Maastricht
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Maastricht (Dutch (pronunciation ), Limburgish and city dialect: Mestreech) is a municipality, and capital of the Dutch province of Limburg. The city is situated on both sides of the Meuse river (Maas in Dutch) in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands between Belgium and Germany. To the west is Belgium, to the south is Belgium and Luxembourg. To the east is North-Rhine Westphalia. The place-name is derived from its Latin name Trajectum Ad Mosam or Mosae Trajectum (Mosa-crossing), referring to the bridge built by the Romans during the reign of Augustus Caesar. For years, the city has been arguing with Nijmegen as to which of them is the oldest city in the Netherlands. Nijmegen was the first city with Roman city rights in what is now the Netherlands. Maastricht was the first with Medieval city rights, a system which evolved to the current system and, thanks to the Romans, the first settlement with city allure. Roman sources mention a Celtic settlement (probably inhabited by the Eburones) at the location they used for the bridge. Other sources mention a Celtic settlement at a river crossing near where Wyck, a city district located on the eastern side of the Meuse river, is now located.
HistoryImage:Eben-Emael.png
Map showing location of Maastricht in relation to the Belgian border
Image:Sint Servaasbrug2.jpg
Saint Servatius bridge, the oldest bridge of the Netherlands
 Image:MaastrichtFortress.JPG
Fortress remains are still kept in a center of the city
Paleolithic remains have been found to the west of Maastricht, between 8000 and 25 000 years old. At least 500 years before the Romans came, Celts lived here, at a spot where the river Meuse was shallow and therefore easy to cross. The Romans later built a bridge and a large road to connect the capitals of the Nervians and Tungri, Bavay and Tongeren, with the capital of the Ubians, Cologne. Image:Maastricht, station.gif
Maastricht Train Station
 Saint Servatius was the first bishop of the Netherlands. His tomb, in the crypt at the Basilica of Saint Servatius, is a favoured place of pilgrimage: Pope John Paul II visited it in 1985. The golden gilt shrine containing some of the saint's relics is carried around the town every seven years. The city remained an early Christian bishopric until it lost this position to nearby Liège in the 8th century. Middle AgesIn the early Middle Ages Maastricht was part of the heartland of the Carolingian Empire. It later developed into a city of dual authority, a condominium, with both the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Duchy of Brabant holding joint sovereignty over the city. It received city rights in 1204. The role of the Dukes was occupied by the Dutch States General from 1632 onwards when the city was taken from the Spanish by Frederik Hendrik. The important strategic location of Maastricht in the Dutch Republic resulted in an impressive array of fortifications around the city. Bulwark of the NetherlandsThe most famous Siege of Maastricht occurred here during the month of June, 1673 as part of the Franco-Dutch War, because French battle supply lines were being threatened. During this siege, one of history's most famous military engineers, Vauban, synthesized the methods of attacking strong places, in order to break down the fortifications surrounding Maastricht. His introduction of a systematic approach by parallels resulted in a rapid breaching of the city's fortifications. (This technique, in principle, has remained until the 20th century the standard method of attacking a fortress.) After the breaching of the fortifications occurred, Louis XIV's troops started to surround the city of Maastricht. Under the leadership of Captain-Lieutenant Charles de Batz de Castelmore, also known as Comte d'Artagnan, the historical basis for Alexandre Dumas' D'Artagnan Romances, the First Company of Mousquetaires du Roi prepared to storm a rampart located in front of one of the city's gates. D'Artagnan was killed by a musket shot on 25 June 1673 during a night attack on the Tongerse Gate (this event was portrayed in Dumas' novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne). Maastricht surrendered to French troops on 30 June. The French troops occupied the Dutch city from 1673 to 1678. It was subsequently restored to Dutch rule. The French again took the city in 1748 as part of the War of Austrian Succession, and again the city was restored to the Dutch that same year. The French would return once more in 1794, when they annexed the city to what would become the French Empire. Maastricht became the capital of the French département of Meuse-Inférieure. Part of the Kingdom of the NetherlandsImage:Carte Hollande 1843.jpg
Map of the Netherlands in 1843 after Belgian independence and retrocession of Limburg.
