The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and flowing through
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
before draining into the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
From 1301 the upper Meuse roughly marked the western border of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
with the
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...
, after Count Henry III of Bar had to receive the western part of the County of Bar (''Barrois mouvant'') as a French fief from the hands of King Philip IV. In 1408, a Burgundian army led by
John the Fearless
John I (french: Jean sans Peur; nl, Jan zonder Vrees; 28 May 137110 September 1419) was a scion of the French royal family who ruled the Burgundian State from 1404 until his death in 1419. He played a key role in French national affairs durin ...
went to the aid of John III against the citizens of Liège, who were in open revolt. After the
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...
which saw the men from Liège defeated, John ordered the drowning in the Meuse of suspicious burghers and noblemen in Liège.
The border remained stable until the annexation of the Three Bishoprics Metz, Toul and Verdun by King Henry II in 1552 and the occupation of the
Duchy of Lorraine
The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy.
It was founded in 959 following th ...
by the forces of King
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...
in 1633. Its lower Belgian ( Walloon) portion, part of the
sillon industriel
The ''Sillon industriel'' (, "industrial furrow") is the former industrial backbone of Belgium. It runs across the region of Wallonia, passing from Dour, the region of Borinage, in the west, to Verviers in the east, passing along the way throug ...
, was the first fully industrialized area in continental Europe.
]
The Afgedamde Maas was created in the late Middle Ages, when a major flood made a connection between the Maas and the
Merwede
The Merwede () etymology uncertain, possibly derived from the ancient Dutch ''Merwe'' or ''Merowe'', a word meaning "wide water") is the name of several connected stretches of river in the Netherlands, between the cities of Woudrichem, Dordrecht a ...
at the town of
Woudrichem
Woudrichem (; Brabantian: ''Woerkum'') is a city and former municipality in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands.
History
The city of Woudrichem was granted city rights in 1356.
Geography
The municipality is located at in t ...
. From that moment on, the current Afgedamde Maas was the main branch of the lower Meuse. The former main branch eventually silted up and is today called the
Oude Maasje
The Oude Maasje ("Little Old Meuse") is a former distributary of the river Maas (or Meuse), which runs parallel to the current canalised Bergse Maas.
History
The hydrological distribution of the Maas changed during the later Middle Ages, when a ...
. In the late 19th century and early 20th century the connection between the Maas and Rhine was closed off and the Maas was given a new, artificial mouth – the Bergse Maas. The resulting separation of the rivers Rhine and Maas reduced the risk of flooding and is considered to be the greatest achievement in Dutch hydraulic engineering before the completion of the
Zuiderzee Works
The Zuiderzee Works ( nl, Zuiderzeewerken) is a man-made system of dams and dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, in total the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The proj ...
and
Delta Works
The Delta Works ( nl, Deltawerken) is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta from the sea. Constructed between 1954 and 1997, the works con ...
. The former main branch was, after the dam at its southern inlet was completed in 1904, renamed ''Afgedamde Maas'' and no longer receives water from the Maas.
The Meuse and its crossings were a key objective of the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second Wor ...
, the
Battle of Sedan
The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, ...
and also for the last major German WWII counter-offensive on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
* Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
, the
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...
in December 1944 and January 1945.
The Meuse is represented in the documentary ''The River People'' released in 2012 by Xavier Istasse.
In July 2021, the Meuse basin was one of the many regions in Europe to experience catastrophic flooding during the 2021_European_floods#Belgium, 2021 European floods.
Etymology
The name ''Meuse'' is derived from the French name of the river, derived from its Latin name, ''Mosa'', which ultimately derives from the
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foo ...
or
Proto-Celtic
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celt ...
name *''Mosā''. This probably derives from the same root as English "maze", referring to the river's twists and turns.
The Dutch name ''Maas'' descends from
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarc ...
''Mase'', which comes from the presumed but unattested
Old Dutch
In linguistics, Old Dutch (Dutch: Oudnederlands) or Old Low Franconian (Dutch: Oudnederfrankisch) is the set of Franconian dialects (i.e. dialects that evolved from Frankish) spoken in the Low Countries during the Early Middle Ages, from aro ...
form *''Masa'', from
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic br ...
