Margraten
Encyclopedia
Margraten is a former municipality
and a town
in the southeastern Netherlands
.
In Margraten is the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Europe's third largest war cemetery for unidentified soldiers who died in World War II
. 8,301 soldiers are buried there under long rows of white crosses and stars of David. All graves are adopted by locals, who attend the graves and lay flowers every now and then. There have been regular visits here by soldiers who survived the war to visit a former comrade, hoping he's buried there somewhere. But now there are few left of them, so the once massive tributes are growing thin. President George W. Bush
was the first American president who visited the cemetery, on 8 May 2005. Margraten is the final resting place for Lt. Colonel Robert G. Cole
, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for action during the Normandy campaign in June, 1944.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
and a town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in the southeastern Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
History
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. 8,301 soldiers are buried there under long rows of white crosses and stars of David. All graves are adopted by locals, who attend the graves and lay flowers every now and then. There have been regular visits here by soldiers who survived the war to visit a former comrade, hoping he's buried there somewhere. But now there are few left of them, so the once massive tributes are growing thin. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
was the first American president who visited the cemetery, on 8 May 2005. Margraten is the final resting place for Lt. Colonel Robert G. Cole
Robert G. Cole
Lieutenant Colonel Robert George Cole was an American soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the days following the D-Day Normandy invasion of World War II.-Early U.S. Army career:...
, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for action during the Normandy campaign in June, 1944.
Population centres
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Noorbeek Noorbeek is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Margraten , about 12 km southeast of Maastricht. Noorbeek is one of the southernmost villages of the Netherlands.... Sint Geertruid Sint Geertruid is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Margraten.Sint Geertruid was a separate municipality until 1982, when it was merged with Margraten. The municipality was formed in 1828 from parts of the municipalities of Breust and... Terhorst Terhorst is a little hamlet of 33 houses and part of the village of Banholt , which is in the municipality of Margraten in the province of Limburg. In the middle of the village, Terhorst has its own little chapel built in 1949 and every year in August there is the traditional annual Chapel party... Terlinden Terlinden is a noble family of the Kingdom of Belgium with origins in Germany and established in the Spanish Netherlands around 1580. Their titles are Viscounts and Barons.... |