Voeren

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Voeren
Voeren wapen2.svg Voerenvlag.gif
Voeren (Limburg)
Voeren
Voeren
State : BelgiumBelgium Belgium
Region : Flanders
Province : Limburg
District : Tongeren
Coordinates : 50 ° 46 ′  N , 5 ° 46 ′  E Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′  N , 5 ° 46 ′  E
Area : 50.63 km²
Residents: 4146 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density: 82 inhabitants per km²
Post Code: 3790-3793, 3798
Prefix: 04
Mayor: Huub Broers

Local government address : 		Gemeentebestuur
Schoolstraat 115
3798 Voeren
Website: www.voeren.be
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Voeren ( German  Vuren , Limburgisch Voere , French Fourons , Walloon Foron ) is a Belgian municipality . It is an exclave of the Flemish province of Limburg and a facility municipality . It borders in the north on the Dutch province of Limburg and in the south and west, where the Maas forms the municipal boundary for a few hundred meters , on the municipalities of Dalhem , Aubel and Plombières in the Walloon province of Liège .

geography

landscape

The municipality is located in the hilly Ardennes - or Eifel foothills , which ensures some tourism, especially in the higher eastern part. It essentially consists of the valley of the eponymous 12 km long stream Voer , which flows into the Meuse in Eijsden ( NL ) .

The area is 50 km 2 and the population is around 4,100.

Districts

The municipality consists of six villages (former municipalities):

Sint-Marten-Voeren
Relief map of the municipality of Voeren

There is also Hagelstein , which formerly belonged to the municipality of Remersdaal.

history

In the Middle Ages the area of ​​Voeren belonged to the Duchy of Brabant and thus to the Burgundian Netherlands , later to the Habsburg Netherlands . After the Eighty Years War it became part of the Spanish Netherlands . From 1794 to 1815 it was occupied by the French. When the Belgian state was founded in 1830, it became part of the Belgian province of Liège , until it became an exclave of the province of Limburg and thus Flanders in 1963.

On January 1, 1977, the previously independent municipalities - today's districts - were merged to form the new municipality of Voeren.

Language problem

Place name sign with multilingual inscriptions, where the Dutch names have been sprayed over

Until the founding of the Belgian state in 1830, the residents of Voeren only spoke Limburgish Platt ( Veurs ), which formed a dialect continuum with the dialect widespread in the south of the Dutch province of Limburg. When the state was founded, the Voeren were assigned to the province of Liège ; the official language was thus French . During the 20th century, the population was divided into 60% French-speaking and 40% Dutch-speaking residents, although almost all residents also speak the local dialect. On September 1, 1963, the language border in Belgium was set by law and Voeren was awarded as an exclave of the Dutch- speaking province of Limburg in order to take historical language habits into account.

Since that time there has been constant unrest from this small community. The population was divided into a Flemish and a Walloon group. This led to skirmishes between the two groups a number of times in the late 1970s and early 1980s . In the municipal council elections of 1982, one of the most combative Walloon-minded people, the farmer José Happart , was nominated as a candidate for mayor and won the election. The fact that the French-speaking Happart, as mayor of a Dutch-speaking municipality, did not speak a word of Dutch , led to considerable political tensions and even government crises at the highest level. The conflict didn't end until 1989 when Happart was replaced by the Dutch- speaking Nico Droeven , who also spoke French.

In the elections of 2000 there was an innovation due to EU regulations. All EU nationals residing in the municipality were allowed to participate in the municipal council elections. Because of the proximity to the border with the Netherlands, around 17% of the Dutch lived in Voeren at that time (2005: 22%). This percentage was enough for the Dutch- speaking Voerbelangen party (“Interests of the Voerener”) to win the election with 53% of the vote and to relegate the previously ruling Walloon party, Retour à Liège (“Back to Liège”) to the opposition. In 2006 Voerbelangen won 61% of the votes in the municipal council elections, the Walloon-minded opposition , renamed Retour @ Libertés ("Back to Freedoms"), only 39%. Flame Huub Broers has been mayor since 2000.

Parish partnership

Voeren has had a partnership with the former Swiss municipality of Vellerat in the canton of Jura since June 2001 .

Web links

Commons : Voeren  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Elmentaler, Peter Lang, 2009: German and his neighbors ( google preview )
  2. ↑ Brief information on 's-Gravenvoeren
  3. ↑ Brief info on Sint-Pieters-Voeren
  4. ↑ Brief information on Sint-Martens-Voeren
  5. ↑ Brief info on Moelingen
  6. ↑ Brief information on Remersdaal