*''Masō''. Modern
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
''Maas'' and
Limburgish
Limburgish ( li, Limburgs or ; nl, Limburgs ; german: Limburgisch ; french: Limbourgeois ), also called Limburgan, Limburgian, or Limburgic, is a West Germanic language spoken in the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg and in the neig ...
''Maos'' preserve this Germanic form. Despite the similarity, the Germanic name is not derived from the Celtic name, judging from the change from earlier ''o'' into ''a'', which is characteristic of the Germanic languages.
Geography
The Meuse rises in Pouilly-en-Bassigny, commune of
Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse
Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse (, literally ''Le Châtelet on Meuse'') is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France.
It contains the source of the River Meuse, which is very close the commune's village of Pouilly-en-Bassigny.
...
on the
Langres
Langres () is a commune in northeastern France. It is a subprefecture of the department of Haute-Marne, in the region of Grand Est.
History
As the capital of the Romanized Gallic tribe known as the Lingones, it was called Andematunnum, th ...
plateau in France from where it flows northwards past Sedan (the head of
navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation ...
) and
Charleville-Mézières
or ''Carolomacérienne''
, image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg
Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est.
Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse.
...
into Belgium.
At
Namur
Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration.
Na ...
it is joined by the
Sambre
The Sambre (; nl, Samber, ) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur.
The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Ais ...
. Beyond Namur the Meuse winds eastwards, skirting the
Ardennes
The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...
, and passes
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far fro ...
before turning north. The river then forms part of the Belgian-Dutch border, except that at
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
the border lies further to the west. In the Netherlands it continues northwards through
Venlo
Venlo () is a city and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg, about 50 km east of the city of Eindhoven, 65 km north east of the provincial capital Maastricht, a ...
closely along the border to Germany, then turns towards the west, where it runs parallel to the Waal and forms part of the extensive Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, together with the
Scheldt
The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...
in the north. The river has been divided near Heusden into the Afgedamde Maas on the right and the Bergse Maas on the left. The Bergse Maas continues under the name of
Amer
Amer may refer to:
Places
* Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant
* Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain
* Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state
** Am ...
, which is part of De Biesbosch. The Afgedamde Maas joins the Waal, the main stem of the Rhine at
Woudrichem
Woudrichem (; Brabantian: ''Woerkum'') is a city and former municipality in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands.
History
The city of Woudrichem was granted city rights in 1356.
Geography
The municipality is located at in t ...
Hollands Diep
Hollands Diep ( pre-1947 spelling: Hollandsch Diep) is a wide river in the Netherlands and an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. Through the Scheldt-Rhine Canal it connects to the Scheldt river and Antwerp.
The Bergse Maas river and the N ...
Haringvliet
The Haringvliet is a large inlet of the North Sea, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is an important estuary of the Rhine-Meuse delta.
Near Numansdorp, the Hollands Diep splits into the Haringvliet and the Volkerak e ...
, before finally flowing into the North Sea.
The Meuse is crossed by railway bridges between the following stations (on the left and right banks respectively):
*Belgium:
**
Hasselt
Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as i ...
(Belgium) –
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
Roermond
Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Ro ...
**
Blerick
Blerick (; li, Bliërik ; ) is a city district of the Dutch municipality of Venlo. It lies on the west bank of the Meuse and its origin goes back to the Roman era as a military stronghold and settlement en route from Mosa Trajectum (Maastricht) ...
–
Venlo
Venlo () is a city and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg, about 50 km east of the city of Eindhoven, 65 km north east of the provincial capital Maastricht, a ...
**
Cuijk
Cuijk (; dialect: ''Kuuk'') is a town in the northeastern part of the province of North Brabant, Netherlands. It is the successor of a Roman settlement on the west bank of the Meuse, 13 km (8 mi) south of Nijmegen. Cuijk, which had a po ...
Wijchen
Wijchen () is a municipality and a town in the province of Gelderland, in the eastern part of the Netherlands.
Population centres
Number of residents per population centre per 12 December 2009:
Source: Statistics Netherlands
The population ce ...
**
's-Hertogenbosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of ...
– Zaltbommel
There are also numerous road bridges and around 32 ferry crossings.
