The oldest mining district of Eisden was built by the Limburg-Maas mining company between 1910 and 1928 for its employees. This garden city has all the characteristics of a plagiarism of the 19th-century British Garden City. The entire area was literally planted on the uninhabited left bank of the Zuid Willemsvaart in the Eisden heath. They literally followed in the footsteps of the English architects and urban planners with all possible details. The curved street pattern, the rich variety in the choice of housing types, plantings, parks, and green spaces, it all makes it recognizable. The imitation of the cottage style in the houses and the prestige of the public buildings ensured the, though silent, but still present hierarchy of the housing organized by the mine bosses.
The way in which the residents “had to and were allowed to” live is another story, which is inextricably linked to the architectural diversity of the entire neighborhood.
This double story is told in all its aspects to the visitors, by guides who, as former residents of the cité, can guide them “from the gut.” They take time at the most interesting and striking places to explain that street corner or building.
A walk through the Cité can take 1.5 hours or 2 hours (a more detailed version), depending on your choice.