Butgenbach

Butgenbach
Butgenbach
State :	Belgium
Region :	Wallonia
Province :	Liege
District :	Verviers
Coordinates :	50 ° 26 '  N , 6 ° 12'  E Coordinates: 50 ° 26 '  N , 6 ° 12'  E
Area :	97.31 km²
Residents:	5610 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density:	58 inhabitants per km²
Post Code:	4750
Prefix:	080
Mayor:	Daniel Franzen (CSP)
Local government address :	Go to Brand 40 4750 Bütgenbach
Website:	www.butgenbach.be

Bütgenbach - town center (2016)

Bütgenbach ( French Butgenbach ) is a German-speaking municipality in the province of Liège and one of the nine municipalities of the German-speaking community in Belgium with a population of 5,610 (as of January 1, 2019) on a total municipality area of ​​97.31 square kilometers. The village of Bütgenbach has been part of the larger municipality of Bütgenbach since 1977 with Elsenborn , Berg , Küchelscheid , Leykaul , Nidrum and Weywertz .

geography

The municipality of Bütgenbach is located in the Belgian Eifel , south of the High Fens . In the sparsely populated north are the districts of Küchelscheid and Leykaul. In the center of the municipality is the village of Elsenborn with the military training area of the same name , which takes up around 30 percent of the municipality's area. The central town of Bütgenbach and the districts of Weywertz, Nidrum and Berg are located in the more densely populated south, on both sides of the Warche . This tributary of the Amel flows through the Bütgenbach dam , which was built in 1932 and is a 1.25 km² lake, which today is the tourist center of the region.

history

Bütgenbach was first mentioned among the Carolingians in the 9th century as an outpost of the Büllinger Hof. The first documentary mention in 1130 can be found in a register of dues to the Malmedy Abbey . From 1200 to 1214 the area around Bütgenbach belonged to the property of the Counts of Luxembourg and then by marriage to the Duchy of Limburg.

In 1237, the Lords of Limburg ordered the construction of Bütgenbach Castle on the north side of the village on a rocky promontory on the banks of the Warche . Thus Bütgenbach became the center of an area called Hof Bütgenbach . In addition to Bütgenbach, the farm area included the villages of Berg , Elsenborn , Faymonville , Nidrum , Sourbrodt and Weywertz .

In 1265 the court came by inheritance to the Falkenburg House, which also owned the Monschau area and later also Sankt Vith. In 1300 Walram von Falkenburg approved the establishment of a De Porta Coeli (Heavenly Gate) monastery on his estate in Bütgenbach. Today the field name Grünkloster still exists on the road from the military training area (Elsenborn camp) to Küchelscheid , but it has not yet been clarified whether there is a connection between it and the founding of the monastery of Walram von Falkenburg. In the course of time Bütgenbach passed into the possession of the Counts of Vianden and the House of Nassau one after the other .

Weywertz is first mentioned in 1461 in the form of Wivertz or Wiverhus , which means something like Weiberhaus . According to an old tradition, three women are said to have lived in Weywertz and gave the settlement their name. Around the house of these women or women a sizable village is said to have developed over time.

In 1503 the von Rolshausen family received the castle and the Bütgenbach farm as a fief from the Nassauers, who owned them until 1786. In 1575 the property fell victim to a fire under Christoph von Reiffenberg, but his son Johann restored it in 1624. In 1689 the castle was destroyed by the troops of the French King Louis XIV .

In 1795 the court area of ​​Bütgenbach, the entire Duchy of Luxembourg and parts of the Holy Roman Empire on the left bank of the Rhine were annexed by the French (until around 1815 - French times ). Bütgenbach Castle was finally destroyed during the occupation. What was left of the castle on the Warche was removed and used in the construction of various houses in the village.

At the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) the borders of Europe were redrawn. From then on, Bütgenbach belonged to the Rhine Province of Prussia. In 1893 Prussia laid out a maneuvering area with a railroad connection near Elsenborn , the Elsenborn military training area , which was taken over by the Belgian army after the First World War.

Vennquerbahn bridge in Bütgenbach

In 1912 the Jünkerath-Weywertz railway line was built . Bütgenbach received a train station and thus a connection to the continuing railway network.

In 1920 the districts of Eupen and Malmedy (with Sankt Vith) came to the Kingdom of Belgium as a result of the Treaty of Versailles . On January 1, 1922, Belgian legislation for this area came into force.

In 1920 the Bütgenbach area was divided into four communities:

• Butgenbach,
• Elsenborn,
• Faymonville and
• Robertville

Parish church in Weywertz (OT von Bütgenbach)

The entire area of ​​East Belgium was placed under the administration of the Belgian government appointed High Commissioner General Herman Baltia until 1925 . In 1925 it was incorporated into the Belgian state association.

