Maastricht

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This article refers to the municipality in the Netherlands. For the political treaty, see Maastricht Treaty.

Maastricht (Dutch: Maastricht; Limburgish and city dialect: Mestreech) is a municipality, and capital of the 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. The name of city is derived from its Latin name Trajectum Ad Mosam (Meuse-crossing), referring to the bridge built by the Romans under the reign of Augustus Caesar.

For years, the city has been in a debate with Nijmegen over being the oldest city of 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. However, Maastricht was without a doubt the first settlement in the Netherlands. Roman sources mention a Celtic (probably inhabited by the Eburones ) settlement at the location they used for the bridge. Other sources mention a Celtic settlement at a rivercrossing near where now Wyck is located.

Institutions located in Maastricht include the Universiteit Maastricht (Maastricht University), the Administration of the Dutch province of Limburg and the Bonnefanten Museum of art. Other large employers include ENCI (First Dutch Cement Industry) Vodafone, Mercedes-Benz, Sappi and Pie Medical.

To the south of the city is the hill of St. Pietersberg which has an old fort and a network of caves within. The caves maintain a constant temperature of 10°C and are a hibernation place for bats. Mushrooms are grown in the caves as well. It is possible to visit the caves at certain times by guided tour. The caves were formed by digging out the Marl that was used to build houses. This led to a very extensive network of caves that one could easily get lost in. Or hide in. As was done often, most recently during the second world war. Some people who stayed there for a long time made charcoal wall paintings, some of which are genuine pieces of art. Later the marl was used by ENCI to make cement. In the process a large chunk was removed from one side of the hill. The unused material was used to make a new hill, d'n Observant, and there is talk to turn the hole into a watersports recreation area.

In the process of carving out the marl, fossils were found, most notably one of a mosasaur in 1780 (which, contrary to popular belief, was not a dinosaur). That was before any dinosaur fossils were found and the find was so famous it led to naming a 6-million-year epoch after the city: the Maastrichtian.

A railway passes through Maastricht that runs south to Liege, Belgium and north into the rest of the Netherlands, where it has a branch to Heerlen. The railway line to Hasselt is no longer in use, although plans exist to restore it. Maastricht is served by the Maastricht Aachen Airport. By car, Maastricht can be reached within an hour from Brussels and in 2 to 3 hours from Amsterdam.

In football, Maastricht is represented by MVV, currently playing in the Dutch first division.

Carnival is celebrated almost exclusively in the south of the Netherlands and most notably in Maastricht, where not only does the whole city turn into one big party centre during the three days before lent, but there is also a special flag! The three day rule is traditionally strictly followed, with the 'Mooswief' (a bigger-than life puppet representing a market woman) being raised in the Vrijthof midday Sunday and lowered at midnight Tuesday to mark the beginning and the end of the festivities. However, Carnival has wide popularity, and its 'discovery' by Northerners (which causes some friction and joking) means that if you see people dressed up on Saturday you'll know they're not locals. The music used to be strictly in dialect (each year a new song, along with a 'Prince' who is in charge for the three days, is elected), but other types of party music are now around a great deal more. That said, the Carnival song is everywhere, not in the least by the (in)famous zaate herremeniekes ('drunken brass bands') which often still perform surprisingly well. Many locals save up all year for this, the biggest party and definite highlight of the year, and the costumes can be very elaborate. They're usually not meant to be as flashy as in Rio de Janeiro, but just old rags turned into a joke costume. However, a lot of work is often put into them and they can still be an impressive sight. While sometimes political, these costumes are more often than not simply absurd. Like elsewhere, there are parades, though they are not the focus of the party. It's more about bringing the streets to life by partying. It is said some people don't return home and live in the streets for three days. On Wednesday the costumes are gone, but Lent is put off just a little longer with the traditional eating of raw herrings, accompanied with a free beer (or is that the other way around?). After carnival, one is supposed to fast for 40 days until easter (which is the original excuse for the partying), but hardly anyone does that anymore, a substitute sometimes being to give up a bad habit or two.

1 History
2 Politics
3 See also
4 External links

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History

Image:Eben-Emael.png Old stone age remains have been found to the west of Maastricht, between 80.000 and 250.000 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:St-servatius-basilica.jpg 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 1984. The golden gilt shrine containing some of the saint's relics is carried around the town every seven years. During the medieval period these processions caused such rioting that they were forbidden. The city remained an early Christian bishopric until it lost this position to nearby Liège in the 8th century.

Maastricht developed in the Middle Ages into a city of dual authority, 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. This duality remained in force until the conquest and annexation of the city by the French in 1794.

Skeletons uncovered in a front garden in Maastricht in May 2004 may be the remains of musketeers who died during a fierce 17th century battle between French attackers and Dutch defenders.

On 14 June 1673, Louis XIV's troops started to surround the city of Maastricht. Under the leadership of Captain-Lieutenant Charles de Batz-Castelmore, Comte d'Artagnan, the First Company of "Mousquetaires du Roi" prepared to storm a rampart located in front of one of the city's gates. The assault on the bulwark took place not far from where the seven skeletons were found. D'Artagnan was killed by a musket shot on 25 June 1673 during a night attack on the Tongerse Gate (this event was portrayed by Alexandre Dumas in his novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne).

Maastricht surrendered to French troops on June 30. The French troops occupied the Dutch city from 1673 to 1679. It was subsequently restored to Dutch rule.

After the Napoleonic era, Maastricht became a part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. When the southern provinces sought independence from the North to form Belgium in 1830, the garrison in Maastricht remained loyal to the Dutch king and occupied the city despite anti-Dutch feelings amongst the population. Maastricht was was neither Dutch nor Belgian between 1830 and 1839.In 1839 the Treaty of London was imposed on the Belgians and the city and the eastern part of Limburg, despite being geographically and culturally closer to Belgium, were permanently added to the Netherlands. Because of the resulting eccentric location Maastricht was often more focused on Belgium and Germany than on the rest of the Netherlands, adding to the distinct non-Dutch character of the city. Even now, the people of Maastricht (and the rest of Limburg ) hold on to their language and culture, and some even hope to be re-united with Limburgian areas in Germany and Belgium.

Image:Maastricht-shopping-street.redvers.jpg On September 14, 1944, Maastricht was the first Dutch city to be liberated by allied forces during World War II.

In 1976, Maastricht became part of the Euregio Maas-Rhine.

In 1992, the Maastricht treaty was signed here, leading to the creation of the Euro.

Especially under current mayor Gerd Leers, Maastricht attracted many summits, like the OCSE-summit in 2003, and several gatherings during the Dutch EU-chairmanship in the second half of 2004.

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Politics

**Council seats**
Party	seats	change from 2002
PvdA	13	+5
CDA	7	-4
GroenLinks	5	0
VVD	4	-1
SP	3	+1
Senioren	3	0
D66	2	0
Stadsbelangen	2	-1
Total	39	-

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. After the success of such a coalition in Nijmegen and possibilities for it nationally expectations are high-strung. On 26 March 2006 negotiations were still underway.

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 isn't, resulting in an impossible situation. The police keep on tracking down plantations, but that just results in more and more plantations being set up. Many in atticks of houses in 'ordinary streets', thus bringing kids in contact with illegal activities. Mayor Leers therefore proposed to let the government take over the growing. This would also be 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.

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