Attraction

Gedachteniskapel van de Mijnwerkers

Casinolaan 6
Landgraaf
In 1969, Wilhelmina State Mine, as the second state mine, closes its doors for good. Since its opening in 1906, the mining site has grown into a huge business complex that has brought employment and prosperity to thousands of miners' families.

Around the year 2000 there seems to be nothing left of it except for the slag heap and the old OVS building. Yet there is still a modest memory of the Wilhelmina State Mine. An overgrown, graffiti-stained transformer house stands by a grove of trees. It is the former morgue where crashed miners were laid out.

When former miner Martin Herbergs visits his old workplace, he can barely orientate himself on the empty plain in front of him. Nothing reminds him of the company complex until he discovers the transformer house. The idea is growing to turn this into a chapel. A memorial chapel for all miners who died in the South Limburg mining industry.

A memorial site for former miners and relatives. The congregation is enthusiastic and the diocese grants approval. A foundation is set up to take on the transformation. After months of work, the unsightly building has been transformed into a beautiful chapel.

The dedication will take place on September 8, 2002. The Chapel of the Miners is dedicated to Saint Barbara, patron saint of miners. There is also a Barbara statue on the altar, made by former miner Sjef Drummen. The
stained glass windows are by Ger Bäumler. 'Gluck Auf', you can read this on two glass medallions.

With this greeting, miners wished each other a safe return to the surface. Unfortunately, that didn't work for everyone. The names of miners who died underground can be read on the plaques on either side of the entrance.

The miners who died above ground are also commemorated. Their names are on a plaque inside the chapel.
This text has been automatically translated using an online translation service.

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