After the Napoleonic era, Maastricht became a part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815 and the capital of the newly formed province of Limburg. When the southern provinces sought independence from the North to form Belgium in 1830, the garrison in Maastricht remained loyal to the Dutch king, though the surrounding countryside came under Belgian control. Arbitration by the Great Powers in 1831 awarded the city and the eastern part of Limburg, despite being geographically and culturally closer to Belgium, to the Netherlands and the rest to Belgium. The North and the South did not initially agree to this and it would not be until the 1839 Treaty of London that this arrangement became permanent. Because of the resulting eccentric location Maastricht often remained more focused on Belgium and Germany than on the rest of the Netherlands. Due to its proximity to the Walloon industrial basin, Maastricht industrialised earlier than most of the Netherlands. It thus retained a distinct non-Dutch character until the First World War forced the city to look northwards. 20th centuryThe city did not escape World War II: it was quickly taken by the Germans on May 10 1940, but on September 14 1944, Maastricht was the first Dutch city to be liberated by allied forces. The latter half of the century saw a decline of the traditional industries and a shift to more services-oriented economy. Maastricht University was founded in 1976. In 1992, the Maastricht treaty was negotiated and signed here, leading to the creation of the European Union. 21st centuryIn recent years several international conferences were held in Maastricht, like the OCSE-summit in 2003, and several other gatherings during the Dutch EU chairmanship in 2004. Under current mayor Gerd Leers Maastricht has initiated a campaign against drugs dealing and trafficcing. In the course of 2008 several of the so-called coffee shops will be relocated from the central area to the periphery. Most of the coffeshops' clients come from nearby Belgium and Northern-France. By relocating the coffeshops the city aims to stem drugs-related crime in the city centre. Institutions and educationImage:Universiteit Maastricht MBB4-6.jpg
Administrative centre of Maastricht University
Economic aspectThe following private companies are settled, or have sections in Maastricht:
NeighbourhoodsImage:MaastrichtStreet.JPG
One of the Maastricht Streets
Maastricht can be divided into 7 parts consisting of multiple neighborhoods:
Every neighbourhood has its own number which corresponds to the postal code. Politics
The mayor of Maastricht is the Christian Democrat Gerd Leers. His party, the CDA, became the largest party in the city council after the 2002 municipal elections, when they made up the coalition together with PvdA, VVD and GroenLinks. The 2006 municipal elections saw a political landslide from right to left all over the Netherlands, and Maastricht was no exception. The present coalition still kept its majority, but the shift to the left made Maastricht one of the 39 Dutch municipalities in which an all-left-wing coalition of PvdA, GroenLinks and SP has become possible. Another factor that contributed to this situation in Maastricht, was the 2005 enduring disagreement within the VVD between the traditional and progressive members. September 2006, this lead to the establishement of the Liberalen Maastricht. Previously the VVD forced one of its members to leave the party, just a month after the 2006 municipal elections. One issue that brought Maastricht in the news in 2005 and 2006 was the cannabis supply of coffeeshops. Under the gedoogbeleid the sale of cannabis is allowed under certain conditions, but the supply is not, resulting in an impossible situation. The police keep on tracking down plantations, but that just results in more and more plantations being set up, including many in attics of houses in 'ordinary streets', thus bringing small children in contact with illegal activities. Mayor Leers therefore proposed to let the government take over the growing, striking, in his opinion, a blow to the criminal scene. But the Netherlands are bound by international laws and a complication for Maastricht is its proximity to neighbouring countries, making it a major destination for drug tourism. Sports
Transportation
Visiting MaastrichtEvents & Festivals
Museums
Image:Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek.jpg
The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe basilica (Early construction is Romanesque and later is Gothic).
Sights
Other
Native of Maastricht
Sister CitiesSee alsoExternal links Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
General
Tourism
History
Higher education and research
Resources for expatriates
Other
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