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124-592: Kleverlandish varieties are spoken in the Netherlands in the northernmost part of Dutch Limburg , in the northeasternmost part of North Brabant ( Land van Cuijk ), and in the southeastern part of Gelderland (around Nijmegen ), and in Germany in the districts of Cleves and Wesel in northwestern North Rhine-Westphalia . To the northeast, Kleverlandish borders on the Low Saxon speech area, its western border

248-569: A condominium , sovereignty over this city was held jointly by the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Duchy of Brabant . Also, the central and northern part of present-day Limburg belonged to different political entities, notably the Duchy of Jülich and the Duchy of Guelders . By the late Middle Ages most of the present day territory of Limburg had been partitioned to the Duchy of Brabant,

372-748: A general armistice ended the fighting. In the German Revolution (November 1918), Wilhelm II and the ruling princes abdicated their positions, and Germany was declared a federal republic . Germany's new leadership signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, accepting defeat by the Allies . Germans perceived the treaty as humiliating, which was seen by historians as influential in the rise of Adolf Hitler . Germany lost around 13% of its European territory and ceded all of its colonial possessions in Africa and

496-513: A sustainable energy supply, the debt brake for balanced budgets, measures to increase the fertility rate ( pronatalism ), and high-tech strategies for the transition of the German economy, summarised as Industry 4.0 . During the 2015 European migrant crisis , the country took in over a million refugees and migrants. Germany is the seventh-largest country in Europe . It borders Denmark to

620-567: A temperate climate, ranging from oceanic in the north and west to continental in the east and southeast. Winters range from the cold in the Southern Alps to cool and are generally overcast with limited precipitation, while summers can vary from hot and dry to cool and rainy. The northern regions have prevailing westerly winds that bring in moist air from the North Sea, moderating the temperature and increasing precipitation. Conversely,

744-460: A NATO effort to provide security in that country after the ousting of the Taliban . In the 2005 elections , Angela Merkel became the first female chancellor. In 2009, the German government approved a €50 billion stimulus plan. Among the major German political projects of the early 21st century are the advancement of European integration , the energy transition ( Energiewende ) for

868-658: A centralised totalitarian state , withdrew from the League of Nations , and dramatically increased the country's rearmament . A government-sponsored programme for economic renewal focused on public works, the most famous of which was the Autobahn . In 1935, the regime withdrew from the Treaty of Versailles and introduced the Nuremberg Laws which targeted Jews and other minorities. Germany also reacquired control of

992-421: A derivation from a Germanic word "lint" meaning "dragon". Ironically the area under the direct lordship of the old Duchy did not overlap at all with the modern Belgian and Dutch provinces named after it today, though the medieval Duchy was a high status title in the region. On the other hand, while the Duchy's effective power was limited, the Duchy and what is now South Limburg (referred to as Overmaas) did have

1116-615: A framework laid out in the 1949 constitution known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). Amendments generally require a two-thirds majority of both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat ; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law , are valid in perpetuity. The president , currently Frank-Walter Steinmeier ,

1240-450: A height of 322.4 metres (1,058 ft) above NAP , rising approximately 110 metres above the village Vaals, where three countries ( Netherlands , Belgium and Germany ) border each other at the so-called " Three-country-point ". Limburg's main river is the Meuse , which passes through the province's entire length from south to north. Limburg's surface is largely formed by deposits from

1364-680: A joint responsibility of the international community. It was the world's second-biggest aid donor in 2019 after the United States. Germany's military, the Bundeswehr (Federal Defence), is organised into the Heer (Army and special forces KSK ), Marine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Cyber- und Informationsraum (Cyber and Information Domain Service) branches. In absolute terms, German military spending in 2023

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1488-609: A large number of towns and villages were destroyed by bombings and artillery battles. Various cemeteries, too, bear witness to this dark chapter in Limburg's history. Almost 8,500 American soldiers, who perished during the liberation of the Netherlands, lie buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten . Other big war cemeteries are to be found at Overloon ( British soldiers) and

1612-671: A long history of connection under the lordship of the Dukes of Brabant . During this long period, from the Middle Ages until the French Revolution , they were sometimes referred to collectively under one name (Overmaas or Limburg). After 1794, it was the French Republic which unified the region, along with Belgian Limburg, and removed all ties to the old feudal society (the ancien regime ). The new name, as with all

1736-643: A loss of economic importance. Limburg was the scene of many bloody battles during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), in which the Dutch Republic threw off Habsburg Spanish rule. At the Battle of Mookerheyde (14 April 1574), two brothers of Prince William of Orange-Nassau and thousands of " Dutch " mercenaries died. Most Limburgians fought on the Spanish side, being Catholics and being opposed to

1860-521: A major character in The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père (1802–1870). The modern boundaries of Dutch Limburg, along with its neighbour, Belgian Limburg, were basically set during the period after the French Revolution , which erased much of the " ancien regime " of Europe, with all its old boundaries and titles. These two provinces were part of a new French département , named (like many départements ) after

1984-547: A provisional capital, to emphasise its stance that the two-state solution was temporary. West Germany was established as a federal parliamentary republic with a " social market economy ". Starting in 1948 West Germany became a major recipient of reconstruction aid under the American Marshall Plan . Konrad Adenauer was elected the first federal chancellor of Germany in 1949. The country enjoyed prolonged economic growth ( Wirtschaftswunder ) beginning in

