Platform voor Architectuur & Design

Monthly walks

Architecture, culture and history

15 February till 19 July 2025

For several years now, Bureau Europa has been writing and organising our own walks, focusing on architecture, culture, and history. Starting this month, we are offering everyone the opportunity to join these walks with a volunteer guide! The first walk will take place on Saturday, February 15, when you can join us for The Women of Maastricht walk. The walks will be held on Saturdays at 11:00 AM, starting from Bureau Europa.

The preliminary schedule is as follows:

  • February 15: The Women of Maastricht (in Dutch)
  • March 22: The Zinc Identity of Maastricht (in Dutch)
  • April 12: Eau Eau Mestreech... (in English!)

Participation is free, but we kindly ask you to register via info@bureau-europa.nl. Please specify which walk you would like to join. More walks will be announced in the coming months!

Dates Saturday, February 15, Saturday, March 22, Saturday, April 12, 2025, at 11:00 AM
Location Bureau Europa, platform for architecture and design
Participation free, registration via info@bureau-europa.nl. Max. 15 participants

About the walks:

The Women of Maastricht The Women of Maastricht

This walk has been created as part of the exhibition Love in a Mist – The Architecture of Fertility, which explores the spaces shaped by societal gender perceptions and highlights the women who paved the way for their contemporaries and future generations.

During this walk, you will visit locations where remarkable moments in Maastricht’s women’s history took place—where women took to the barricades and carved out space to fully realize their own potential. Stroll past refuges, convents, and the Sterre der Zee; visit the homes of extraordinary women like Elisabeth Strouven and Wilhelmina van de Geijn; and follow in the footsteps of Maastricht’s suffragettes and the working women of De Sphinx.

The Zinc Identity of Maastricht The Zinc Identity of Maastricht

For those who know where to look, Maastricht houses a wealth of zinc. Follow in the footsteps of the striking zinc oxide workers and encounter surprising zinc architecture, both new and old, and on and off the beaten track.

Here we border on the most important area of Europe’s zinc industry. Once upon a time, in the 19th and 20th centuries, the strip of Belgium that extends from Liege along the border to the town of Kelmis was entirely devoted to zinc mining and processing. Maastricht benefited from this industry and had its own infamous Zinc Oxide Company (Zinkwit Maatschappij) with inhuman working conditions. But zinc can also be found in unexpected places in Maastricht’s streets – unnoticed but distinctive nonetheless.

Eau Eau Mestreech... Eau Eau Mestreech...
Which river is most important to Maastricht? While it may seem like an obvious question, the answer might surprise you—it’s not the Meuse. In fact, Maastricht’s development was more closely tied to the Jeker River than to the Meuse. The city grew at the confluence of these two rivers. Did you know that water has been crucial to the city, and while the Maastricht expanded, Wyck actually shrank? Did you know there’s an underground aqueduct and that fish can climb stairs? You can even enjoy a ‘Sea View’ here, and water was once used as a strategic tool to breach the city walls.
 
Discover more on this walk exploring Maastricht’s waterways, a sequel to the ‘En Plein Publique’ walk by heritage conservators Remco Beckers and Joes Minis. This walk was created for Open Monument Day.
In case of emergency! In case of emergency!

Maastricht has a history of concealing, hiding and refuge, from medieval city walls to the later fortifications. These structures have defined the cityscape for centuries. Some have only been open to the public for the past decade.

Air-raid shelters, bunkers, lookouts and tunnels remain hidden from us. During the Second World War, a robust underground infrastructure of shelters was established, both for people and world-famous works of art. During the threats of the Cold War, the Civil Defence (Bescherming Bevolking, or BB) made preparations in the city. After all, you never know when an emergency might come knocking.

Music makes people Music makes people

In no Dutch city does music resound like in Maastricht, where Limburg’s music culture merges in its many forms, from the rich club scene to the opera, from swaying carnival crowds to waltzes on Vrijthof square, from popular theatre to religious liturgy. Music infuses the city, its streets, and its edifices. Architecture takes centre stage, from its masterpieces such as the carillon, church organs, old theatres, and modern music venues, to the invisible traces that notes have left behind in the city’s rich and varied urban tapestry.

Maastricht pours forth with sounds and tunes, and those who play, and those who make, and those who love the music. Indulge yourself and enjoy the sights on this walk, made for the show Frozen Music at Bureau Europa.