The Meuse is navigable over a substantial part of its total length: In the Netherlands and Belgium, the river is part of the major inland navigation infrastructure, connecting the Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Antwerp port areas to the industrial areas upstream: 's-Hertogenbosch, Venlo, Maastricht, Liège, Namur. Between Maastricht and
Maasbracht
Maasbracht (; li, Brach ) is a town in the southeastern Netherlands. It was a separate municipality until 1 January 2007, when it became a part of the new municipality of Maasgouw.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1265 as "de Bragth ...
, an unnavigable section of the Meuse is bypassed by the
Juliana Canal
The Juliana Canal (Dutch and Limburgish: , , ), named after Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, is a 36 km long canal in the southern Netherlands, providing a bypass of an unnavigable section of the river Meuse between Maastricht and Maasbr ...
. South of Namur, further upstream, the river can only carry more modest vessels, although a barge as long as . can still reach the French border town of Givet.
From Givet, the river is canalized over a distance of . The canalized Meuse used to be called the "Canal de l'Est — Branche Nord" but was recently rebaptized into "Canal de la Meuse". The waterway can be used by the smallest barges that are still in use commercially almost long and just over wide. Just upstream of the town of Commercy, the Canal de la Meuse connects with the
Marne–Rhine Canal
The Canal de la Marne au Rhin (Marne–Rhine Canal) is a canal in north-eastern France. It connects the river Marne and the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne in Vitry-le-François with the port of Strasbourg on the Rhine. The original objecti ...
by means of a short diversion canal.
The Cretaceous sea reptile
Mosasaur
Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ' meaning 'lizard') comprise a group of extinct, large marine reptiles from the Late Cretaceous. Their first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on ...
is named after the river Meuse. The first fossils of it were discovered outside Maastricht in 1780.
Basin area
An international agreement was signed in 2002 in
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
, Belgium, about the management of the river amongst France, Germany,
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Also participating in the agreement were the Belgian regional governments of
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
,
Wallonia
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...
, and
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
(which is not in the basin of the Meuse but pumps running water into the Meuse).
Most of the basin area (approximately 36,000 km2) is in Wallonia (12,000 km2), followed by France (9,000 km2), the Netherlands (8,000 km2), Germany (2,000 km2), Flanders (2,000 km2) and Luxembourg (a few km2).
An International Commission on the Meuse has the responsibility of the implementation of the treaty.
The costs of this Commission are met by all these countries, in proportion of their own territory in the basin of the Meuse: Netherlands 30%, Wallonia 30%, France 15%, Germany 14.5%, Flanders 5%, Brussels 4.5%, Kingdom of Belgium 0.5%, and Luxembourg 0.5%.
The map of the basin area of Meuse was joined to the text of the treaty.
As for culture, as a major communication route the River Meuse is the origin of
Mosan art
Mosan art is a regional style of art from the valley of the Meuse in present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Although in a broader sense the term applies to art from this region from all periods, it generally refers to Romanesque ar ...
, principally (Wallonia and France).
The first landscape painted in the Renaissance was the landscape of Meuse by Joachim Patinir. He was likely the uncle of Henri Blès, who is sometimes defined as a Mosan landscape painter active during the second third of the 16th century (i.e. second generation of landscape painters).
Tributaries
The main tributaries of the Meuse are listed below in downstream-upstream order, with the town where the tributary meets the river:
* Dieze (near
's-Hertogenbosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of ...
)
** Aa (in 's-Hertogenbosch)
** Binnendieze (in 's-Hertogenbosch)
** Dommel (in
's-Hertogenbosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of ...
)
***
Gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most culture ...
(in
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Raam (in
Grave
A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grav ...
Gennep
Gennep () is a municipality and a city in upper southeastern Netherlands. It lies in the very northern part of the province of Limburg, 18 km south of Nijmegen. Furthermore, it lies on the right bank of the Meuse river, and south of the forest ...
Swalmen
Swalmen (; li, Zjwame ) is a town in the south-eastern Netherlands. The town is situated between the German border and the river Meuse (''Maas'' in Dutch).
Until 1 January 2007, Swalmen was a separate municipality, covering the villages Swalmen, ...
Roermond
Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Ro ...
Jülich
Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', nl, Gulik, french: Juliers, Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. As a border region betw ...
Maasbracht
Maasbracht (; li, Brach ) is a town in the southeastern Netherlands. It was a separate municipality until 1 January 2007, when it became a part of the new municipality of Maasgouw.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1265 as "de Bragth ...
