Thorn

It used to be part of the Imperial Abbey of Thorn.

• Name — Thorn • Settlement Type — City • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Netherlands • Subdivision Type1 — Province • Subdivision Name1 — Limburg • Subdivision Type2 — Municipality • Subdivision Name2 — Maasgouw • Elevation M — 24 • Area Total Km2 — 6.69 • Population Total — 2,490 • Population As Of — 2021 • Population Density Km2 — auto • Timezone — CET • Utc Offset — +1 • Timezone Dst — CEST • Utc Offset Dst — +2 • Postal Code Type — Postal code • Postal Code — 6017 • Area Code Type — Dialing code • Area Code — 0475

The region of Thorn was originally a swamp nearby the Roman road between Maastricht and Nijmegen. But the region was drained and about 975, Bishop Ansfried of Utrecht founded a Benedictine nunnery. This monastery developed since the 12th century into a secular stift or convent. The principal of the stift was the abbess. She was assisted by a chapter of at most twenty ladies of the nobility. Previously the abbess and the chapter were endowed with religious tasks but, since the 12th century, they served secular matters and formed the government of a truly sovereign miniature principality, a smaller independent state in the German Holy Roman Empire, approximately 250 x 250 metres. Besides Thorn, Ittervoort, Grathem, Baexem, Stramproy, Ell, Haler and Molenbeersel belonged to this principality. After the French invasion in the winter of 1794–95 and the formal abolition in 1797 made an end to the existence of the abbey and the principality of Thorn; Thorn was first part of the department of Meuse-Inférieure, and after the Vienna Congress it became a municipality of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

• Illustration — The abbey church of Thorn • Illustration — Street view of Thorn • Illustration — Brigade Piron Bridge • Illustration — Chapel