Talk:Limburg mijn Vaderland

[Translation?]

May we have an English translation please?

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Ten years later, I've added an English translation. (Another user)

Please move the text of the anthem to WikiSource. --R.Koot 11:05, 5 August 2005 (UTC)

Citations?

Is it just me, or was this article written by a native Dutch (judging by the at times poor English) with an interest in pursuing a political goal? A phrase like "...it reminds the Limburgians about their oppression by the Dutch" requires a citation. SeverityOne 17:49, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

As a native of Limburg, let me try to clear things up a bit. This article is certainly odd - much of it appears to be a rather clumsy misinterpretation of the Dutch version of the article. God knows what Dutch-hater got his hands on this article, but claims of the anthem being some expression of Dutch oppression of Limburg are nonsense. Let's not forget that the author of the lyrics, the composer of the music, and the author of the final verse, were all native Limburgians, so this was not some forcibly imposed thing - also illustrated by the fact that the Belgian Limburgians voluntarily adopted the anthem as well.

One of the main reasons why the anthem is written in standard Dutch (albeit a somewhat archaic version of it), is that there is no single dialect spoken throughout Limburg. Gerard Krekelberg was from Neeritter; had he written the lyrics in his local dialect, then this would not have worked so well for people from elsewhere in the province(s). However, it's true to say that the anthem certainly also puts quite a lot of emphasis on the unity of (Dutch) Limburg, which was at the time -and arguably still is- a rather culturally diverse area.

"In 1900 the people in Limburg had to swear their allegiance to the Dutch royal family of the House of Orange-Nassau in a "aanhankelijkheidsverklaring aan het Oranjehuis" and had to start using Dutch instead of Limburgs." Nonsense again, I'm afraid; the Dutch article describes the final verse figuratively as an 'oath of allegiance to the House of Orange'. This final verse was added in 1939 in an apparent wave of patriotism. The main reason why this verse is never sung in that it a) is obviously irrelevant for the people of Belgian Limburg, and b) as a later addition is not regarded as part of the traditional lyric.

I'll try to correct the article to the best of my ability. Vlaflipje1982 (talk) 09:55, 14 March 2009 (UTC) --- I couldn't agree more, Vlaflipje82, this article is a grave distortion of the mainly jovial and non-aggressive pride-related reasons behind why this song was written.

Not only that, it contains uninformed historical errors. Limburgian as a language was seldom written officially before the 1970's (when a first draft of the spelling rules was submitted by 't Veldeke, the official Limburgian language society) and Dutch has been the main language of education since at least 1860. German, although spoken by most Limburgians, has been shunned upon by all but the most eastern counties in Limburg in official use for a long time - even before WWII.

Regarding newspapers, I know from my grandparents (who hail from middle Limburg) that the "Maas & Roerbode" and various Dutch newspapers were in circulation well before the beginning of the 20th century. German ones were accessible but carried a much lower reader base than the aforementioned ones.

This article must therefore be drastically changed or rewritten altogether if you ask me. (Snaporaznik (talk)) —Preceding undated comment added 18:21, 18 March 2009 (UTC).