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
Eijsden
Eijsden (; li, Èèsjde ) is a village situated in the very south of the European country the Netherlands. It is located in the southwestern part of the province of Limburg.
Until 1 January 2011, Eijsden was the main village in a municipalit ...
Moelingen
Moelingen, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (French name Mouland, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) is a village in the municipality of Voeren, which is part of the province of Limburg in Belgium.
Until ...
, part of
Voeren
Voeren (; ) is a Flemish Dutch-speaking municipality with facilities for the French-speaking minority, located in the Belgian province of Limburg. Bordering the Netherlands to the north and the Wallonia region's Liège Province () to ...
)
*
Ourthe
The Ourthe (; Walloon: ''Aiwe d' Oûte'') is a long river in the Ardennes in Wallonia (Belgium). It is a right tributary to the river Meuse. The Ourthe is formed at the confluence of the ''Ourthe Occidentale'' (Western Ourthe) and the ''Ourthe ...
(in
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far fro ...
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far fro ...
Salm
Salm may refer to
People
* Constance de Salm (1767–1845), poet and miscellaneous writer; through her second marriage, she became Princess of Salm-Dyck
* Salm ibn Ziyad, an Umayyad governor of Khurasan and Sijistan
* House of Salm, a European ...
Malmedy
Malmedy (; german: Malmünd, ; wa, Måmdiy) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
On January 1, 2018, Malmedy had a total population of 12,654. The total area is 99.96 km2 which gives a popula ...
)
*
Hoyoux
The Hoyoux () is a river of Belgium, a right tributary of the Meuse. It flows for through the province of Liège in the northern-central part of the country. It flows into the Meuse in Huy
Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and muni ...
(in
Huy
Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...
Sambre
The Sambre (; nl, Samber, ) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur.
The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Ais ...
(in
Namur
Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration.
Na ...
)
*
Houyoux
The Houyoux is a northern tributary stream of the river Meuse in Belgium, flowing through Hesbaye in the province of Namur.
The Houyoux rises in Warisoulx passing through the villages of Villers-lez-Heest, Rhisnes, the Namur city suburbs o ...
Anhée
Anhée ( ; wa, Anhêye) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium.
On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 6,934 inhabitants. The total area is 65.67 km2, giving a population density of 106 inhabitants per km2.
...
)
*
Lesse
The Lesse is a river in the Ardennes, in the Walloon region of Belgium. It is a right tributary to the river Meuse.
The source of the Lesse is near Libramont-Chevigny, in the Belgian province of Luxembourg. The Lesse flows roughly in north-west ...
(in
Anseremme
Anseremme ( wa, Ansreme) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Dinant, located in the province of Namur, Belgium.
Anseremme is situated where the river Lesse and Meuse meet. The agricultural sector and tourism are the ...
, part of
Dinant
Dinant () is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On the shores of river Meuse, in the Ardennes, it lies south-east of Brussels, south-east of Charleroi and south of the city of Namur. Dinant is situ ...
Faux
Faux may refer to: People
*Faux (surname)
Places Places in Belgium
* Faux, a village in the Belgian commune of Court-Saint-Étienne
Places in France
* Faux, Ardennes, French commune of the Ardennes department
* Faux, Dordogne, French commune of t ...
Sormonne
Sormonne () is a commune in the Ardennes department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France.
Geography
The river Sormonne, a left tributary of the Meuse, flows through the commune.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Ardennes depart ...
Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar ( ...
(near
Dom-le-Mesnil
Dom-le-Mesnil () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Ardennes department
The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France.
The communes co ...
)
*
Chiers
The Chiers (; lb, Kuer, german: Korn) is a river in Luxembourg, Belgium and France. It is a right tributary of the Meuse. The total length of the Chiers is aproxamately , of which in France.
The source of the Chiers is near Differdange, i ...
(in
Bazeilles
Bazeilles () is a commune in the Ardennes department in the Grand Est region of northern France. On 1 January 2017, the former communes of Rubécourt-et-Lamécourt and Villers-Cernay were merged into Bazeilles.
The inhabitants of the commune ar ...
)
**
Othain
The Othain () is a long river in the Meurthe-et-Moselle and Meuse '' départements'', northeastern France. Its source is at Gondrecourt-Aix, in the Woëvre. It flows generally northwest. It is a left tributary of the Chiers into which it flow ...