2108-479: A regional language (even though they do not belong to Limburgish in a dialectological sense). Official recognition does not extend to other Dutch provinces, nor to Germany. In the widely reproduced dialect map by Jo Daan  [ nl ] , Kleverlandish dialects in the Netherlands are included in the large central-southern dialect group, but divided over two subgroups: varieties in Gelderland are assigned to

2232-615: A result of the Battle of Worringen , then in the 15th century under the Duchy of Burgundy . By 1473, the Lands of Overmaas and the Duchy of Limburg formed one unified delegation to the States General of the Burgundian Netherlands . Both the terms Overmaas and Limburg came to be used loosely to refer to this sparsely populated province of the so-called Seventeen Provinces . Maastricht was never part of this polity: as

2356-577: A series of Imperial Reforms (approximately 1495–1555) provided for considerable local autonomy and a stronger Imperial Diet . The House of Habsburg held the imperial crown from 1438 until the death of Charles VI in 1740. Following the War of the Austrian Succession and the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle , Charles VI's daughter Maria Theresa ruled as empress consort when her husband, Francis I , became emperor. From 1740, dualism between

2480-638: A state, the East German authorities eased border restrictions, but this actually led to an acceleration of the Wende reform process culminating in the Two Plus Four Treaty under which Germany regained full sovereignty. This permitted German reunification on 3 October 1990, with the accession of the five re-established states of the former GDR. The fall of the Wall in 1989 became a symbol of

2604-712: A symbol of the Cold War . Tensions between East and West Germany were reduced in the late 1960s by Chancellor Willy Brandt 's Ostpolitik . In 1989, Hungary decided to dismantle the Iron Curtain and open its border with Austria , causing the emigration of thousands of East Germans to West Germany via Hungary and Austria. This had devastating effects on the GDR, where regular mass demonstrations received increasing support. In an effort to help retain East Germany as

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2728-634: A universal health care system , and tuition-free university education . Germany is a member of the United Nations , Council of Europe , NATO and OECD , and a founding member of the European Union, G7 and G20 . It has the third-highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites , 54 , of which 51 are cultural. The English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania , which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for

2852-418: A whole. Dialects in the north, nearby Venray and Gennep , are classified as Kleverlandish and are closely connected to the dialects in the northeast of Brabant (Land van Cuijk) and the region of Nijmegen . Dialects in the southeast (near Aachen ) are closer to Ripuarian and are sometimes classified as Southeast Limburgish . Dialects in the western part of Limburg, surrounding Weert , are influenced by

2976-647: Is appointed by the King and the cabinet of the Netherlands. Since December 2021 Emile Roemer ( SP ) has been holding the office of governor. Since the 2011 elections the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) was the largest party in the council, although the Party for Freedom (PVV) won the most votes during the election. However, two members of the PVV left the party, taking their seats with them, which lost

3100-540: Is bordered by Gelderland to the north and by North Brabant to its west. Its long eastern boundary forms the international border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany . To the west is the international border with the similarly named Belgian province of Limburg , part of which is delineated by the river Meuse . To the south, Limburg is bordered by the Belgian province of Liège . The Vaalserberg

3224-648: Is devoted to agriculture, while 30% is forested and 14% is covered by settlements or infrastructure. Plants and animals include those generally common to Central Europe. According to the National Forest Inventory, beeches , oaks , and other deciduous trees constitute just over 40% of the forests; roughly 60% are conifers , particularly spruce and pine . There are many species of ferns , flowers , fungi , and mosses . Wild animals include roe deer , wild boar , mouflon (a subspecies of wild sheep), fox , badger , hare , and small numbers of

3348-608: Is largely autonomous in regard to its internal organisation. As of 2017 , Germany is divided into 401 districts ( Kreise ) at a municipal level; these consist of 294 rural districts and 107 urban districts . Germany has a civil law system based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law . The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review . Germany's specialized supreme court system includes

3472-685: Is located on the Chemelot campus in Sittard-Geleen , which is bounded by the Chemelot Industrial Park, one of Western Europe's biggest industrial sites. At this moment 8000 people work at Chemelot, of which 1000 are active at the Campus. The innovation and licensing division Stamicarbon of DSM was sold in 2009 to Maire Tecnimont, the parent company of an engineering, main contracting and licensing group that operates worldwide in

3596-444: Is on the extreme southeastern point, marking the tripoint of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Limburg had a population of about 1,128,000 as of January 2023. Its main municipalities are the provincial capital Maastricht (population 120,837 as of January 2022), Venlo (population 102,176) in the northeast, as well as Sittard-Geleen (population 91,760, bordering both Belgium and Germany) and Heerlen (population 86,874) in

3720-674: Is the diphthongisation line. Traditionally, its southern extent bordering on the South Low Franconian dialect group (commonly called "Limburgish" in Belgium and the Netherlands) is defined by the Uerdingen line (the ik - ich - isogloss ), but many Dutch and German scholars place the boundary further to the north based on wider criteria than the ik - ich -isogloss. Originally, the term Kleverländisch referred only to

3844-653: Is the head of state and invested primarily with representative responsibilities and powers. He is elected by the Bundesversammlung (federal convention), an institution consisting of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates. The second-highest official in the German order of precedence is the Bundestagspräsident ( President of the Bundestag ), who is elected by

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3968-550: Is the official language and the one most used, Limburgish is currently considered a regional language as described in the a page of the Dutch Government. It has been an official regional language since 1997 and it receives moderate protection under Chapter 2 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . The German and Belgian governments do not recognise it as an official language. Before

