View source for Brunssum

{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
<!-- Name and transliteration -->
| name                    = Brunssum
| native_name             = {{native name|li|Broensem|icon=no}}
| settlement_type         = [[List of municipalities of the Netherlands|Municipality]]
<!-- Images, nickname, motto -->
| image_skyline           = Vijverpark_Brunssum_NL.jpg
| image_alt               = 
| image_caption           = Vijverpark (Pond park) in Brunssum centre
| image_flag              = Brunssum vlag.svg
| flag_size               = 100x67px
| flag_a lt                = 
| image_shield            = Brunssum wapen.svg
| shield_size             = 100x80px
| shield_alt              = 
<!-- Maps, coordinates -->
| image_map               = Map - NL - Municipality code 0899 (2009).svg
| map_alt                 = Highlighted position of Brunssum in a municipal map of Limburg
| map_caption             = Location in Limburg
| coordinates             = {{coord|50|57|N|5|58|E|region:NL|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes   = 
| subdivision_type        = Country
| subdivision_name        = [[Netherlands]]
| subdivision_type1       = [[Provinces of the Netherlands|Province]]
| subdivision_name1       = [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]]
| government_footnotes    = <ref name="mayor_now">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.brunssum.nl/De_gemeente_en_gemeentebestuur/Het_college_van_B_en_W/College_en_portefeuille 
 |title=College en portefeuille 
 |trans-title=Members and tasks of the executive board 
 |language=nl 
 |publisher=Gemeente Brunssum 
 |access-date=14 October 2013 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010024150/http://www.brunssum.nl/De_gemeente_en_gemeentebestuur/Het_college_van_B_en_W/College_en_portefeuille 
 |archive-date=10 October 2013 
}}</ref>
| governing_body          = [[Municipal council (Netherlands)|Municipal council]]
| leader_party            = [[Christian Democratic Appeal|CDA]]
| leader_title            = [[Burgemeester|Mayor]]
| leader_name             = Wilma van der Rijt
<!-- Geographic information -->
| unit_pref               = Metric
<!-- ALL fields with measurements have automatic unit conversion -->
<!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| area_footnotes          = <ref>{{Dutch municipality total area|dataref}}</ref>
<!-- square kilometers -->
| area_total_km2          = {{Dutch municipality total area|Brunssum}}
| area_land_km2           = {{Dutch municipality land area|Brunssum}}
| area_water_km2          = {{Dutch municipality water area|Brunssum}}
| elevation_footnotes     = <ref name="AHN">{{cite web 
 |url = http://www.ahn.nl/postcodetool
 |title = Postcodetool for 6444AT
 |language = nl
 |author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> 
 |work = Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland
 |publisher = Het Waterschapshuis
 |access-date = 14 October 2013}}</ref>
| elevation_m             = 81
| elevation_max_footnotes = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| elevation_max_m         =
| elevation_min_footnotes = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| elevation_min_m         =
<!-- Population, demographics -->
| population_footnotes    = <ref>{{Dutch municipality population|dataref}}</ref>
| population_total        = {{Dutch municipality population|Brunssum}}
| population_as_of        = {{MONTHNAME|{{Dutch municipality population|popbasemonth}}}} {{Dutch municipality population|popbaseyear}}
| population_density_km2  = {{Dutch municipality population density|Brunssum}} <!-- For automatic calculation: auto-->
| population_demonym      = Brunsummer
<!-- Other information -->
| timezone1               = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset1             = +1
| timezone1_DST           = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset1_DST         = +2
| postal_code_type        = [[Postal codes in the Netherlands|Postcode]]
| postal_code             = 6440–6446
| area_code_type          = [[Telephone numbers in the Netherlands|Area code]]
| area_code               = 045
| website                 = {{URL|1=http://www.brunssum.nl}}
| footnotes               =
}}
[[File:Brunssum, het stadhuis RM518600 IMG 8248 2021-02-21 11.55.jpg|Brunssum, townhall|thumb|270px]]
'''Brunssum''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈbrʏnsʏm|lang|128 Brunssum.ogg}}; {{langx|li|Broensem}}) is a [[Municipalities of the Netherlands|municipality]] and a [[town]] in the province of [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]] in the [[Netherlands]]. The municipality of Brunssum has {{formatnum:{{Dutch municipality population|Brunssum}}}} residents as of {{YEAR|{{Dutch municipality population|popbaseyear}}}}.

