Brunssum

Brunssum ( pronunciation (help·info)) (Limburgish: Broensem) is a municipality and a town in the southeastern Netherlands. The municipality has some 30.000 inhabitants. Brunssum is one of the former coalmine centra, of which there are several in this region. The terrain, where once was a coalmine, now is the base of NATO's Joint Force Command Brunssum. The Brunssummerheide (Brunssum heathland) is situated near Brunssum; a sloping nature landscape... more

Brunssum ( pronunciation (help·info)) (Limburgish: Broensem) is a municipality and a town in the southeastern Netherlands. The municipality has some 30.000 inhabitants. Brunssum is one of the former coalmine centra, of which there are several in this region. The terrain, where once was a coalmine, now is the base of NATO's Joint Force Command Brunssum. The Brunssummerheide (Brunssum heathland) is situated near Brunssum; a sloping nature landscape, crossed by a brook called Roode Beek (red brook). This heathland is a protected nature preserve. The current Joint Forces Command was originally AFCENT (HQ Allied Forces in Central Europe) and was based in Fontainebleau (France) until 1967. It was renamed AFNORTH between 2000 until 2004, when the AFNORTH (at the time located at Kolsås, outside Oslo) and AFCENT were merged. In 2004, following a restructuring of NATO, it was again renamed Joint Force Command. Brunssum is also the base of the AFNORTH International School, located just outside... less