| Sibbe | |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Pushpin Map: | Netherlands#Netherlands Limburg |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in the Netherlands##Location in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Netherlands |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Limburg |
| Subdivision Type2: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name2: | Valkenburg aan de Geul |
| Elevation Footnotes: | [1] |
| Elevation M: | 88 |
| Area Total Km2: | 2.72 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 1,015 |
| 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: | 6301 |
| Area Code Type: | Dialing code |
| Area Code: | 043 |
| Coordinates: | 50.8433°N 5.8256°W |
Sibbe (Limburgish: Sub or Süp) is the official Dutch name of a village in the municipality of Valkenburg aan de Geul in the province of Limburg in the southern part of the Netherlands.
It has been proposed that the name of the village derives from the German word sippe, meaning a clan of a limited number of families. Another possibility is that the name derives from the Latin cippus, meaning young forest.[3] However, both explanations do not fit with the local pronunciation Süp.
It is not known when the first inhabitants settled here. It is assumed that the Plateau of Margraten, at the edge of which Sibbe is situated, was gradually deforested and settled after the year 1000.[4] The village was first mentioned ('Cybde') in a document in 1307.[5] Until 1940 Sibbe was part of the municipality of Oud-Valkenburg.
In spite of some small-scale building projects, population has decreased over the last decades. This is the case for most parts of South Limburg, caused by population ageing, low birthrates and negative migration.
Sibbe is situated at the edge of the Plateau of Margraten, a fertile loess plain at 160 meters above NAP. Until recently, agriculture was the main means of life on the Plateau. Nowadays, most villagers commute to work in nearby towns like Valkenburg, Maastricht and Heerlen. Being close to tourist hotspot Valkenburg, the village offers some bed and breakfast accommodation, as well as a camping site. The last operating marl quarry in the Netherlands is situated in Sibbe. Tours on mountain bikes and quads are offered in the underground labyrinth in parts of the quarry that are no longer used for mining.
Sibbe has a very active community life with various sports clubs (football, handball, table tennis, billiards), a concert band, a mixed choir, a young adults club (Jonkheid), and a carnival club.
Although church-going has steeply declined in recent years, most of the inhabitants of Sibbe are still, at least nominally, members of the Roman Catholic Church. The first church was built here in 1840. Before, villagers had to walk the two miles to the parish church of Oud-Valkenburg. Until 1948 the church of Sibbe remained dependent on the church in Oud-Valkenburg.