Brunssum was a center of coal mining until 1973.

==Population centres==
{{columns-list|colwidth=10em|
* Brunssum
* Bouwberg
* De Kling
* Haansberg
* Kruisberg
* Langeberg
* Onder-Merkelbeek
* Rumpen
* Treebeek
}}
== Topography ==
[[File:Gem-Brunssum-OpenTopo.jpg|none|450px|thumb|''Map of Brunssum, June 2015'']]

==History==
There are indications of activity going back to prehistory in the Brunssum area and in the neighboring municipalities of [[Heerlen]] and [[Landgraaf]]. Little is known about this habitation, but soil findings and medieval records indicate a continuous occupation of the area over the past 2,000 years.

In the Middle Ages, ground fortification were erected in the [[Schutterspark]] for protection.

The parish of Brunssum has been known since 1150, and together with Schinveld and Jabeek it formed a magistrate within the Land of Valkenburg. In 1557 the magistrate of Brunssum, consisting of Brunssum, Schinveld and Jabeek, was pledged by the Spanish government to the Hoen van Amstenrade family, and in 1609 sold to Arnold III Huyn van Geleen. In 1664 the fiefdom Brunssum was absorbed in the land of Geleen and Amstenrade. At the end of the Ancien Régime in 1794, Brunssum became an independent municipality.

In 1150 there was already a Saint Gregorius church in the city center and in 1579 it was elevated to a parish church. The Saint Gregorius church has been rebuilt 4 times. The current church was built in 1961, in part financed by the Dutch State Mines, as the third church was severely damaged by soil settling as a result of coal mining activities.

The Brunssum city-arms is composed of the weapon of the Huyn family and the parish saint.

==NATO Joint Force Command Headquarters==
{{Main|Joint Force Command Brunssum}}
Brunssum is the current home of [[Joint Force Command Brunssum|Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum]] (JFC Brunssum), an operational level [[NATO]] headquarters one level below military-strategic level [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe|SHAPE]] in the integrated military command structure. There are three operational levels NATO headquarters; the other two are [[Allied Joint Force Command Naples|Allied Joint Force Command, Naples]] and Allied Joint Force Command Norfolk. The headquarters was known as Headquarters, Allied Forces Central Europe (HQ AFCENT) from its inception in [[Fontainebleau]], [[France]] and relocation to Brunssum in 1967. The name was changed to Regional Headquarters, Allied Forces Northern Europe (RHQ AFNORTH) when a restructuring in 2000 led to the closing of [[Allied Forces Northern Europe|HQ AFNORTH]] in [[Kolsås]], [[Norway]]. The current title was adopted in 2004 to add flexibility to the military command structure by removing regional restrictions. The main base area, Hendrik Camp, was built on a former coal mine called Hendrik Mine.<ref>[http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/htm/about/history.htm]{{dead link|date=March 2012}}</ref>

Brunssum is also the home of the [[AFNORTH International School]], located just outside Hendrik Camp. AFNORTH International School is a K-12 school that mainly provides service to [[People of the United States|American]], [[British people|British]], [[Canadians|Canadian]], and [[Germany|German]] dependents<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afnorth-is.com/Directorate/curriculum.html |title=AFNORTH International School - Curriculum |publisher=Afnorth-is.com |access-date=2012-03-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223210410/http://www.afnorth-is.com/Directorate/curriculum.html |archive-date=2012-02-23 }}</ref> of military personnel assigned to JFC Brunssum, the [[United States Army|US Army base]] in Brunssum, and [[NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen|NATO Air Base]] in [[Geilenkirchen]], Germany; as well as the former [[Soesterberg Air Base]], Netherlands.

