The story of Heerlen, part 2: The Landsfort Herle

The Landsfort Herle

After the Romans left, people continued to live in and around Coriovallum. The soil is very fertile. Spring fields and streams provide clean drinking water. And its location on a hill is also favorable. The inhabitants build a small castle, because not only do people want to live there, some even want to conquer that small settlement. 

A small community

The Herle of the Middle Ages is a small settlement of less than 350 square meters - you can find the original castle in the present time around St. Pancratius Church. It is a few farms within an earthen wall. In order to defend themselves from robbers and hostile armies, the inhabitants at some point needed the protection of a fortress. Presumably, the small settlement was already surrounded by a wooden palisade in the early Middle Ages. Later this was replaced by "the stercke veste," a stone rampart built in the twelfth century.

At some point, the earliest Herle could not help but burst at the seams and a new shell of farms was built outside the city walls. All over Europe during this period you see small fortified towns emerging in this way. It will have been no different here. The brooding families live in small houses made of wood, loam and straw - only after 1500 did people start building stone houses. The whole family often lives together in one room. Cooking is done inside on an open fire. Parents and children sleep together, often in one bed. They usually keep a lot of animals; a pig, cow, goat, horse, some chickens, a dog and a cat. And the whole family, old and young, works the land from sunrise to sunset. Everyone rolls up their sleeves to support the family. The rules are clear: part of the harvest is for the family, the other part is for the Lord who protects them. What goes around comes around in the feudal system of the Middle Ages. 

Strong fortress

The first Lord of Heerlen was Bishop Udo of Toul (1004-1069). He belonged to the Von Ahr-Hochstaden house that played an important role in fortifying Herle. They turned the small settlement into a "castrum" in the 12th century by building (or having built) around the settlement a solid stone wall about 5 meters high and 2 meters wide. In the wall they build a defense tower from which they can protect the country fortress; they call it 'Bickerstein'. We know the tower under the name Schelmentoren. On the outside of the wall another moat is dug. Thus came into being the Landsfort Herle. 

All those structures are there for a reason. Many wars were fought in the region during the Middle Ages. Danger lurked constantly. This is also reflected in the St. Pancratius Church. The Heerlen church was built with a fortified church tower. If things get really bad outside, the residents of the Landsfort can retreat to the church. It is safe behind those sturdy walls. Heerlen's fortified church tower is unique far and wide. Only in France and Baden-Württemberg in Germany do you find comparable church castles.

Herila, Herle, Heerle

The Landsfort Herle first appears in archives in 1225. Where the name comes from? Possibly Herle is a derivation of the Frankish name Herila, which means something like "dry elevation. Life is not easy in the Middle Ages. But living high and dry above those two streams, which keep the farmlands in and around Herle fertile, is good. The Middle Ages are known as "dark ages. That turns out to be unfair. On the contrary, during this period people wear as many colors as possible. They also decorated their houses and churches with flowers and colorful paintings. During the Middle Ages, it is hard work but life is also celebrated. Thus, even then, Lent - a time without carnevale, or meat - is ushered in with what is now called Carnival.