Voeren

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Voeren ( Limburg Voere, French Fourons, Walloon Foron ) is a municipality of Belgium. It is an exclave of the Flemish province of Limburg. It is bordered on the north by the Dutch province of Limburg as well as to the south and west, where a few hundred meters the Meuse forms the boundary of the municipality, the municipalities Dalhem, Aubel and Plombières the Walloon province of Liège.

Districts

The municipality consists of six villages:

• 's- Gravenvoeren
• Sint -Pieters- Voeren
• Sint -Martens- Voeren
• Moelingen
• Remersdaal ( German: Reemersthal )
• Hagelstein
• Teuven

History

In the Middle Ages, the area belonged to the Duchy of Brabant Voeren and thus to the Burgundian Netherlands, and later to the Habsburg Netherlands. After the Eighty Years' War, it became part of the Spanish Netherlands. From 1794 to 1815 it was occupied by the French, the Belgian state was founded in 1830 it became part of the Belgian province of Liège, until it was in 1963 struck an exclave of the province of Limburg and Flanders so.

Language problem

Until the founding of the Belgian state in 1830, the residents spoke only Voerens limburgisches Platt ( Veurs ), which had a certain similarity to the spread in the southern Dutch province of Limburg dialect. At the foundation of the state Voeren the province of Liège were allocated; the official language was so French. During the 20th century, a voice spread of 60 % French-speaking and 40 % made from Dutch-speaking residents, although almost all inhabitants also speak the local dialect. On September 1, 1963, the language border was fixed by law and Voeren awarded an exclave of the Dutch-speaking province of Limburg, to carry the speech habits historical accounts in Belgium.

Since that time went from this small community again and again from restlessness. The population was split into a Flemish and a wallonischgesinnte group. This led in the late 1970s and early 1980s a number of times to skirmishes between the two groups. In the local elections of 1982, was one of the most combative Wallonischgesinnten, the farmer José Happart, nominate as a candidate for mayor and won the election. The fact that the French-speaking Happart spoke as mayor of a Dutch-speaking community not speak Dutch, led to considerable tensions to government crises at the highest level. The conflict ended only in 1989, when Happart was replaced by Nico Droeven who spoke both languages.

In the elections of 2000 because of EU regulations there was a novelty. All persons living in the community EU nationals allowed to participate in local elections. Due to the vicinity of the border with the Netherlands were living in Voeren about 17 % Dutch ( 2005: 22 %). This proportion ranged for the Dutch-speaking party Voerbelangen from ( "interests of Voeren " ) to win the election with 53 % of the vote to refer the previously reigning wallonischgesinnte party Retour à Liège ( " Back to Liege " ) in the opposition. 2006 Voerbelangen won 61 % of votes in the municipal elections, which in return @ Libertés ( " Back to the Freedoms") renamed wallonischgesinnte opposition only 39 %. Mayor since 2000 is the Flame Huub Broers.

In December 2006, the Flemish Government, nor any official French community and place names in Flanders decided, even in " facilities - churches" as Voeren to abolish. Accordingly, the French terms both of location signs and direction signs as well as from public documents should disappear.

Community partnership

Voeren maintains a partnership with the Swiss municipality in the canton of Jura Vellerat.