4092-488: Is vested in the parliament consisting of the Bundestag (Federal Diet) and Bundesrat (Federal Council), which together form the legislative body. The Bundestag is elected through direct elections using the mixed-member proportional representation system. The members of the Bundesrat represent and are appointed by the governments of the sixteen federated states. The German political system operates under

4216-463: The Gründerzeit period following the unification of Germany, Bismarck's foreign policy as chancellor of Germany secured Germany's position as a great nation by forging alliances and avoiding war. However, under Wilhelm II , Germany took an imperialistic course, leading to friction with neighbouring countries. A dual alliance was created with the multinational realm of Austria-Hungary ;

4340-491: The Bundestag and responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The third-highest official and the head of government is the chancellor, who is appointed by the Bundespräsident after being elected by the party or coalition with the most seats in the Bundestag . The chancellor, currently Olaf Scholz , is the head of government and exercises executive power through his Cabinet . Since 1949,

4464-955: The Allies de jure abolished the German state and partitioned Berlin and Germany's remaining territory into four occupation zones. The western sectors, controlled by France, the United Kingdom , and the United States , were merged on 23 May 1949 to form the Federal Republic of Germany ( German : Bundesrepublik Deutschland ); on 7 October 1949, the Soviet Zone became the German Democratic Republic (GDR) ( German : Deutsche Demokratische Republik ; DDR). They were informally known as West Germany and East Germany. East Germany selected East Berlin as its capital, while West Germany chose Bonn as

4588-573: The Battle of Britain in the same year. In 1941, German troops invaded Yugoslavia , Greece and the Soviet Union . By 1942, Germany and its allies controlled most of continental Europe and North Africa , but following the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad , the Allied reconquest of North Africa and invasion of Italy in 1943, German forces suffered repeated military defeats. In 1944,

4712-542: The Berchtesgaden National Park . In addition, there are 17 Biosphere Reserves , and 105 nature parks . More than 400 zoos and animal parks operate in Germany. The Berlin Zoo , which opened in 1844, is the oldest in Germany, and claims the most comprehensive collection of species in the world. Germany is a federal , parliamentary , representative democratic republic. Federal legislative power

4836-907: The Calvinist Hollanders . In the early modern era, Limburg was largely divided between the Spanish Netherlands (the Austrian Netherlands after 1714), Prussia , the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and many small independent fiefs . In 1673, Louis XIV personally commanded the siege of Maastricht by French troops. During the siege, one of his brigadiers, Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan , perished. He subsequently became known as

4960-1186: The Eurasian beaver . The blue cornflower was once a German national symbol . The 16 national parks in Germany include the Jasmund National Park , the Vorpommern Lagoon Area National Park , the Müritz National Park , the Wadden Sea National Parks , the Harz National Park , the Hainich National Park , the Black Forest National Park , the Saxon Switzerland National Park , the Bavarian Forest National Park and

5084-406: The European Community (now European Union ) held a summit in Maastricht. At that summit, the "Treaty on European Union" or so-called Maastricht Treaty was signed by the European Community member states. With that treaty, the European Union came into existence. Limburg mijn Vaderland (Limburg my Fatherland) is the official anthem of both Belgian and Dutch Limburg. Although standard Dutch

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5208-399: The European Union  (light green) Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe . It lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 82 million in an area of 357,596 km (138,069 sq mi), making it the most populous member state of

5332-485: The Fall of Communism , the dissolution of the Soviet Union , German reunification and Die Wende ("the turning point"). United Germany was considered the enlarged continuation of West Germany so it retained its memberships in international organisations. Based on the Berlin/Bonn Act (1994), Berlin again became the capital of Germany, while Bonn obtained the unique status of a Bundesstadt (federal city) retaining some federal ministries. The relocation of

5456-411: The German Revolution of 1918–1919 , the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic . The Nazi rise to power in 1933 led to the establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship , World War II , and the Holocaust . In 1949, after the war and a period of Allied occupation , Germany was organized into two separate polities with limited sovereignty: the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany , and

5580-422: The Investiture controversy . Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254), German princes encouraged German settlement to the south and east ( Ostsiedlung ). Members of the Hanseatic League , mostly north German towns, prospered in the expansion of trade. The population declined starting with the Great Famine in 1315, followed by the Black Death of 1348–1350. The Golden Bull issued in 1356 provided

5704-428: The Jastorf culture during the Nordic Bronze Age or early Iron Age . From southern Scandinavia and northern Germany , they expanded south, east, and west, coming into contact with the Celtic , Iranian , Baltic , and Slavic tribes. Southern Germany was inhabited by Celtic-speaking peoples, who belonged to the wider La Tène culture . They were later assimilated by the Germanic conquerors. Under Augustus ,

5828-408: The Lower Paleolithic , with various tribes inhabiting it from the Neolithic onward, chiefly the Celts . Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity . A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire . During the 16th century, northern German regions became

5952-467: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact that divided Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland , beginning World War II in Europe ; Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September. In the spring of 1940, Germany conquered Denmark and Norway , the Netherlands , Belgium , Luxembourg , and France , forcing the French government to sign an armistice . The British repelled German air attacks in

6076-529: The Roman Empire began to invade lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes, creating a short-lived Roman province of Germania between the Rhine and Elbe rivers. In 9 AD, three Roman legions were defeated by Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest . The outcome of this battle dissuaded the Romans from their ambition of conquering Germania and is thus considered one of the most important events in European history . By 100 AD, when Tacitus wrote Germania , Germanic tribes had settled along