In May 1940 ( western campaign ) the Wehrmacht conquered the Benelux countries. On the morning of May 10th, Belgian units blew up numerous bridges that had been prepared for this purpose and triggered other obstacles and roadblocks. A single bridge - near Bütgenbach - was captured and held undamaged by an advance command of the Wehrmacht. The Bütgenbach area with Eupen-Malmedy was annexed by the German Reich (in 1942 the men there were drafted into military service). From September 9, 1944, Bütgenbach was liberated by US troops. During the Battle of the Bulge (from December 16, 1944 - January 1945) General Eisenhower took up quarters there for a few days. 458 soldiers of the 1st US Infantry Division were killed near Bütgenbach. After the end of the war, the area was returned to Belgian sovereignty.

The last time the German-Belgian border treaty of 1956 regulated, among other things, the return of certain parts of the municipal area between Belgium and Germany. This took place on August 28, 1958 ( Federal Law Gazette II p. 262 ).

As a result of the municipal mergers in 1977 , the municipality of Bütgenbach now includes the villages of Berg, Bütgenbach, Elsenborn, Küchelscheid, Leykaul, Nidrum and Weywertz.

Attractions

Parish church St. Stephanus in Bütgenbach

Bütgenbach on the Warche reservoir

• The Bütgenbach dam with the Worriken sports infrastructure .
• The parish church of St. Stephen in Bütgenbach, which was inaugurated in 1932, the architect was Henri Cunibert
• The wild narcissus meadows along the Warche and Holzwarchetales.
• The hiking trails around the lake, through valleys and forests.
• The parish church of St. Michael in Weywertz, which was inaugurated in 1959.
• The High Fens .
• Herba Sana (2 ha didactic herb garden)

The railway line of the former Vennquerbahn has been expanded into a hiking and cycling route ( RAVeL network line 45a Waimes-Jünkerath ), with a connection both in Weywertz to the Vennbahn line and in Jünkerath to the German cycle path network.

media

The regional studio of the radio broadcaster Radio 700 is located in the Elsenborn cultural center in Herzebösch . It can be received in the municipalities of Bütgenbach, Büllingen, Amel and the municipalities on the frequency 90.1 MHz and in Burg-Reuland and St. Vith on FM 101.7 MHz.

economy

In addition to tourism and gastronomy, the local handicraft businesses also generate income from the Elsenborn military training area and the troops practicing there.

The Walloon Minister of Spatial Planning André Antoine (CDH) prohibited MECAR from carrying out private ammunition tests on the Elsenborn military training area by decree of June 5, 2008. Health hazards and pollution of the drinking water were feared, also connected with a decline in the tourism business.

On May 20, 2011, the State Council gave a global approval for ammunition tests in Elsenborn, thereby following the arguments of the arms company Mecar. The citizens' initiative “Stop Mecar” is to be reactivated.

Personalities

• Bernd Gentges (* 1943), politician
• Wolfgang Reuter (* 1969), politician, member of the parliament of the German-speaking community

literature

• Bernhard Willems: History of the parishes of Elsenborn and Nidrum . Festschrift on the occasion of the double jubilee: 150 years of the parish and 100 years of the new church in Elsenborn (=  Ostbelgische Chronik . Volume 3 , part 1). G. Gerson, Malmedy 1955, DNB  368695441 .
• Ludwig Lejoly, Walter Schomus: History of the parishes of Elsenborn and Nidrum . Festschrift on the occasion of the double jubilee: 150 years of the parish and 100 years of the new church in Elsenborn (=  Ostbelgische Chronik . Volume 3 , part 2). G. Gerson, Malmedy 1957, DNB  36869545X .

Web links

Commons : Bütgenbach  - Collection of Images

• Community website
• History of Bütgenbach in brief
• Camp Elsenborn. La Défense, accessed December 26, 2017 (French). 
• Website of the Parish Association of Bütgenbach-Berg Weywertz

Individual evidence

1. ^ Baron Christoph von Reiffenberg, the last Bütgenbacher mayor and court owner of this family . In: The Land of Malmedy and St. Vith. Collected essays on its history and culture (=  Ostbelgische Chronik ). tape 5 , 1962, pp. 61-69 .
2. ↑ www.butgenbach.be ( Memento from June 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ zvs.be  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ Butgenbach, 1st Infantry Division Big Red One Obelisk ( Memento from December 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on World War Tours
5. ↑ Parish Church of St. Stephen ( Memento from October 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ Cycle easily over 28 bridges , Kölnische Rundschau, accessed on June 6, 2011
7. ↑ Report in the daily newspaper Grenz-Echo zu Mecar from May 20, 2011  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ Report in the daily newspaper Grenz-Echo on the reactivation of Stop Mecar from May 25, 2011  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.