The 3 Things I Did In Heerlen

Index

I Wasn't Opinionated About Heerlen, Before I Met Heerlen

I am curious about cities and like to travel to see them, also to the Dutch cities. Most part of my youth was in The Dutch Caribbean, Curaçao, which means I do not know all the prejudices people who were born in the European Netherlands know about the Dutch cities. I almost look at the Dutch cities like a tourist. I am not interested in the famous Dutch products drugs, alcohol, going out or criminal acts. I am interested in the history of the cities, cheese (blog: Cheese, cheese, cheese or too many tourists?), tulips (blog: Tulips, that's what the tourists are queuing for) and the buildings of the Dutch cities. That is why I visit them. Read the blog serie Citystories.

 CBS Dependance

When I started working with data of CBS I knew that there was a dependance in Heerlen, but I didn't know which departments were situated there. Still after I worked for CBS in 2011 for 5 months I did not know which departments are situated there, because I didn't have to work with other departments then the ones situated in Leidschenveen. And before that I did one research for STOGO Onderzoek + Advies about the area where the old buildings of CBS where situated, Voorburg. And not about the area around the old buildings of CBS Heerlen.

Open Shaft Weekends

Not all Dutch monuments can be visited. During the Open Shaft Weekends (Schacht) the only shaft left of the mine time of Heerlen can be visited. It is an interesting building that can be seen from the train. I didn't know what kind of building it was till I visited the building. I got a tour in the building that was reconstructed around the only mine shaft left in Heerlen. The tour tells the story of the mine workers. Work I do not want to do. I listen in amazement what kind of work the mine workers did in the mines and under which conditions. It is also very interesting that the mine workers life was divided in the life in the mines and a life outside the mines.

The Mine Museum

The Mine Museum tells the same story about the work in the mines as is heard in the tour in the shaft during the Open Shaft Weekends. The difference is that in the mine museum there is room for the health issues they dealt with and the social life of the mine workers and their family outside the mines. The sports the mine workers did, the music they played, the work the women did, etc. are all displayed there. Also there is one floor completely dedicated to the transformation of the mine area to a green area after the mines of Heerlen were closed.

Related blogs on my website

• Camping during the holidays, a Dutch tradition that I will skip next time

• Cheese, cheese, cheese or too many tourists? 

• Citybranding VS Citymarketing 

• CityStories 

• Eindhoven, Philips City 

• Giethoorn, the Dutch Venice I visited 

• Greater Amsterdam 

• Interim CBS 

• Lombok, Not The Asian One 

• Normally I don’t do pre-days, but for the surrounding of Venlo I gave in 

• Nosy About Hanzesteden

• Pieterpad 

• Sometimes I'm a tourist 

• Stogo Onderzoek + Advies 

• Strolling The Hiking Trails About The Lives Of Women In The Dutch Cities 

• The 1 Thing I Did In Teteringen 

• The 2 Things I Did In Wijk Bij Duurstede 

• The 3 Pieterpad Cities Of Limburg 

• The 4 Things I Did In Maarssen 

• The 5 Things I Did In Zwolle 

• The 6 Things I Did In Tiel 

• The 7 Things I Did In Roermond 

• The 8 Things I Did In Culemborg 

• The 9 Things I Did In Venlo 

• The 10 Things I Did In Naarden Vesting

• The 11 Things I Did In Alkmaar & Heerhugowaard 

• The 12 Things I Did In Apeldoorn 

• The 14 Things I Did In IJsselstein 

• The 15 Things I Did In Amsterdam

• The 16 Things I Did In Zutphen 

• The 19 Things I Did In Zeist 

• The End of Pieterpad 2020  

• The Realm Of Nijmegen (Rijk van Nijmegen) 

• Travel 

• Tulips, that's what the tourists are queuing for 

• Utrecht Region 

• When Amsterdam moved to Hilversum the architecture was born there 

• Why I call Rotterdam fake New York