6200-430: The Saarland in 1935, remilitarised the Rhineland in 1936, annexed Austria in 1938, annexed the Sudetenland in 1938 with the Munich Agreement , and in violation of the agreement occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) saw the burning of synagogues, the destruction of Jewish businesses, and mass arrests of Jewish people. In August 1939, Hitler's government negotiated

6324-402: The South Guelderish subgroup (which also includes dialects spoken in the southwest of Gelderland which have taken part in the Hollandic-Brabantian diphthongisation), while Kleverlandish varieties in North Brabant and Limburg are included in the North Brabant–North Limburg subgroup. In Heeringa (2004), Kleverlandish dialects in the Netherlands are assigned to two different major dialects groups:

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6448-450: The Triple Alliance of 1882 included Italy. Britain, France and Russia also concluded alliances to protect against Habsburg interference with Russian interests in the Balkans or German interference against France. At the Berlin Conference in 1884, Germany claimed several colonies including German East Africa , German South West Africa , Togoland , and Kamerun . Later, Germany further expanded its colonial empire to include holdings in

6572-454: The Ysselsteyn German war cemetery was constructed in the Municipality of Venray for the 31,000 German soldiers who died. According to the research of Herman van Rens, the residents of Limburg were especially active in hiding local and refugee Jews during the Holocaust , to the extent that the Jewish population even increased during the war. Jews in hiding were three times as likely to survive in Limburg as in Amsterdam. In December 1991,

6696-409: The former East German states join the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990 . Germany has been described as a great power with a strong economy ; it has the largest economy in Europe by nominal GDP . As a global power in industrial, scientific and technological sectors, it is both the world's third-largest exporter and importer . As a developed country , it offers social security ,

6820-417: The inquisitorial Federal Court of Justice for civil and criminal cases, along with the Federal Labour Court , Federal Social Court , Federal Fiscal Court , and Federal Administrative Court for other matters. Criminal and private laws are codified on the national level in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively. The German penal system seeks the rehabilitation of

6944-428: The revolutions of 1848 in the German states , raising the German question. King Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the title of emperor, but with a loss of power; he rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, a temporary setback for the movement. King William I appointed Otto von Bismarck as the Minister President of Prussia in 1862. Bismarck successfully concluded the war with Denmark in 1864 ;

7068-428: The "Evangelical" faith ( Lutheranism ), but also decreed that the faith of the prince was to be the faith of his subjects ( cuius regio, eius religio ). From the Cologne War through the Thirty Years' Wars (1618–1648), religious conflict devastated German lands and significantly reduced the population. The Peace of Westphalia ended religious warfare among the Imperial Estates . The legal system initiated by

7192-497: The 10th century, the Eastern kingdom consolidated its control of Lotharingia and became the Holy Roman Empire . In the first decades of this empire the founding imperial family had close ties to areas in what is today northern Limburg. The emperor Otto III for instance was born in 980 in Kessel , practically on the current border between Limburg and North Rhine-Westphalia , just east from Gennep . In 1080 in Genneperhuis  [ nl ] , just north of Gennep, Norbert of Gennep

7316-512: The 20th century, most newspapers were in French or in German, and schools in Maastricht taught French, as the city has historic ties with the Belgian city of Liège . Other parts of the province taught German. Limburgish is spoken by an estimated 1.6 million people in Dutch Limburg, Belgian Limburg , and Germany. There are many different dialects of Limburgish; almost every town and village has its own. A lot of isoglosses cross through Limburg. No single dialect can fully represent Limburgish as

7440-414: The Alps. Subsequently, the Holy Roman Empire emerged from it. The Ottonian rulers (919–1024) consolidated several major duchies . In 996, Gregory V became the first German Pope, appointed by his cousin Otto III , whom he shortly after crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy under the Salian emperors (1024–1125), although the emperors lost power through

7564-411: The Austrian Habsburg monarchy and the Kingdom of Prussia dominated German history. In 1772, 1793, and 1795, Prussia and Austria, along with the Russian Empire , agreed to the Partitions of Poland . During the period of the French Revolutionary Wars , the Napoleonic era and the subsequent final meeting of the Imperial Diet , most of the Free Imperial Cities were annexed by dynastic territories;

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7688-406: The Duchy of Gelderland, the Duchy of Jülich, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège or the Electorate of Cologne . These dukes, prince-bishops and prince-electors were nominal subordinates of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, but in practice acted as independent sovereigns who were often at war with each other. These conflicts were often fought in and over Limburg, contributing to its fragmentation and

7812-419: The European Union . It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France , Luxembourg , Belgium , and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its main financial centre is Frankfurt ; the largest urban area is the Ruhr . Settlement in the territory of modern Germany began in

7936-405: The Franks established the Frankish Kingdom and pushed east to subjugate Saxony and Bavaria . Areas of what is today eastern Germany were inhabited by Western Slavic tribes. Charlemagne founded the Carolingian Empire in 800; it was divided in 843 . The eastern successor kingdom of East Francia stretched from the Rhine in the west to the Elbe river in the east and from the North Sea to

8060-401: The Gelderland varieties are included in the Central Dutch group, while varieties in the Land van Cuijk and northern Limburg are included in the Limburg group. Dutch Limburg Limburg ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlɪmbʏr(ə)x] , Limburgish: [ˈlɪm˦ˌbʏʀ˦əx] ), also known as Dutch Limburg , is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands . It

