Studies over de sociaaleconomische geschiedenis van Limburg/Jaarboek van het Sociaal Historisch Centrum voor Limburg

Ten geleide

Nico Randeraad, Joris Roosen — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Discussiedossier. De mijnsluiting als transitie voorbeeld.

Sandra Phlippen, Ad Knotter, Ben Gales, Johan Schot — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

De rol die geschiedenis kan spelen in het begrip van het heden en het denken over de toekomst wordt ter discussie gesteld. Dat de Limburgse geschiedenis relevant kan zijn, staat buiten kijf. Hoe je die beoordeelt en welke elementen je eruit licht, zijn vragen waarover te discussiëren valt. Kunnen wij lering trekken uit de steekolenmijnbouw en de sluiting van de mijnen ten behoeve van de energietransitie?

De constructie van een 'no-mine's land'?

Afra de Mars — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

After the announcement of the Dutch mine closure in 1965, a spatial reconversion on unforeseen scale began. This reconversion is known under the contemporary slogan ‘van zwart naar groen’ (from black to green). As a result of the choices made at the time, the Dutch Mijnstreek now seems a kind of ‘no-mine’s land’. Using publications by planning authorities, this article analyses the ideas behind the slogan ‘from black to green’ and why it was thought this transition was necessary. After a general introduction, the article focuses on the case of the Willem-terrain of the Domaniale Mijn. It also discusses how the ideas of ‘from black to green’ fitted in broader contemporary debates on nature, environment and heritage, and makes a comparison between the Dutch reconversion and the Belgium one, which had a very different result.

Een kleurrijke blik op een ondergronds verleden

Afra de Mars, Judith Van Puyvelde — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Today, the Limburg landscape shows little evidence of its mining past. Existing artwork, on the other hand, regularly references the mining industry. Among the different types of artwork, stained-glass windows are perhaps an unexpected artistic witness of the mining industry and as such constitute a largely overlooked part of mining heritage. This article focuses on these mining windows, which depict the mining industry in various ways. Mining windows have not been the subject of many studies, nor does an overarching catalogue exist. This incited the authors and the Centre for the Social History of Limburg (SHCL) to create the GLiM-project (Stained-glass windows and Dutch mines). The project focuses on compiling an online database of mining windows, starting with those in Dutch Limburg. This article introduces the GLiM-database and zooms in on three case studies: ‘Heilige Barbara’ (1932/1937) by Henri Jonas in Bleijerheide, ‘Eigenschappen van steenkool’ (1938) by Joep Nicolas for DSM, and ‘Het gezonde leven in Limburg’ (1954) by Charles Eyck for the Sanatorium Hornerheide.

Maastrichtse industriëlen en het Belgische annexisme in de jaren 1918-1919

Eddy de Beaumont — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

During and immediately after the First World War the Belgian government developed plans to annex parts of the Netherlands after the war, such as the province of Limburg. How did industrialists in the capital Maastricht respond to these Belgium goals? In this article, I explore the perspectives of an industrialist, a state detective and an economist in this matter. The industrialist was a fierce opponent
of annexation, while the state detective was convinced that annexionists, those who were in favour of annexation, should mainly be found among major industrialists. The economist, on the other hand, did not rule out the possibility that some of Maastricht’s traders and industrialists would prefer a connection with Belgium.
How did they come to these conclusions and to what extent did their considerations and other sources provide an answer to the research question of this article? Taking both gossip and facts into account, we may conclude that indeed there
could have been traders and industrialists who supported the Belgian aspirations and preferred to join Belgium. However, the general claim that, in Maastricht especially, major industrialists were in favour of annexation lacks any factual evidence

Op de bres voor het 'Deutschtum' in Limburg (1933-1940)

Jan Brauer — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Borders engender cultural and socio-political interaction between states. Especially in border regions, issues of nationality and identity sharpen in times of political tension. As early as 1933, for instance, Limburg faced strong influence of the rising National Socialist Third Reich, partly because of the many thousands of German migrants - ‘Rijksduitsers’ - who lived and worked there. Fierce propaganda and intimidation had to activate these so-called ‘Volksgenossen’, but in addition, the Limburgers, as ‘race-Germans’, also belonged in this Reich, according to Berlin. They had strayed from Deutschtum and had to be reclaimed with the use of propaganda. This early invasive socio-political influence process – a clear prelude to the occupation years ‘40-45’ – is examined in this article from German and Dutch sources. What was the impact on the daily lives of border residents, who traditionally fostered close ties with neighbours across the border? To answer this question, this article presents new cross-border regional research in the periphery of Limburg as a contribution to the broader historiography of Dutch WWII-history.

Muzieknoten en voetnoten

Chris Dols — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This article delves into the cross media project Veurvaajers (Ancestors, 2022), which weaves together family history, pop music, and contemporary photography, while at the same time linking microhistories in the Meuse-Rhine Region (1780-1980) to general historical developments in society. The article explores how dialogues between scholarly research and different forms of art can help us make sense of the past by raising new questions and reaching new audiences. The article dissects the conception and execution of Veurvaajers, shedding light on the project’s blueprint and implementation. Along the way, it highlights both opportunities and limitations of historical fiction as a literary genre, and explores how historical actors, objects, and trends can be ‘auditised’ in a convincing manner. Much attention is directed towards the Industrial Revolution in the city of Maastricht from the 1830s onwards, underscoring its pivotal role in the larger historical context.