Ever named a kid? (Part II): Dear Annalaan

Dear Annalaan,

My name is Amanda. I live on Sint Annalaan in Maastricht, just across from where you father use to live. A few months ago I was told the story of how your parents chose your name and that you’d like to know all you can about your namesake. I have only lived in Maastricht for six months, but I hope I can help you learn about this short, lovely street we call home.

“Laan” means avenue in Dutch, so Sint Annalaan is actually St. Anna’s Avenue. It was probably named for the Sisters of St. Annadal convent that once stood at the end of the street. Sint Annalaan is just beyond the Jeker and Kommel area of Maastricht, outside the city center but close enough to bike or walk into the city. The street starts at the Koningin (Queen) Emmaplein roundabout and terminates at the Annadal roundabout a half of dozen blocks away.

St Annalaan

A little history
I should probably start with a little history. Maastricht was originally built as a Roman trade town around 50 BC. By the 4th century, Christianity became the main religion in the area and the first bishop of Maastricht, St. Servatius, took up residence. Maastricht has remained to this day a very Catholic city. Many streets and important buildings are named for saints, and the city boasts many important cathedrals.

Because of its important trading and travel location on the banks of the river Meuse, Maastricht was frequently subject to invasion. Defensive walls were first built in 1220 when Maastricht was granted township. Although the city is no longer fortified, many of the walls and earthworks still exist surrounding the city. Maastricht was taken over several times until after the Napoleonic Wars when the winning allies combined Holland and Belgium into a single country. The Belgians declared their independence in 1830 and by 1839 Maastricht permanently became part of the Netherlands despite its geographic proximity to Belgium. There is some debate as to whether this was the decision of the local population or that of General Dibbet, head of the garrison in Maastricht, who remained loyal to the Netherlands House of Orange. Today people from Maastricht consider themselves to be South Limburgers rather than Dutch. They speak the official regional language, Limburgish, in addition to standard Dutch and frequently other languages.

Dental clinic

Geographically, most of Western Maastricht, including Sint Annalaan, is surrounded by Belgium. We can bike to the border in just 10 minutes. In the early 1900s, there was an international tram station and hotel on Koningin Emmaplein. The tracks that ran up Sint Annalaan served as a major thoroughfare for Belgian travel. Today the tram station houses a dental office, but the street is still an important (and sometimes noisy) route in and out of the city from parts of Belgium.

There are a couple of particularly interesting historical buildings on Sint Annalaan. Dominating one end is the St. Lambert Church of Maastricht; the only church with a large central dome in Maastricht. Built in 1918, it was condemned in the 1988 because of concerns that it could collapse. However, several people from the area rallied to save it and in the 1990s the church was added by the Province of Limburg to the list of Historical Buildings. This saved it from being demolished and provided government funds for its eventual restoration. The old church is vacant right now, but there are plans to preserve the structure and turn it into an office building. If I owned it, I think I’d turn it into a hotel or art gallery, or maybe both. I’d love to sleep in a room behind the huge, stained glass window in the front.

St Lambert Church

At the other end of Sint Annalaan stands the De Rechtbank, Maastricht’s justice building. This building was once a hospital and was also the site of the Sisters of St. Annadal convent. Construction on the hospital began in 1939, but had to be put on hold because of World War II. The hospital was finally completed in 1950 and served as the main hospital in Maastricht until 1991 when the Maastricht Academic Hospital was built to the south of the city. Now the renovated building is used as a district court for the Limburg province. This is the only place where cases may be heard in four sectors: administrative, civil, subdistrict (issues like employment, rentals, and child custody), and criminal. The tall blue tower that graces the skyline above the building is leftover from its hospital days and is used as a local landmark.

Justice building

Living on Sint Annalaan
My husband & I live in a fairly typical second floor (third floor if we were in the US) apartment on Sint Annalaan. We have a one bedroom with a loft and a balcony that looks out into the backyards of all of our neighbors on our block. Of course they can see our porch too. Most of the buildings are row houses with two or three stories and sometimes a store or restaurant on the ground floor. Because it is a wide street and an important one for traveling to Belgium, it can be quite noisy, but the convenient location and the thick walls of our building help.

Chinese restaurant Wong

Sint Annalaan is also about a 10-15 minute walk from the Vrijthof in the Maastricht’s center. Just around the corner from our apartment is an Aldi Market grocery store. I do a lot of my grocery shopping there. We also frequently buy Hawaii pizza from Pizzaria De Roberto next door. The neighbors we’ve met work in Maastricht, but like living on Sint Annalaan because it is close to the city without being in the middle of it. Some people also commute to Belgium from here to work. Families, students, pensioners, and professionals all own or rent spaces along this street.

Working on Sint Annalaan
I am a freelancer, so I work from home, but there are many people who make Sint Annalaan their place of business. Like most parts of Maastricht, the ground floors of several buildings are reserved for shops and restaurants. In addition to the pizza place on one side of our apartment, a Chinese restaurant holds the ground floor on the other. There are also a couple of bakeries, two art galleries that are mysteriously never open, a veterinarian’s office, a few doctor’s offices, a “kringloopwinkel” (secondhand store), and some cafés and bars.

Some of these places have been around a long time. One example is the Café De Bombardon, which has been in business for over 100 years and nine generations. The current owner has owned this brown café for 10 years and says that his clientèle consists of people in their 40s or older, although sometimes they have younger people in who like the quite and historical atmosphere.

A newer bakery on Sint Annalaan is Patisserie Van Havere. It has only been open for two years. They sell a variety of pastries and fresh break from Wednesday to Sunday. They have the best two-crust apple pies I’ve eaten so far in Maastricht. They taste a lot like apple pie from home.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading a little bit about Sint Annalaan in Maastricht. It is a great place to living and a nice place to stay while getting to know the ins and outs of Maastricht. Let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Amanda Potter

Amanda Potter is an American expat living in Maastricht

Related article: Ever named a kid?

More information:
Amanda Potter’s blog: Maastricht Minutiae
Amanda’s photostream on Flickr

Shops on Sint Annalaan:
Broodjes Service Jekerdal: Sandwich shop
Dierenarts: Vet office.
Pizzaria De Roberto: Take-out pizza restaurant.
Wong Chinese Restaurant: Sit-down Chinese restaurant.
Art Gallery at Sint Annalaan 14: This art gallery is never open, but has interesting looking things inside.
Loes Leijten & Peter Coumans Physical Therapy
Bertijn Physical Therapy
Spreksel Advocaten: Lawyers office.
Narinxritzen Accountancy
Kringloop Winkel: Second hand store with mostly clothing.
Patisserie Van Havere: A small, two-year old pastry and bread shop.
GIBO Groep Accountants & Adviseurs: An accountancy advisory company. They have a large, freestanding building as their office on Sint Annalaan.
De Gazet: A newspaper and tobacco store.
Aux Arcades: A bar with music practice rooms above.
Café De Bombardon: A brown café.
Hub Essers Patisserie & Chocoletrie: A pastry and chocolate shop.
Grillroom Isis: Takeout restaurant.
Gallerie A-1: Art gallery.
Derby Schoeneservice: A shoe repair, key, and sign-making store.

Art Gallery

Bibliography/further reading:

• http://www.livius.org/maa-mam/maastricht/maastricht.html
• http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/web/Schools/UCM/TargetGroup/ExchangeStudents/IncomingExchangeStudents/Maastricht/HistoricalBackground.htm
• Hendriksen, B. Maastricht & South Limburg. Capitool Travel Guides: Houton, 2008.
• De Judiciary website: http://www.rechtspraak.nl/