Margraten

Margraten

flag	coat of arms
province	Limburg
local community	Eijsden-Margraten
Area  - land  - water	57.7  km 2 57.7 km 2 0 km 2
Residents	13,375 (Dec. 31, 2010)
Coordinates	50 ° 49 ′  N , 5 ° 49 ′  E Coordinates: 50 ° 49 ′  N , 5 ° 49 ′  E
Important traffic route
prefix	043
Postcodes	6251, 6255, 6261-6262, 6265, 6267-6269, 6307

Margraten ( listen ^{? / I} ) is a former municipality in the Dutch province of Limburg . On January 1, 2011, Margraten and Eijsden were merged to form the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten . The town of the same name had around 4,150 inhabitants on January 1, 2018.

Districts

• Banholt
• Bemelen
• Cadier en Keer
• Eckelrade
• Margraten (seat of the municipal administration)
• Mheer
• Noorbeek
• Shameful
• Sint Geertruid

There are also 13 smaller unofficial districts.

Location and economy

Margraten is located in the extreme south of Limburg. It borders the city of Maastricht to the west, Valkenburg aan de Geul to the north, Gulpen-Wittem to the east, Voeren in Belgium to the south and Eijsden to the south-west .

The Maastricht-Valkenburg and Maastricht - Vaals - Aachen ( N278 ) roads run through this municipality.

Agriculture, fruit growing, fruit tree cultivation and tourism are the main industries in the municipality. The Hub van Laar manufactory enjoys a supraregional reputation .

history

As early as 3150 BC BC flint was extracted here in a pit . The region on the Maastricht - Aachen military road was inhabited by farmers in Roman times. Most of the villages that are here today were created in the Middle Ages . Part of this area was acquired by a Cologne monastery in 1075 . According to the document, this monastery was called Sancta Maria ad gradus . Hence the name Margraten comes from. The municipality has only been part of the Netherlands since 1839.

US Memorial Cemetery

During the Second World War , Margraten was one of the first communities in the Netherlands to be liberated by the Allies: on September 13, 1944, the American 1st Army captured it. On November 10, 1944, part of the community was designated as the only honorary cemetery of the US armed forces in the Netherlands. The remains of around 8,800 dead are currently on the 26 hectare facility. In 2005 the then President of the United States , George W. Bush , visited the Cemetery of Honor.

Attractions

• Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial
• In Cadier en Keer there is an ethnographic museum about West Africa in a former monastery . It is Afrikacentrum and shows many ancestral portraits and other works of art of the western half of Africa south of the Sahara .
• The very picturesque tourist village of Noorbeek .
• The fruit tree blossom in April.
• The small forest "Savelsbos" with a special flora and the remains of the prehistoric flint pit.
• The hilly, varied landscape attracts many tourists, including many people interested in cycling . The annual professional cyclist road race Amstel Gold Race runs through the municipality.
• Many villages have restored old churches, chapels and wayside crosses.

politics

Distribution of seats in the municipal council

Until the dissolution of the municipality, the following distribution of seats resulted from 1981:

Political party	Seats
	1981 a	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006
CDA	4th	6th	6th	5	6th	6th	6th
Samenwerkingsverband Margraten	2	1	3	4th	3	4th	5
VVD	2	3	2	2	2	2	3
Fractie Gemeenschapsbelangen b	1	2	1	1	2	1	1
PvdA	1	2	2	1	2	2	-
D66	-	-	-	1			-
GroenLinks	-	-	-	-			-
Local Democrats	-	-	1	1	-	-	-
Lijst Habets c	2	1	-	-	-	-	-
Lijst Franssen	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
Dorpsbelangen Banholt Mheer eo	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
For Uw Belangen van ons Heuvelland	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lijst Blezer	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lijst Wyers	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lijst Vroemen	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lijst Brouwers / Schreurs	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
total	15th	15th	15th	15th	15th	15th	15th

^a Due to the incorporation of Bemelen, Cadier en Keer, Mheer, Noorbeek, Sint Geertruid and Scheulder into Eijsden on January 1, 1982, the municipal council elections took place in 1981.

^b In the municipal council elections in 1981 the Fractie Gemeenschapsbelangen took part under the name "Lijst Ubags".

^c The Lijst Habets ran in 1981 under the name "Lijst Algemene Belangen".

Web links

Commons : Margraten  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the Africa Center in Cadier en Keer (Dutch)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek , accessed on July 28, 2018 (Dutch)
2. ↑ Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2018 Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek , accessed on July 28, 2018 (Dutch)
3. ↑ Allocation of seats in the municipal council: 1981–2002 2006 , accessed on July 28, 2018 (Dutch)