The Oostelijke Mijnstreek lies in the region South Limburg and belongs to the Dutch province Limburg. It includes the former eastern mining area on the German border. The area is now also known as Parkstad Limburg designated. The center town is Heerlen.
places
- Brunssum
- Heerlen (With Hoensbroek)
- Kerkrade (with Eygelshoven, Chèvremont, Rolduc)
- Landgraaf (with Nieuwenhagen, Schaesberg and Ubach over Worms)
- Onderbanken (with Bingelrade, Jabeek, Merkelbeek and Schinveld)
Other goals
background
Agriculture was originally the most important economic factor in this region. In Kerkrade there was already mining in 1900. In 1742 the Kloosterrade chapter decided to exploit the coal mines themselves. Between 1900 and 1960 the economy of the area was mainly based on the extraction of hard coal. The region was one of the wealthiest in the country at the time. In addition to the hard coal, there are also some lignite mines. The many lakes are a lasting memory of the open-cast mine at the time. The sand area in the Brunssumer Heide is not of natural origin either, but consists of the quartz sand that was brought to the surface when the lignite was extracted. After 1960, hard coal faced strong competition from crude oil, which could be procured cheaper than coal. In December 1965 the closure of the Dutch mines was announced. In 1975 the last colliery in the region closed its doors. With that, a large number of jobs disappeared. The once so rich area very quickly became the poor house of the Netherlands. Although attempts were made to create alternative job offers in industry and non-commercial services, many jobs disappeared again from 1980 onwards with increasing competition from low-wage countries. The region is currently experiencing strong aging.
