Peer () is a municipality and city located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Peer had a total population of 15,810. The total area is 86.95 km2 which gives a population density of 182 inhabitants per km2.
The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities: Peer, Grote-Brogel, Kleine-Brogel, Wauberg, Erpekom and Wijchmaal.
Peer is the site of , an annual blues music festival held in July.
History Peer is the birth place of the composer Armand Preud'homme. From 1990 to 2018 the Armand Preud'homme Museum remembered to his life and work.Geert Van Baelen, ‘Ooit kwamen hier achthonderd groepen per jaar, nu nog twee’, 7 April 2018, De Standaard
The village Grote-Brogel, part of Peer, claims to be the birthplace of Pieter Bruegel. The Bruegel Foundation was also founded in Peer to research the history of Peer and Pieter Bruegel.
Kleine-Brogel, a village that is a part of Peer, includes Kleine Brogel Air Base. Rumours that American nuclear weapons under the NATO nuclear sharing program were stationed at Kleine Brogel were eventually confirmed by Minister of Defence Pieter De Crem in 2008.
A series of historical maps with notable references to Grote Brogel as Bruegel
On a number of old maps, Grote Brogel is prominently depicted as Bruegel, Brugel or Breughel, while other, sometimes more important, places are not mentioned at all.
These maps are based on the work of "Jacob van Deventer".Jacob van Deventer ([Kampen], c. 1505 – [Cologne], ) was a Dutch cartographer.
In 1540 Sebastian Münster published a series of maps, including "BRABANTIA V > RHENIET X < NOVA TABVLA."Sebastian Münster, Brabantia V Rheni Et X Nova Tabula, Basel, 1542. On this map, Grote Brogel is marked as Brügel. The towns of Peer and Bree are also mentioned.
The map "Belgii inferioris descriptio emendata cum circumiacentium regionum confinijs"Belgii inferioris descriptio emendata cum circumiacentium regionum confinijs, dimensions 23.8 × 33.3 cm, scale approx. 1:2,100,000. https://uvaerfgoed.nl/viewer/image/11245_3_1284/ ) was later issued in book format under the supervision of Abraham Ortelius. It was first published in the French-language edition of Ludovico Guicciardini's extensive work on the Low Countries, Description de tout le Pais Bas,Guicciardini L., Description de tout le Pais Bas, Plantin, Antwerp, map No. 1, 1582. printed by Christoffel PlantinChristoffel Plantijn (born Christophe Plantin) (Saint-Avertin near [Tours], c. – [Antwerp], [1 July] ), printer and publisher. in Antwerp in 1582. This map mentions Bruegel while the towns of Peer and Bree are omitted. In 1585, Mercator published a larger edition of this map.:File:1606 Belgii Mercator.jpg, scale 1:1,500,000.
E. van Meteren, a nephew of Ortelius, produced a map of the Low Countries in which Bruegel appears as Brügel.Frans Hogenberg or Matthias Quad, 1582, DESCRIPTIO GERMANIAE INFERIORIS, copper engraving, 23.8 × 33.2 cm, scale approx. 1:2,500,000.
In 1597, Frans Hogenberg published a new version of DESCRIPTIO GERMANIAE INFERIORIS.Descriptio Germaniae Inferioris, Frans Hogenberg, Cologne, 1597, dimensions 238 × 300 mm.
Johannes Mercator shows Breughel and Brey only in present-day Northern Limburg on a map of the County of Moers.County of Cleves and Murs, 24 × 17 cm. https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/65IV5YRW44M57YH5SXQKYC27RRNMBLKE
Climate
Peer has in the summer quite a nice temperature, around 20 degrees Celsius. In the winter it normally snows.
References
External links