[[File:Brunssummerheide.JPG|thumb|right|Brunssumerheide]]

==Nature==
The ''Brunssummerheide'' is a sloping natural landscape with many trails for hiking and running. It is bisected by a brook called ''Roode Beek'' (Red Brook). The Brunssumerheide is a protected [[nature preserve]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

It is the type locality of the fossil species ''[[Euryale lissa]]''.<ref name = "Reid & Reid, 1915">Reid, Clement, & Reid, Eleanor Mary. (1915). The Pliocene floras of the Dutch-Prussian border. M. Nijhoff. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/38317018</ref>

==Sports==
{{Main|SV Limburgia}}
One of the local [[Association football|football]] teams is [[SV Limburgia|BSV Limburgia]], formerly known as SV Limburgia, which competes at an amateur level. As SV Limburgia, the club competed in the [[Eredivisie]] (Honorary Division) at various times and finished first in 1950. Upon the introduction of professional football in the Netherlands in 1954, SV Limburgia had little success and was relegated to the lowest level of [[Royal Dutch Football Association|Dutch football]], [[Tweede Divisie]] (Second Division).

The annual [[Parelloop]] ten kilometer [[road running]] race is held in Brunssum. [[Micah Kogo]] from [[Kenya]] won the race in 2009, breaking the [[World records in athletics|world record]] for that distance.<ref>IAAF, March 29, 2009: [http://iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=49996.html Kogo breaks World 10 km record in Brunssum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214032433/http://iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=49996.html |date=2012-02-14 }}</ref>

==People from Brunssum==
[[File:Werner_Theunissen_along_with_band_members_of_Sweet_Reaction.jpg|250px|thumb|Pussycat, 1973]]
* [[Eugène Gerards]] (1940–2018) a Dutch-Greek footballer, manager and scout
* [[Jan Dietz]] (born 1945) an information systems researcher and academic
* [[Toni Willé]] (born 1953) a Dutch country pop artist, former member of ''[[Pussycat (band)|Pussycat]]''
* [[Pussycat (band)|Pussycat]] a Dutch country and pop group (formed 1973) by the sisters Kowalczyk (''Toni, Betty, Marianne'')
=== Sport ===
* [[Ferenc Kocsur]] (1930–1990) a French-Hungarian footballer with 270 club caps
* [[Patrick Dybiona]] (born 1963) a former freestyle swimmer, competed at the [[1988 Summer Olympics]]
* [[Frits de Graaf]] (1926–1998) a professionale footballer
* [[Nadine Hanssen]] (born 1993) a professional footballer
* [[Peter Hellenbrand]] (born 1985) a sport shooter, competed at the [[2012 Summer Olympics]]
* [[Kevin Hofland]] (born 1979) a professional footballer
* [[Tom Daemen]] (born 1985) a professional footballer with 360 club caps
* [[Bob Altena]] (born 1986) a decathlete

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Brunssum-Sint-Clemenskerk (13).JPG|Brunssum, Sint Clemenskerk
File:Brunssum-Groeneweg 10 (4).JPG|Brunssum, Groeneweg
File:Brunssum-Akerstraat 5-7 (1).JPG|Brunssum, Akerstraat
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}
*[http://www.brunssum.nl Official website]
*[http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/ Website for Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum]

<!--Please note that not all directions need to be filled-->
<!--Please note that only neighboring municipalities or bodies of water should be used-->
{{Geographic location
|Centre    = Brunssum
|Northeast = [[Gangelt]]&nbsp;([[Germany|DE]]-[[North Rhine-Westphalia|NW]])
|East      = [[Übach-Palenberg]]&nbsp;([[Germany|DE]]-[[North Rhine-Westphalia|NW]])
|Southeast = [[Landgraaf]]
|South     = [[Heerlen]]
|Northwest = [[Beekdaelen]]
}}
{{Limburg Province (Netherlands)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Brunssum| ]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands)]]
[[Category:Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands)]]
[[Category:South Limburg (Netherlands)]]