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A habitation from the Michelsberg culture (4400–3500 BC) was excavated at the Schelsberg, near Heerlen, in 1997. Archeological finds from this period are rare in the Netherlands, and this site is unique among those in the country, as it is the first excavated site with ditches and earth walls (earthworks).
Even with these proofs of early habitation, the history of Heerlen properly starts with the arrival of the Romans. They founded a military settlement, named Coriovallum on the crossroad of two main roads: Boulogne sur Mer - Cologne and Xanten - Aachen - Trier. In Heerlen and its surroundings, much evidence of Roman life has been excavated, especially Roman villas (country estates). The most notable archeological excavation from Roman times is the Thermae complex in the centre of Heerlen, a Roman bathhouse, discovered in 1940. In the Netherlands only a few of these have been found. It is a clear indication that Coriovallum/Heerlen was of some importance. A museum has been built over the Thermae and opened in 1977. The Thermenmuseum also houses other Roman finds from the area.
Like many other Roman settlements in the Netherlands, Coriovallum was probably abandoned after the 3rd/4th century Roman retreat. Very little is known about Heerlen's history until the 10th century, when agricultural development continues once again in these parts of Europe. Farmhouses and mills are built across the valleys of Caumerbeek, Schandelerbeek and Geleenbeek and medieval Heerlen slowly takes shape.
The oldest mention of Heerlen (as 'Herle') is in an official document dated 1065. Udo, bishop of Toul, documents some gifts. One of them is the allodium Heerlen, in the bishopry of Liege. Another allodium consists of a few chapels, which belong to the mother church in Voerendaal, close to Heerlen. Shortly after this, the allodium of Heerlen appears to be owned by the counts of Ahr-Hochstaden.
Theoderich van Are (Udo van Toul's cousin) separated Heerlen from Voerendaal and chose Saint Pancratius as the patron saint of the church. The counts of Are where probably responsible for the construction of the Schelmentoren and the St-Pancratius church and also may have ordered the construction of a moated castle. Through these fortifications, Heerlen acquired some rights and freedoms, which gave it an elevated status over the surrounding countryside. Voerendaal, Hoensbroek, Schaesberg en Nieuwenhagen now fell under the legislation of the so-called "Land van Herle".
In 1244, Heerlen came under the authority of the dukes of Brabant, but in 1388, along with Hoensbroek, it was given a separate status. During the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), Heerlen was disputed by the kingdom of Spain and the Dutch Protestant rebels and swapped sides several times. At the 1661 Partage Treaty, Heerlen became part of "Staat-Limburg", ruled by the States-General of the newly founded Dutch Republic. This resulted in it bordering the territory of the Spanish Netherlands, causing it to remain quite isolated from the rest of the state until 1793, when the French conquered Heerlen. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, it became part of the Netherlands province of Limburg (present-day Dutch and Belgian Limburg). In 1830, like most of Limburg, Heerlen sided with Belgium in the Belgian Revolution. In 1839, however, as a result of an agreement between the main European powers, it became part of the Netherlands again.
In the 19th century, Heerlen, like most of Limburg municipalities (Maastricht was an exception), did not partake in the Industrial Revolution and it remained largely agrarian until coal mining began in the late 19th/early 20th century. In March 1874, coal had been found at the Valkenburgerweg. However, setting up a mine was a risky long-term investment and only very few private enterprises took up the challenge and bought a concession. In 1896, Heerlen got its first railway connection to allow the transportation of coal from these first coal mines. Development was still rather slow: in 1812 Heerlen had a population of 3497; in 1900 this was still only 6646. In 1901, the national government stepped in and bought all remaining unsold concessions and set up the State Mines. In a short period of time several large state-operated coalmines began production. The population rose sharply from 6646 in 1900 to 12,098 in 1910 to 32,263 in 1930. During these early expansion years many old buildings in the centre of Heerlen were demolished. The coalmines remained central to the development of Heerlen into a modern city until the early 1960s, during which Marcel van Grunsven ended his service as mayor of Heerlen.
The golden years of coal mining ended in the late 1950s, after which production gradually diminished due to competition from cheaper Polish and American coal and the discovery of natural gas in the province of Groningen. In the period 1965–1975 the coal mines were closed altogether. In the area around Heerlen-Kerkrade-Brunssum and Sittard-Geleen 60,000 people lost their jobs. A difficult period of economic re-adjustment started. The Dutch government tried to ease the pain by moving several governmental offices (ABP, CBS) to Heerlen but even today the city has not fully recovered from the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.
In the cityscape of modern-day Heerlen, there are very few reminders of the once omni-present mining industry. Most of the typical mounts of mining debris that surrounded the coal mines have been removed or transformed into green hills during an operation called van zwart naar groen (from black to green). Even the tallest mine chimney of Europe, 'Lange Lies' (tall Liz) and her older brother 'Lange Jan' (tall John), once major landmarks, were demolished. One of the few remaining mining buildings (shaft 2 of the Oranje Nassau I) now houses the Dutch Mine Museum.
