Last modified: 2007-10-20 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Beringen]](../images/b/be-vlibe.gif)
Municipal flag of Berigen - Image by Filip van Laenen, 7 October 2001
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The municipality of Beringen (41,531 inhabitants on 1 January 2007, therefore the third biggest municipality in Limburg after Hasselt and Genk; 7,830 ha) is located 20 km north-east of Hasselt. The municipality of Beringen is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Beringen, Beverlo, Koersel and Paal.
Beringen was mentioned for the first time in 1120 as Beringe, that is
"Bero's estate". In the Middle Ages, Beringen was a free domain
(alleu), originally granted at the end of the VIIIth century by St.
Adelard to the abbey of Corbie. In the Middle Ages, Beringen was
managed on the Corbie abbot's name by the Count of Loon. In 1239, Count
Arnold IV granted to Beringen the same rights as had been granted to
the town of Liège, making of the town the oldest in Limburg Beringen was a town of the County of Loon, later incorporated into the
Principality of Liège, and one of the 23 good towns (bonnes villes) of the Principality. The municipality was ruled by two mayors, one
for the town (the free land, ruled by the court of Liège and one for the
neighborhood (buiting, currently Paal and the northern part of
Heusden, ruled by the court of Loon); the town was surrounded by a city
wall with eight towers and canals, which, together with the three
gates, were suppressed in the beginning of the XIXth century. In 1700,
the Latin school founded in the XIIth century was transformed into a
municipal college.
Coal extraction, that started in Koersel in October 1919 from a 623-m
deep shaft, dramatically changed the life in Beringen, which was one of
the seven mining sites in Kempen, with its port located in Paal. In
1967, the seven mines were merged into the NV Kempische
Steenkoolmijnen, which did not prevent their closure. The last active
mine in Beringen was closed on 28 October 1989 and transformed into the
Flemish Colliery Museum.
Beringen is the birth place of the priest and poet August Cuppens
(1862-1924). Ordained priest in Liège in 1886, Cuppens founded with Lenaerts and Winters (the three of them being nicknamed "The Limburgian
Triumvirate") the folkloric and linguistic weekly "'t Daghet in den
Oosten, first published on 1 February 1885. In 1899, he was appointed
pastor in the small village of Loksbergen, where he started his poetry
work. He invited in Loksbergen several writers and artists such as Hugo
Verriest, Stijn Streuvels, Mieke Belpaire, Alice Nahon, Jef Lynen and
Jozef Geurts and exchanged several letters with Guido Gezelle and Mieke
Belpaire. Cuppens translated 56 poetry volumes by Gezelle into French
and published himself four poetry volumes and several more poems in
newspapers. Among his most famous works are the Marian song
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Vlaanderen, written with the composer Lode de
Vocht, and the occasional poem De slag der Zilveren Helmen (The
battle of the Silver Helmets), written on 12 August 1914 after the
battle of Halen.
The musician Ludovicus Sanctus (Lodewijk Heyligen van Beeringen,
1304-1361) was also born in Beringen. He was a very close friend of the
Italian writer Petrarch, who called him "Socrat" in his letters.
Sanctus was a Benedictine monk who served as cantor and secretary of
Cardinal Giovanni Colonna in Avignon.
Beverlo is also an old Frankish domain. It belonged to the Country of Ham, which included Oostham, Kwaadmechelen, Beverlo, Heppen and Leopoldsburg. In 1795, Oostham, Kwaadmechelen and Beverlo became municipalities. Heppen and Leopoldsburg seceded from Beverlo in 1835. The Camp of Beverlo is at the origin of the creation of the town of Leopoldsburg.
Sources:
The municipal flag of Beringen is horizontally divided
yellow-red-yellow-red-yellow-red-yellow-red-yellow-red (ten stripes)
with, in the middle, a brown bear with a black ring in muzzle.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 13 November 1980, confirmed by Royal Decree on 11 February
1981 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 13 March 1981.
The flag is a combination of the two components of the canting ("beer"
means a bear in Dutch) municipal arms.
The website of the tourist office of Beringem shows the municipal arms as "Per pale barully of ten pieces or and gules argent a bear marron with an annulet sable in the muzzle". The yellow and red horizontal stripes recall the County of Loon, whereas the bear was already shown on the arms granted in 1362 to the town of Beringen.
Ivan Sache & Pascal Vagnat, 4 September 2006