8184-437: The German Bundestag , though they have never been part of the federal government. In the 2017 German federal election , the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany gained enough votes to attain representation in the parliament for the first time. Germany is a federation and comprises sixteen constituent states which are collectively referred to as Länder . Each state ( Land ) has its own constitution, and

8308-423: The German Democratic Republic, or East Germany . Berlin continued its de jure Four Power status . The Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the European Economic Community and the European Union , while the German Democratic Republic was a communist Eastern Bloc state and member of the Warsaw Pact . After the fall of the communist led-government in East Germany, German reunification saw

8432-428: The Holocaust , the German government persecuted minorities , including interning them in concentration and death camps across Europe. The regime systematically murdered 6 million Jews, at least 130,000 Romani , 275,000 disabled , thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses , thousands of homosexuals , and hundreds of thousands of political and religious opponents . Nazi policies in German-occupied countries resulted in

8556-423: The Kingdom of the Netherlands, was reincorporated into the latter with the 1867 Treaty of London , though the term "Duchy of Limburg" remained in some official use until February 1907. Another idiosyncrasy survives today: the head of the province, referred to as the "King's Commissioner" in other provinces, is addressed as "Governor" in Limburg. The Second World War cost the lives of many civilians in Limburg, and

8680-438: The Maas valley became more culturally and politically one of the most important regions in Europe. In 714 Susteren Abbey was founded, as far as is known the first proprietary abbey in the current Netherlands. The main benefactor was Plectrude , the consort of Pepin of Herstal . Charles Martel was born in nearby Herstal . Charlemagne made Aachen , today a German city which has suburban sprawl stretching into South Limburg,

8804-434: The Meuse after the Congress of Vienna, the Dutch province of Limburg (excluding the cities of Maastricht and Venlo because without them Limburg's population equalled that of the Province of Luxembourg, 150,000 ), was joined to the German Confederation between 5 September 1839 and 23 August 1866 as the Duchy of Limburg . On 11 May 1867, the Duchy, which from 1839 on had been de jure a separate polity in personal union with

8928-791: The Meuse, consisting of river clay, fertile loessial soil and large deposits of pebblestone, currently being quarried for the construction industry. In the north of the province, further away from the riverbed, the soil primarily consists of sand and peat. Limburg makes up one region of the International Organization for Standardization world region code system, having the code ISO 3166-2:NL -LI. The province of Limburg has 31 municipalities. From North to South: Gennep , Venray , Venlo , Weert , Roermond , Thorn , Sittard , Geleen , Heerlen , Valkenburg , Kerkrade , Maastricht , Vaals . The Gross domestic product (GDP) of

9052-421: The Netherlands only came into existence in 1839, after the finalization of the separation of Belgium from the Netherlands which had begun in 1830. The two Limburgs had been brought together under French revolutionary administration some decades earlier, but they and the surrounding region shared much of their history. For long periods of history however, the region was not united under the same rule. For centuries,

9176-597: The PVV their number one status. Since the 2015 elections the CDA (11 seats) has again been the largest party, followed by the PVV (9 seats) and the Socialist Party (SP) (8 seats). The province's daily affairs are taken care of by the Provincial-Executive ( Gedeputeerde Staten ), which are also headed by the King's Commissioner; its members ( gedeputeerden ) can be compared with ministers. Results of

9300-630: The Pacific and China. The colonial government in South West Africa (present-day Namibia ), from 1904 to 1907, carried out the annihilation of the local Herero and Namaqua peoples as punishment for an uprising; this was the 20th century's first genocide . The assassination of Austria's crown prince on 28 June 1914 provided the pretext for Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia and trigger World War I . After four years of warfare, in which approximately two million German soldiers were killed,

9424-684: The Pacific. On 11 August 1919, President Friedrich Ebert signed the democratic Weimar Constitution . In the subsequent struggle for power, communists seized power in Bavaria , but conservative elements elsewhere attempted to overthrow the Republic in the Kapp Putsch . Street fighting in the major industrial centres, the occupation of the Ruhr by Belgian and French troops, and a period of hyperinflation followed. A debt restructuring plan and

9548-599: The Reichstag after a special election in 1932 and Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933. After the Reichstag fire , a decree abrogated basic civil rights and the first Nazi concentration camp opened. On 23 March 1933, the Enabling Act gave Hitler unrestricted legislative power, overriding the constitution, and marked the beginning of Nazi Germany. His government established

9672-639: The Rhine and the Danube (the Limes Germanicus ), occupying most of modern Germany. However, Baden-Württemberg , southern Bavaria , southern Hesse and the western Rhineland had been incorporated into Roman provinces . Around 260, Germanic peoples broke into Roman-controlled lands. After the invasion of the Huns in 375, and with the decline of Rome from 395, Germanic tribes moved farther southwest:

9796-633: The Romans upon this route. The area became strongly Romanized. Bishop Servatius introduced Christianity in Roman Maastricht, where he died in 384. Maastricht appears to have taken over from Tongeren for some time as regional capital for the Romanized and Christian population, before the bishopric was re-established in Liège , 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Maastricht. As Roman authority in

9920-672: The Soviets pushed into Eastern Europe ; the Western allies landed in France and entered Germany despite a final German counteroffensive . Following Hitler's suicide during the Battle of Berlin , Germany signed the surrender document on 8 May 1945, ending World War II in Europe and Nazi Germany. Following the end of the war, surviving Nazi officials were tried for war crimes at the Nuremberg trials . In what later became known as

