Beringen, Belgium

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Beringen ( Limburg: Berringe ) is a municipality in Belgium, Limburg province.

Places

The municipality counts Beringen the city of the same name, where there is also the administrative center, and further still the villages Koersel, Paal, Beverlo and Beringen, and some smaller towns.

Location and economic

The city is located in the Kempen region of the " coal plateau ". From 1901 to 1989, coal was in this region, and also in Beringen, mined in large mines. Neighboring community is, inter alia, Heusden -Zolder. The town is situated 18 km north- west of Hasselt on the highway Antwerp - Hasselt (Belgium ) - Liege. After the closure of small coal mines, industrial and commercial enterprises were others used; about a third of the working population now works in the industry, a little more than half the trade and services sector.

History

A settlement of a certain Bero was already attested in 1120. The city Beringen belonged in the Middle Ages to the county soon Loon ( capital Borgloon ), soon became the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. Beringen 1239 received a city charter by the Liège pattern. In the 19th century ramparts, towers and gates were razed the city. The coal mining industry turned it into an industrial city. The Flemish Mining Museum, an Anchor Point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH ), tells the mining history of the town.