Verdedigingslinie "De Landgraaf"

Verdedigingslinie "De Landgraaf"

Highlight (segment) • Historisk sted

Verdedigingslinie "De Landgraaf"

Vandring

4.4

(71)

Gem Del

Mere

Placering: Heerlen, Limburg, Nederlandene

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5. april 2021

Vandring

The municipality of Landgraaf owes its name to "de landgraaf", an age-old line of defense that can still be seen as a hollow road in the landscape at a number of points. Coming from the Brunsummerheide, the earthenware extends in the direction of Nieuwenhagen, where it disappears close to the Kleikoeleweg. The Landgrave used to run from here all the way to the marshes northeast of Schinveld. Now he lives on the spot only in the street name "Oude Landgraaf". In the past, a very high age was sometimes attributed to the landgrave.

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Miranda 🥾 TriA© / Johnny

1. september 2025

Vandring

Continued:

The earthworks would have served as a prehistoric defense line or as a rampart for the nearby Iron Age urn fields. However, recent archaeological research has shown that the landgrave most likely dates from the second half of the 14th century. At that time, the landgrave was located on the edge of the Land van Valkenburg. When Jan van Valkenburg died without a successor in 1352, this important territory fell into the hands of the Duke of Brabant. He likely built the landgrave to protect against aggression from his arch-enemies, the Dukes of Guelders and Jülich.

Oversat af

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Miranda 🥾 TriA© / Johnny

1. september 2025

Vandring

Continued:

In later centuries, the landgraaf lost its function. Nature was given free rein, the ramparts eroded, and the ditch filled in. The landgraaf is now used as a sunken road, and people forget who built it and when. Frans Erens (1857-1935), the well-known man of letters from Schaesberg, recounts that in his youth, people still believed that Napoleon had dug the landgraaf. Erens enjoyed being rolled down the slopes. He deeply regretted that landowners later leveled large parts of the landgraaf.

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