10044-485: The Treaty of Meerssen, effective Frankish power in the area of the current Netherlands more or less collapsed. For two or more years a large Viking army, operating from a place on or near the Meuse called Ascloa (or Hasloa or Haslon), wrought havoc in the neighbourhood. The damage was such that the emperor, Charles the Fat was forced to assemble a large multinational army, that in 882 unsuccessfully besieged this island . In

10168-462: The area weakened, Franks took over from the Romans, but the area came to flourish under their rule, with Cologne continuing to be the most important local capital. The Maas valley, especially the middle and southern part of the current province, formed an important part of the heartland of Merovingian Austrasia . With the rise of the Carolingian dynasty, who were themselves from this region,

10292-698: The border between the Western- and Eastern Frankish kingdoms, placing most of the current Dutch province of Limburg on the western boundary of the Eastern Frankish kingdom, with Belgian Limburg in the Western Kingdom. In the Treaty of Ribemont of 888, the Eastern Kingdom was granted control of the whole of Lotharingia, including all of the modern Netherlands and Luxembourg, and most of modern Belgium. The region of Thorn, Netherlands

10416-637: The capital of the Frankish empire . After the death of Charlemagne, the Frankish dominions were again split between kings. While the Austrasian lands remained a separate "Middle Kingdom", sometimes now referred to as Lotharingia , in the treaties of Verdun (843), and Prüm (855), in the 870 Treaty of Meerssen , signed in South Limburg itself, Lotharingia was divided. The river Meuse became

10540-922: The centre of the Protestant Reformation . Following the Napoleonic Wars and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the German Confederation was formed in 1815. Formal unification of Germany into the modern nation-state commenced on 18 August 1866 with the North German Confederation Treaty establishing the Prussia -led North German Confederation , which became the German Empire in 1871. After World War I and

10664-530: The communist-controlled Socialist Unity Party of Germany , supported by the Stasi , an immense secret service. While East German propaganda was based on the benefits of the GDR's social programmes and the alleged threat of a West German invasion, many of its citizens looked to the West for freedom and prosperity. The Berlin Wall , built in 1961, prevented East German citizens from escaping to West Germany, becoming

10788-648: The constitutional structure of the Empire and codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors . Johannes Gutenberg introduced moveable-type printing to Europe, laying the basis for the democratization of knowledge . In 1517, Martin Luther incited the Protestant Reformation and his translation of the Bible began the standardization of the language; the 1555 Peace of Augsburg tolerated

10912-469: The creation of a new currency in 1924 ushered in the Golden Twenties , an era of artistic innovation and liberal cultural life. The worldwide Great Depression hit Germany in 1929. Chancellor Heinrich Brüning 's government pursued a policy of fiscal austerity and deflation which caused unemployment of nearly 30% by 1932. The Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the largest party in

11036-472: The creation of a more unified European political, economic and security apparatus. The governments of Germany and the United States are close political allies . Cultural ties and economic interests have crafted a bond between the two countries resulting in Atlanticism . After 1990, Germany and Russia worked together to establish a "strategic partnership" in which energy development became one of

11160-536: The criminal and the protection of the public. With the exceptions of petty crimes, tried by a single professional judge, and of serious political crimes, all charges are adjudicated by mixed tribunals where lay judges ( Schöffen ) and professional judges preside together. As of 2016, Germany's murder rate stood at a low of 1.18 murders per 100,000. In 2018, the overall crime rate fell to its lowest since 1992. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Germany since 2017, and LGBT rights are generally protected in

11284-461: The deaths of an estimated 2.7 million Poles , 1.3 million Ukrainians , 1 million Belarusians and 3.5 million Soviet prisoners of war . German military casualties have been estimated at 5.3 million, and around 900,000 German civilians died. Around 12 million ethnic Germans were expelled from across Eastern Europe, and Germany lost roughly one-quarter of its pre-war territory. After Nazi Germany surrendered,

11408-476: The dialects in the German part of the speech area, which are also called Niederrheinsch ('Low Rhenish') in traditional German dialectology. The dialects on the Dutch side were first classified as a distinct group by te Winkel (1898) (as "Saxon-East Franconian") and Van Ginneken (1917) ("Guelderish-Limburgish"). The close affinity between these dialect areas had long been recognized by Dutch and German scholars; but it

11532-641: The early 1950s. West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community . On 1 January 1957, the Saarland joined West Germany. East Germany was an Eastern Bloc state under political and military control by the Soviet Union via occupation forces and the Warsaw Pact . Although East Germany claimed to be a democracy, political power was exercised solely by leading members ( Politbüro ) of

11656-648: The ecclesiastical territories were secularised and annexed. In 1806 the Imperium was dissolved; France, Russia, Prussia, and the Habsburgs (Austria) competed for hegemony in the German states during the Napoleonic Wars . Following the fall of Napoleon , the Congress of Vienna founded the German Confederation, a loose league of 39 sovereign states . The appointment of the emperor of Austria as

11780-538: The elections for the States-Provincial : The Provincial-Executive 2023–2027 consists of the following parties: BBB, CDA, VVD, PvdA and SP. Limburg is a salient of the Netherlands into Belgium. Compared to the rest of the Netherlands the southern part of Limburg is less flat, slightly undulated. The highest point in the continental Netherlands is the Vaalserberg (meaning 'mountain' of Vaals) with

