Every design for Landgraaf

Landgraaf is a young name for older places. When Schaesberg, Ubach over Worms and Nieuwenhagen merged, the new municipality took the name of a long earthen bank that runs partly across its ground, a landgraaf whose origins are still a mystery: some date it to prehistory, others to the late Middle Ages. In Limburgish the town is Lankgraaf. Everyday life still happens in its separate cores rather than in one town centre. Each Pentecost weekend Pinkpop fills Schaesberg with music, and all year round SnowWorld, the largest indoor ski slope in Europe, draws skiers from far and wide.

Landgraaf lies in the Oostelijke Mijnstreek, the eastern mining district, as part of Parkstad Limburg alongside Heerlen and Kerkrade, mostly on the Plateau van Nieuwenhagen, with Rimburg down in the valley of the Worm. Mining in the twentieth century made the villages grow until they touched, yet the place never took on the urban feel of its neighbours, and Rimburg kept the most of its village character.

Kasteelruïne Schaesberg, the castle that gave Schaesberg its name, is where the town's longer story begins, and it is a fine reason to wear Landgraaf.