Outdoor Stairway - Wilhelminamountain - Landgraaf, the Netherlands
N 50° 52.538 E 006° 01.510
32U E 290718 N 5640211
Longest open-air staircase (508 steps) in the Netherlands to viewing platform on the man-made Wilhelminaberg in Landgraaf.
Waymark Code: WM12Y0Q
Location: Limburg, Netherlands
Date Posted: 08/03/2020
Views: 5
The Stairs
The Wilhelmina mountain is part of Park Gravenrode. This is the rural area between Landgraaf and Kerkrade. Several large-scale recreational companies are located in the area, such as SnowWorld, Megaland, GaiaZOO and Wereldtuinen Mondo Verde. In 2006, a plan was drawn up on behalf of the municipality of Landgraaf for the redevelopment of the Steenberg as a landmark in Park Gravenrode.
A monumental concrete staircase has been built in the line of sight from the roundabout on Hofstraat to the top of Wilhelminaberg. Because the environment of the staircase is cleared of vegetation, the stair climber sees the effort rewarded with an increasingly wide view of the near and distant surroundings. The effort it takes to climb the mountain may give rise to some awareness of the amount of work the cowpoles have had to put in to leave such a sizeable mountain of waste when mining coal.
The beginning of the stairs is formed by an industrial-looking bridge over a water feature. In the steel beams, the years 1906–1969 refer to the period of time in which Staatsmijn Wilhelmina was in operation.
The 248-meter long, 508-step staircase consists of 22 parts with a small platform in between. At the top is a viewing platform. To enhance the optical effect, the bottom steps are wide and consist of 20 steps. Upwards they become narrower and have 24 steps. The beginning of the stairs is 130 meters above sea level, the stairs ends at a height of 225 meters above NAP, a height difference of 95 meters.
At the top of the mountain is a 360-degree view of the region, the only obstacle being the SnowWorld hall. At the beginning of 2017, the plan was presented to build a viewing platform on the Wilhelminaberg in the form of an oloid, a certain geometric shape. The 38 meter high object will be projected as an extension of the stairs and will also be accessible via stairs. It is not known when this will be built.
History
The Wilhelminaberg is an artificial hill on the territory of the municipality of Landgraaf. The hill originated as a mountain of the Wilhelmina State Mine and was transformed into a recreation area in the 1970s. The hill has an elevation of 225 meters above NAP.
The rock mountain originated from the residual rock of the Wilhelmina State Mine, which was located there from 1906 to 1969. The hill was the largest mining stone mountain in the Netherlands with a surface area of ??approximately 33 hectares and a mass of approximately 36 million tons. The highest point in 1974 was about 96 meters. The mountain was said to be excavated after the mine closed, but calculations showed that it was too long and costly.
The then State Secretary Jan Schaefer gave the area a recreational function in the restructuring operation from black to green: recreation area Strijthagen (named after the Strijthagerbeek and Kasteel Strijthagen). The mountain of rock was lowered and planted 20 m locally, using the released material to make the slopes less steep. The Steenberg has become part of the tourist-recreational area Park Gravenrode. Before the arrival of Snowworld within the recreation area, the Wilhelminaberg had to be seismically examined for cavities and the condition of the several hundred meters long corridor system of the learning mine, which was constructed by students of the Underground Vocational School (OVS).
In 1979, a brush track was built on the west slope of the Wilhelminaberg for skiing. The course was developed by DSM and Hogeschool Zuyd. The initiative was taken by former Austrian top skier Sigi Moser. In 2000 a new complex was built: the 387 m long indoor ski slope SnowWorld, a non-natural ski slope with real snow. Mainly in the summer, national teams from numerous countries are present here to train for the new season.
Various walking, cycling and riding trails have been laid out on the flanks of the Steenberg. For example, there is a route over the mountain for mountain bikers, built by Mountain Biking Club Discovery from Landgraaf. The descent at the 'back' of the Steenberg is said to be one of the most beautiful (but also most dangerous) in the Netherlands.
Over the years, several monuments in memory of the mining past have been realized in the immediate vicinity of the Wilhelminaberg.
In 1982, a monument in the form of a shaft wheel was placed on a spur of the Steenberg, at the roundabout on Hofstraat, surrounded by square frames placed diagonally on their side, suggesting a fallen shaft trestle.
In 2002, the former morgue of the Wilhelmina State Mine, located on the south side of Wilhelminaberg, was officially opened as a memorial chapel for the miners in Limburg who died in an accident in the mine.
In 2010, the entrance to the former leather mine, located in the southern flank of Wilhelminaberg, was restored. Among other things, a piece of carbon stone wall was installed and a compressed air locomotive was placed in front of the entrance.
number of stairs (minimum 60): 508.00
stair landing (check if yes): yes
|
Visit Instructions:
To log your visit, add also photo of stairs and yourself (or your GPS).