11904-680: The government was completed in 1999, and modernisation of the East German economy was scheduled to last until 2019. Since reunification, Germany has taken a more active role in the European Union , signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and the Lisbon Treaty in 2007, and co-founding the eurozone . Germany sent a peacekeeping force to secure stability in the Balkans and sent German troops to Afghanistan as part of

12028-583: The medieval name to be lost, insisted that it be changed to " Province of Limburg ". As such, the name of the new province was derived from the old Duchy of Limburg that had existed until 1795 on the east bank of the Meuse river. When the Catholic and French -speaking Belgians split away from the mainly Calvinist northern Netherlands in the Belgian Revolution of 1830, the Province of Limburg

12152-477: The most important factors. As a result of the cooperation, Germany imported most of its natural gas and crude oil from Russia. Germany's development policy functions as a distinct sector within its foreign policy framework. It is formulated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and carried out by the implementing organisations. The German government sees development policy as

12276-410: The names of the départements , was based on natural features such as rivers, in this case Meuse-Inférieure or Neder-Maas ("Lower Meuse"). After the defeat of Napoleon the newly created United Kingdom of the Netherlands desired a new name for this province. It was decided that the historic connection to the duchy of Limburg was to be restored, albeit only in name. The current province Limburg of

12400-660: The nation. Germany has a network of 227 diplomatic missions abroad and maintains relations with more than 190 countries. Germany is a member of NATO , the OECD , the G7 , the G20 , the World Bank and the IMF . It has played an influential role in the European Union since its inception and has maintained a strong alliance with France and all neighbouring countries since 1990. Germany promotes

12524-461: The neighbouring dialects of southeast Brabant , which means that the tone is more Brabantic than in the rest of Limburg. The provincial council ( States-Provincial - Provinciale Staten ) has 47 seats, and is headed by a King's Commissioner ( Commissaris van de Koning ) who unofficially is called the Governor . While the provincial council is elected by the inhabitants, the King's Commissioner

12648-660: The north, Poland and Czechia to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France , Luxembourg , Belgium , and the Netherlands to the west. Germany is also bordered by the North Sea and, at the north-northeast, by the Baltic Sea. German territory covers 357,596 km (138,069 sq mi). Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps (highest point: the Zugspitze at 2,963 metres or 9,721 feet) in

12772-894: The oil, gas & petrochemicals, power, infrastructure and civil engineering sectors. Stamicarbon is based in Sittard-Geleen. VDL Nedcar in Born ( Sittard-Geleen ) is the only large-scale car manufacturer in the Netherlands, currently manufacturing MINIs and BMW X1s . Other industries include rockwool in Roermond, Océ copiers and printers manufacturers in Venlo and a paper factory in Maastricht. There are four large beer breweries in Limburg. Germany – in Europe  (light green & dark grey) – in

12896-454: The pain by moving several government offices (including Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP and CBS Statistics Netherlands ) to Heerlen. The state-owned corporation that once mined in Limburg, DSM , is now a major chemical company, still operating in Limburg. In 2002 DSM sold its petrochemical division (naphtha crackers and polyolefin plants) to SABIC of Saudi Arabia. In 2010, the agro and melamine business groups were sold to OCI Nitrogen . SABIC

13020-613: The party system has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany . So far every chancellor has been a member of one of these parties. However, the smaller liberal Free Democratic Party and the Alliance 90/The Greens have also been junior partners in coalition governments . Since 2007, the democratic socialist party The Left has been a staple in

13144-677: The people' (see also the Latinised form Theodiscus ), derived from * þeudō , descended from Proto-Indo-European * tewtéh₂- 'people', from which the word Teutons also originates. Pre-human ancestors, the Danuvius guggenmosi , who were present in Germany over 11 million years ago, are theorized to be among the earliest ones to walk on two legs. Ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The first non-modern human fossil (the Neanderthal )

13268-507: The peoples east of the Rhine . The German term Deutschland , originally diutisciu land ('the German lands'), is derived from deutsch ( cf. Dutch ), descended from Old High German diutisc 'of the people' (from diot or diota 'people'), originally used to distinguish the language of the common people from Latin and its Romance descendants . This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic * þiudiskaz 'of

13392-477: The permanent president reflected the Congress's rejection of Prussia 's rising influence. Disagreement within restoration politics partly led to the rise of liberal movements, followed by new measures of repression by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich . The Zollverein , a tariff union, furthered economic unity. In light of revolutionary movements in Europe , intellectuals and commoners started

13516-560: The province was €44.5 billion in 2018, accounting for 5.7% of the Netherlands economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €34,700 or 115% of the EU27 average in the same year. In the past peat and coal were mined in Limburg. In 1965–75 the coal mines were finally closed. As a result, 60,000 people lost their jobs in the two coal mining areas, Heerlen-Kerkrade-Brunssum and Sittard-Geleen. A difficult period of economic readjustment started. The Dutch government partly eased

13640-652: The river running through it, " Meuse-Inférieure ", meaning simply "lower Maas". Following the Napoleonic Era , the great powers (the United Kingdom , Prussia , the Austrian Empire , the Russian Empire and France ) left the region to the new United Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Congress of Vienna in 1815. A new province was formed which was to receive the name "Maastricht" after its capital. The first king, William I , who did not want

13764-607: The south to the shores of the North Sea ( Nordsee ) in the northwest and the Baltic Sea ( Ostsee ) in the northeast. The forested uplands of central Germany and the lowlands of northern Germany (lowest point: in the municipality Neuendorf-Sachsenbande , Wilstermarsch at 3.54 metres or 11.6 feet below sea level ) are traversed by such major rivers as the Rhine, Danube and Elbe. Significant natural resources include iron ore, coal, potash , timber, lignite , uranium , copper, natural gas, salt, and nickel. Most of Germany has