(in
Montmédy
Montmédy (, german: Mittelberg) is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Citadel of Montmédy
In 1221 the first castle of Montmédy was built on top of a hill by the Count of Chiny. Montmédy soon became th ...
The mean annual discharge rate of the Meuse has been relatively stable over the last few thousand years. One recent study estimates that average flow has increased by about 10% since 2000 BC. The hydrological distribution of the Meuse changed during the later Middle Ages, when a major flood forced it to shift its main course northwards towards the river
Merwede
The Merwede () etymology uncertain, possibly derived from the ancient Dutch ''Merwe'' or ''Merowe'', a word meaning "wide water") is the name of several connected stretches of river in the Netherlands, between the cities of Woudrichem, Dordrecht a ...
. From then on several stretches of the original Merwede were renamed "Maas" (i.e. Meuse) and served as the primary outflow of that river. Those branches are currently known as the Nieuwe Maas and Oude Maas.
However during another series of severe floods the Meuse found an additional path towards the sea, resulting in the creation of the
Biesbosch
De Biesbosch National Park is one of the largest national parks of the Netherlands and one of the last extensive areas of freshwater tidal wetlands in Northwestern Europe. The Biesbosch ('forest of sedges' or 'rushwoods') consists of a large ...
wetlands and
Hollands Diep
Hollands Diep ( pre-1947 spelling: Hollandsch Diep) is a wide river in the Netherlands and an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. Through the Scheldt-Rhine Canal it connects to the Scheldt river and Antwerp.
The Bergse Maas river and the N ...
estuaries. Thereafter the Meuse split near Heusden into two main distributaries, one flowing north to join the Merwede and one flowing direct to the sea. The branch of the Meuse leading direct to the sea eventually silted up (and now forms the
Oude Maasje
The Oude Maasje ("Little Old Meuse") is a former distributary of the river Maas (or Meuse), which runs parallel to the current canalised Bergse Maas.
History
The hydrological distribution of the Maas changed during the later Middle Ages, when a ...
stream), but in 1904 the canalised Bergse Maas was dug to take over the functions of the silted-up branch. At the same time the branch leading to the Merwede was dammed at Heusden (and has since been known as the Afgedamde Maas) so that little water from the Meuse entered the old Maas courses or the Rhine distributaries. The resulting separation of the rivers Rhine and Meuse is considered to be the greatest achievement in Dutch hydraulic engineering before the completion of the
Zuiderzee Works
The Zuiderzee Works ( nl, Zuiderzeewerken) is a man-made system of dams and dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, in total the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The proj ...
and
Delta Works
The Delta Works ( nl, Deltawerken) is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta from the sea. Constructed between 1954 and 1997, the works con ...
. In 1970 the Haringvlietdam has been finished. Since then the reunited Rhine and Meuse waters have reached the North Sea either at this site or, during times of lower discharges of the Rhine, at
Hook of Holland
Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...
.
A 2008 studyWard ''et al.'', 2008 notes that the difference between summer and winter flow volumes has increased significantly in the last 100–200 years. It points out that the frequency of serious floods (''i.e.'' flows > 1000% of normal) has increased markedly. They predict that winter flooding of the Meuse may become a recurring problem in the coming decades.
Départements, provinces and towns
The Meuse flows through the following
departments of France
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
,
provinces of Belgium
The Kingdom of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, Flanders and Wallonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, Brussels, does not belong to any province and nor is it subdivided into provinces. Ins ...
,
provinces of the Netherlands
There are twelve provinces of the Netherlands (), representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local municipalities, with responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance.
The most populous prov ...
and towns:
*
Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a singl ...
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...
:
Commercy
Commercy () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The 18th-century Lorraine historian Nicolas Luton Durival (1713–1795) was born in Commercy.
History
Commercy dates back to the 9th century, and at that tim ...
Verdun
Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
,
Stenay
Stenay () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Its inhabitants are called ''Stenaisiens''.
History
In 679, the assassinated king Dagobert II was buried in the church of Saint-Remi in Stenay. In 872, Ki ...
*
Ardennes
The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...
Charleville-Mézières
or ''Carolomacérienne''
, image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg
Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est.
Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse.
