Amel

Amel
	Amel
	Amel
State :	Belgium
Region :	Wallonia
Province :	Liege
District :	Verviers
Coordinates :	50 ° 21 ′ N , 6 ° 10 ′ E Coordinates: 50 ° 21 ′ N , 6 ° 10 ′ E
Area :	125.15 km²
Residents:	5474 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density:	44 inhabitants per km²
Height:	470 m
Post Code:	4770
Prefix:	080
Mayor:	Erik Wiesemes (GI)
; Local government address :	Amel ; Wittenhof 9 ; 4770 Amel
Website:	www.amel.be

View of the town of Amel

Saint Hubertus Church

Amel ( French Amblève ) is a German-speaking municipality in Belgium . It is located in the province of Liège and has 5,479 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019).

geography

Amel is located in the Belgian Eifel , on the upper reaches of the Amel river of the same name . The community has a total area of 125.72 km², half of which is forested. In the northwest, the municipality borders on the French-speaking communities Weismes (French Waimes ) and Malmedy and, along with Lontzen, is one of the two German-speaking communities in Belgium that do not border on neighboring Germany . In the association of the five German-speaking municipalities in East Belgium south of the High Fens , the municipality of Amel occupies a central position between the municipalities of Bütgenbach in the north, Büllingen in the north and east, Sankt Vith in the south and the municipality of Burg-Reuland further south .

Community structure

Since the municipal merger in 1977, the municipality of Amel has consisted of the following 18 localities (with population figures as of December 31, 2019):

Amel: 848
Born : 570
Deidenberg : 565
Eibertingen : 174
Halenfeld : 257
Heppenbach : 277
Hepscheid : 59
Herresbach : 222
Iveldingen : 214
Medell : 519
Meyerode : 391
Mirfeld with Mirfelderbusch : 317
Möderscheid : 122
Montenau : 326
Bottle : 431
Valender : 125
Wallerode : 27 ^*
Wereth : 35

^* The greater part of Wallerode belongs to Sankt Vith.

history

The name Amel is of Celtic origin and means water. The settlement structure was shaped by the Romans from 57 BC. BC to 450 AD A Roman road crossed the Amels area, the Reims – Cologne military road and the Via Mansuerisca , built around 800 as a connection between Maastricht and Trier . In 1868 the remains of a 75 × 30 m² Roman villa were uncovered.

Gold was panned in the Amel waters for centuries, as evidenced by the Celtic-Roman gold soap hills. Around 1900 gold was searched again, but with little success.

Amel is first mentioned in documents around 670 under the Frankish king Childerich II. The Metz annals name the battle of Amel, which took place in 716 between Austrasians and Neustrians , from which Karl Martell emerged as the victor. At that time, a church is already mentioned in Amel.

See also: Eastern Cantons , the history of the Merovingians

In the mid-1990s, the opening of a repository for low-level radioactive waste in the area of the municipality of Amel ( Am Steinkreuz ) was up for debate. Massive public protest under the motto 'AMEL - No!' (Play on words: Amel as A tom M üll E nd L ager) ensured that the project was ultimately not implemented.

The current parish church of the main parish, consecrated to St. Hubertus, was built between 1930 and 1931 according to plans by the architect Henri Cunibert . Only the tower from 1541 remained from the previous building. In the interior there is an altar from the 17th century.

economy

On November 28, 1887, rail traffic began on the Vennbahn on the Weismes - St. Vith route . In 1898, 11,500 tickets were sold at Montenau train station, compared to 21,134 in 1913. In 1907 the waiting room in the station had to be enlarged, and a second pair of tracks was built. After the destruction of the Second World War, rail traffic was resumed, but it could no longer achieve its old importance. Passenger traffic was stopped in 1954 and the old station building was demolished in 1972. The last freight train ran on the line on September 23, 1982, and the tracks were removed in 1987. Today an 18 km long cycle path of the RAVeL network runs along the route from Weismes to St. Vith.

The art and forest nature trail in Heppenbach is an example of nature-loving tourism in East Belgium. Display boards convey the beauty and value of the flora and fauna of this Eifel-Ardennes region. Didactic games such as the “tree telephone” or the “acoustic house” have been set up for children.