13888-537: The south. More than half of the population, approximately 650,000 people, live in the south of Limburg, which corresponds to roughly one-third of the province's area proper. In South Limburg , most people live in the urban agglomerations of Maastricht, Parkstad and Sittard-Geleen. Limburg's name derives from the Belgian fortified town of the same name, Limbourg-sur-Vesdre , now in the nearby Liège Province , immediately south of Limburg. The name of Limbourg-sur-Vesdre

14012-974: The southeast regions have more extreme temperatures. From February 2019 – 2020, average monthly temperatures in Germany ranged from a low of 3.3 °C (37.9 °F) in January 2020 to a high of 19.8 °C (67.6 °F) in June 2019. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 30 litres per square metre in February and April 2019 to 125 litres per square metre in February 2020. Average monthly hours of sunshine ranged from 45 in November 2019 to 300 in June 2019. The territory of Germany can be divided into five terrestrial ecoregions : Atlantic mixed forests , Baltic mixed forests , Central European mixed forests , Western European broadleaf forests , and Alps conifer and mixed forests . As of 2016 , 51% of Germany's land area

14136-407: The strategic location of the current province, stretching along the Maas river route, made it a much-coveted region among Europe's major powers. Romans , Carolingians , Habsburg Spaniards , Prussians , Habsburg Austrians and France have all ruled parts of Limburg. The first inhabitants of whom traces have been found were Neanderthals who camped in South Limburg. In Neolithic times, flint

14260-429: The subsequent decisive Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 enabled him to create the North German Confederation which excluded Austria . After the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War , the German princes proclaimed the founding of the German Empire in 1871. Prussia was the dominant constituent state of the new empire; the King of Prussia ruled as its Kaiser, and Berlin became its capital. In

14384-437: The vocabulary. In much of the Kleverlandish speech area in both the Netherlands and Germany, speakers are shifting from Kleverlandish to regional colloquial forms of the respective national languages, Dutch and German, with a higher degree of decline of dialect usage in Germany than in the Netherlands. In Dutch Limburg , Kleverlandish varieties spoken within the province are included in the official recognition of Limburgish as

14508-434: Was at first almost entirely under Belgian rule. However, by the 1839 Treaty of London , the province was divided in two, with the eastern part going to the Netherlands and the western part to Belgium, a division that remains today. With the Treaty of London, what is now the Belgian Province of Luxembourg was handed over to Belgium and removed from the German Confederation . To appease Prussia, which had also lost access to

14632-540: Was born as a son of the count of Gennep. He was the founder of the order of the Premonstratensians . South Limburg in the early Middle Ages was mainly made up of the lordships of Valkenburg  [ de ] , Dalhem , and Herzogenrath . All of these lands were, however, united with the Duchy of Limburg, under the rule of the Duchy of Brabant , when they were known collectively as the Lands of Overmaas  [ nl ; de ] . The Duchy of Limburg and its dependencies first came under Brabantian control in 1288, as

14756-454: Was discovered in the Neander Valley . Similarly dated evidence of modern humans has been found in the Swabian Jura , including 42,000-year-old flutes which are the oldest musical instruments ever found, the 40,000-year-old Lion Man , and the 41,000-year-old Venus of Hohle Fels . The Nebra sky disk , created during the European Bronze Age , has been attributed to a German site. The Germanic peoples are thought to have emerged from

14880-419: Was drained and about 975 a swamp nearby the Roman road between Maastricht and Nijmegen . Bishop Ansfried of Utrecht founded a Benedictine nunnery. This developed from the 12th century into a secular Stift or convent . The principal of the Stift was the abbess . She was assisted by a chapter of at most twenty ladies of the highest nobility . During the period of West Frankish control under

15004-496: Was important to the region because it had been the seat of the medieval Duchy of Limburg . There are several proposals concerning the etymology of Limbourg. The second part, "bourg" or "burg" is common in placenames, and refers to a fortified town. The first part is often suggested to refer to lime or linden trees (species of Tilia ). The historian Jean-Louis Kupper has proposed that its founder Frederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine named it after Limburg Abbey in Germany. He favours

15128-492: Was mined in underground mines. Julius Caesar conquered the area in 53 BC, and wrote that he had extinguished the name of the Eburones , the inhabitants of most of the area of current Limburg, as a punishment for their revolt under Ambiorix . The north–south route along the Maas was crossed by the Via Belgica , a road crossing South Limburg and connecting the two local capitals of Tongeren and Cologne . Mosa Trajectum (Maastricht) and Coriovallum (Heerlen) were founded by

15252-444: Was the seventh-highest in the world . In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that German military expenditure would be increased past the NATO target of 2%, along with a one-time 2022 infusion of 100 billion euros, representing almost double the 53 billion euro military budget for 2021. In 2023, military spending according to NATO criteria amounted to $ 73.1 billion, or 1.64% of

15376-459: Was the Belgian dialectologist Jan Goossens who first extended the scope of the term "Kleverlandish" to include all varieties on both sides of the border. Kleverlandish is characterized by several conservative features, such as: A typical West Low Franconian feature is the fronting of /uː/ to /y(ː)/ (e.g. hüs 'house' < *hūs) which however did not fully radiate into the German area of Kleverlandish, where in many areas it affects only part of

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