In honor of the deceased founders of the Duke Limburg Trail Frits Sprokel, Jack Buck and Jan Ruiters
The Duke of Limburg Trail connects the regions within the cultural and historical area of the old Duchy of Limburg. The Dukes of Limburg, who resided in the old castle fortress of Limburg in Walloon Belgium, were buried in the venerable Rolduc Abbey - today located in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. The Duke Limburg Trail runs over 10 stages and 144 kilometers through this ancient duchy. It touches on the shared culture and nature of today's Euregio Meuse-Rhine, including the border regions of the Aachen city region in Germany.
The Duke Limburg Trail is an international cultural project supported by the European Union in Brussels. The aim is to sensitize the population of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine to their common cultural and religious roots. The cross-border experience of nature on the Herzog Limburg Trail and the encounter with the common culture in this region, which today is divided by the national borders of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, enables hikers to revitalize the important friendship that transcends borders.
For this reason, the Dutch Stichting Hertog-Limburg-Pad (HLP) organizes an annual town festival at the starting point of the Duke Limburg Trail in the historic capital of the old Duchy of Limburg. Traditionally, this commemorative day begins with an open-air mass in memory of the founders of the Duke Limburg Trail, Frits Sprokel, Jack Buck and Jan Ruiters, in the garden of the Ambassade du Pays de Rode, located in the Ville Historique.
During this popular commemorative event, visitors will have the opportunity to experience the historic Place Saint Georges in the equally historic and colorful bunting of Rolduc Abbey, accompanied by the medieval sounds of Gregorian chants. The revered cultural association of St. Catharine's Abbey - the patron guild of Rolduc Abbey - is making the guild's valuable banners available to the organizers of the HLP commemorative festival.As one of the main events, the board members of Stichting HLP Jo Heunen, Hub Kusters and Koen Mens will guide the hiking guests through the Hertogenwald nature reserve - the former hunting grounds of the Dukes of Limburg.
In addition, an extensive program is offered to the numerous visitors every year, the chronological sequence of which is shown in the folder that can be downloaded as a pdf file below.
The Moselle Singers - a very well-known choir from South Limburg - offer visitors enjoyable harmonious sounds of solidarity. A special spectacle is the flag waving with the historical flag pictures led by Josef Bülles, honored in 2013 by the then city councillor Helmut Etschenberg. The eagle Mister Harry and his flight show led by falconer Nathalie are particularly popular with young and old guests alike, who need not fear for their headdresses. The Lions Club Limbourg en Duché offers interested guests an exclusive champagne tasting at the Gîte Le Lys bleu, giving them an insight into the perhaps as yet undiscovered Francophile flavors of their palates.
This year's message from the Ambassade du Pays de Rode is therefore: How wonderful that there are borders that we can get to know, respect and overcome in friendship - solidarity in our shared cultural region of Duché de Limbourg!