives till today is the chemical company DSM
DSM (company)
DSM is a multinational life sciences and materials sciences-based company. DSM's global end markets include food and dietary supplements, personal care, feed, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive, paints, electrical and electronics, life protection, alternative energy and bio-based materials...
- a multinational active in various branches of the chemical industry. It still has a large industrial complex in Geleen
Geleen
Geleen is a city in the southern part of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. With 33,960 inhabitants, it is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen. Geleen is situated along the river Geleenbeek, a right tributary to the river Meuse. The town centre is situated at about 60 m above sea...
.