Lange Lies and Lange Jan

Director Jeroen Willems interviewed Heerlen miners’ wives and some of those stories he adapted into a stage production with Paul Slangen. He wanted to bring out their experiences and emotions about their men working underground, what the closure of the mines and subsequent unemployment meant to them.

In 1938, an almost 138-metre-high chimney was built on the site of the Oranje-Nassaumijn. Inspired by the chimney’s enormous length, almost 138 metres high, it was soon named “Lange Jan”. In 1953, a second, even longer chimney (155 metres) was built and called the Lange Lies. Neither chimney in itself was of particular architectural value, but both have long dominated Heerlen’s skyline.

Photo: Ben van Duin