Aachener Steinkohlrevier, mining in Limburg

The Aachener Steinkohlrevier connects to the coal reserves of the Sillon Industriel, the Walloon industrial heartland. This reserve of coal stretches from the city of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) through the Netherlands into the Belgian Campine. The coal deposits around Aix-la-Chapelle consist of both black coal and brown coal (or lignite). Lignite is still mined north of the city in large surface mining pits of many square kilometres.

Mining of coal in near-surface deposits had been practiced from 1200 onwards (in Kerkrade) by the local monastery. Mining in this area started in earnest around 1800 around Aachen, then part of Prussia. In 1810 Walloon engineers preformed deep probing, but found little of interest.André Dumont was convinced that the coal found around Aix-la-Chapelle would stretch further westward, possibly as far as Antwerp below the hills of Limburg and undulating landscape of the Campine. So in 1891 he starts a program of methodical probing for coal in South Limburg, the Limburgian Campine and the Antwerp Campine. Save for the latter area, his probing was successful so concessions were obtained around 1900 from the Belgian and Dutch authorities to start mining. Not only coal was discovered, lignite was also found between Brunssum and Heerlen (Carisborg, Braunhilde and Energie), near Geleen (Louisagroeve) and north of Kerkrade (Herman and Anna). Salt and sand for glass manufacturing were also discovered.

Mining in the Limburgian Campine has been discussed earlier. In the adjacent area of South Limburg -part of the Netherlands- mining for coal and stone quarries had existed for many centuries but never at a large scale. The first concession for scaled-up mining was granted to the Rolduc Abbey in 1766. The first mines to follow the successful probing by Walloon engineers were German industrialists from the city of Aix-la-Chapelle. Belgian Henri Sarolea was granted the concession for the Oranje-Nassau Mines in 1893. German Anton Wackers received his concession Laura in 1899 and the concession for Julia in 1900. In 1899 the Dutch government had appointed the State Commission on Mining who advised against granting further concessions to foreign companies, but to exploit the reserves in a state-lead company: Domanial and State Mines (now DSM). In total 5 mining concession were granted: Wilhelmina (1906), Emma (1911), Hendrik (1915), Maurits (1926) and Beatrix (1954). The last concession was never exploited, so there were 4 state mines in Limburg.

The mines of South Limburg are all located in the south of the Dutch Province of Limburg, between the cities of Aix-la-Chapelle (A), Maastricht (M), Liège (L), Genk (G) and Roermond (R). Unexploited deposits extend northward under the Peel Region between the cities of Eindhoven (E) and Venlo (V).The private mines were located in Kerkrade (Domanial Mine - D), in Eygelshoven (Laura & Julia Mines - L), in Spekholzerheide (Willem-Sophia Mine - WS), and in Heerlen, Heerlerheide and Schaesberg (Orange Nassau Mines 1-4 - ON). The state mines were located further north in Terwinselen (State Mine Wilhelmina - W), in Brunssum (State Mine Hendrik - H), in Treebeek (State Mine Emma - E), in Geleen (State Mine Maurits - M), and the never exploited concession in Herkenbosch (State Mine Beatrix - B).

Mining in the Netherlands would last until 1974. State Mine Maurits in Geleen closed first. The other mines followed suit and the last mine to close was Oranje-Nassau I that had opened in 1899 and was one of the oldest and deepest mines in operation. The evidence of mining was quickly wiped out, spoil heaps were levelled, apart from a few that were to polluted, all the buildings and rail tracks were demolished and broken up. The sites of the mines were developed for housing or for industrial use. In some cases even the old mining colonies were torn down in an effort to mitigate the loss -as seen from a political vantage point far away in The Hague. Unlike the situation in the adjoining Limburgian Campine in Belgium where many remnants remain, only a few mining colonies, collieries, spoil heaps and train tracks remain. State imposed job-creation proved short-term and of little help to the miners that had been laid off, so to this day former mining districts in the towns of Geleen, Brunssum, Heerlen, Kerkrade and Landgraaf remain pockets of high unemployment, low skill levels and little prospects.