...
Namur
Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration.
Na ...
:
Dinant
Dinant () is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On the shores of river Meuse, in the Ardennes, it lies south-east of Brussels, south-east of Charleroi and south of the city of Namur. Dinant is situ ...
,
Namur
Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration.
Na ...
*
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far fro ...
:
Huy
Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...
,
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far fro ...
,
Visé
Visé (; nl, Wezet, ; wa, Vizé) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, located on the river Meuse in the province of Liège, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Argenteau, Cheratte, Lanaye, Lixhe, Richelle ...
Eijsden
Eijsden (; li, Èèsjde ) is a village situated in the very south of the European country the Netherlands. It is located in the southwestern part of the province of Limburg.
Until 1 January 2011, Eijsden was the main village in a municipalit ...
,
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
,
Stein
Stein is a German, Yiddish and Norwegian word meaning "stone" and "pip" or "kernel". It stems from the same Germanic root as the English word stone. It may refer to:
Places In Austria
* Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Aust ...
,
Maasbracht
Maasbracht (; li, Brach ) is a town in the southeastern Netherlands. It was a separate municipality until 1 January 2007, when it became a part of the new municipality of Maasgouw.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1265 as "de Bragth ...
,
Roermond
Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Ro ...
,
Venlo
Venlo () is a city and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg, about 50 km east of the city of Eindhoven, 65 km north east of the provincial capital Maastricht, a ...
,
Gennep
Gennep () is a municipality and a city in upper southeastern Netherlands. It lies in the very northern part of the province of Limburg, 18 km south of Nijmegen. Furthermore, it lies on the right bank of the Meuse river, and south of the forest ...
North Brabant
North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to t ...
:
Boxmeer
Boxmeer () is a town and former municipality in upper southeastern Netherlands. Boxmeer as a municipality incorporated the former municipality of Beugen en Rijkevoort and that of Vierlingsbeek. In Overloon is the Overloon War Museum.
Boxmeer, ...
,
Cuijk
Cuijk (; dialect: ''Kuuk'') is a town in the northeastern part of the province of North Brabant, Netherlands. It is the successor of a Roman settlement on the west bank of the Meuse, 13 km (8 mi) south of Nijmegen. Cuijk, which had a po ...
,
Grave
A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grav ...
Aalburg
Aalburg () is a former municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. The municipality had been formed in 1973 by the merging of the former municipalities of Eethen, Veen, and Wijk en Aalburg. On January 1, 2019 it ...
,
Woudrichem
Woudrichem (; Brabantian: ''Woerkum'') is a city and former municipality in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands.
History
The city of Woudrichem was granted city rights in 1356.
Geography
The municipality is located at in t ...
*
Gelderland
Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...
South Holland
South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...
:
Dordrecht
Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after ...
,
Maassluis
Maassluis () is a city in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of in and covered of which was water.
It received city rights in 1811.
History
Maassluis was founded circa 1340 as a ...
,
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...
Mention in patriotic songs
The Meuse (''Maas'') is mentioned in the first stanza of Germany's old national anthem, the ''
Deutschlandlied
The "" (; "Song of Germany"), officially titled "" (; "The Song of the Germans"), has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East German ...
''. However, since its re-adoption as national anthem in 1952, only the third stanza of the ''Deutschlandlied'' has been sung as the German national anthem, the first and second stanzas being omitted. This was confirmed after German reunification in 1991 when only the third stanza was defined as the official anthem. The lyrics written in 1841 describe a then–disunited Germany with the river as its western boundary, where King
William I of the Netherlands
William I (Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange-Nassau; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was a Prince of Orange, the King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
He was the son of the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, who went ...
had joined the
German Confederation
The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...
with his Duchy of Limburg in 1839. Though the duchy's territory officially became an integral part of the Netherlands by the 1867 Treaty of London, the text passage remained unchanged when the ''Deutschlandlied'' was declared the national anthem of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
in 1922.
The name of the rivers also forms part of the title of "
Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse
"Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse" ( en, italics=no, "Sambre-et-Meuse Regiment") is a French poem by Paul Cézano set to music by Robert Planquette and arranged and expanded into a military march by .
Background
Cezano penned the lyrics to "Le R� ...
", written after the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and a popular patriotic song for the rest of the 19th century and into the 20th.