Belgian-German relations

Belgian-German relations

Belgium	Germany

The two neighboring countries Belgium and Germany are both members of NATO , the European Union and the euro zone . The Belgian-German border is 156 kilometers long.

Belgium has an embassy in Berlin and honorary consuls in Langerwehe near Aachen , Bremen , Duisburg , Frankfurt am Main , Hamburg , Hanover , Munich and Stuttgart . Germany operates an embassy in Brussels . There are honorary consuls in Liège , Hasselt , Antwerp and Eupen .

Some German cities (for example Hanau and Cologne ) are or were traditional centers of the Belgian Protestant diaspora . Alongside Dutch and French, German is the third national language in Belgium. The German-speaking Community of Belgium is the smallest of the three political communities in Belgium. The heads of state of both countries take part in the annual meetings of the German-speaking countries .

history

Entry of German troops into Blankenberge , 1914

Most of what is now Belgium was part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation together with Germany for many centuries until the end of the 18th century . The first king of Belgium, which became independent in 1830, became Leopold I in 1831 from the German noble family of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . All the kings of the Belgians come from his line to this day .

During the First World War (after which the Eupen-Malmedy area, with a majority German-speaking population, came to Belgium due to a controversial referendum) and the Second World War , the actually neutral state suffered from German conquest and occupation. After 1945 there was slowly a deep reconciliation and cooperation in the development of European structures and institutions.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the architecture of Belgium served as a motif for German draftsmen and graphic artists, including Roland Anheißer , Luigi Kasimir and Ernst Oppler .

Diplomatic exchange

The German-Belgian-Luxembourg parliamentary group cultivates the relations between the German Bundestag and the federal parliament . Patrick Schnieder (CDU / CSU) is chairman in the 18th electoral term . Deputy chairpersons are Daniela De Ridder (SPD), Katrin Werner (Die Linke) and Corinna Rüffer (Bündnis90 / Die Grünen).

See also

• List of Belgian ambassadors in Germany
• List of German ambassadors in Belgium
• Ambassador of the GDR in Belgium
• Foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Allied occupation of the Rhineland

Web links

Commons : Belgian-German relations  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Information from the German Foreign Office on relations with Belgium

Individual evidence

1. ^ Embassy and consulates of Belgium in Germany . Retrieved May 10, 2019.
2. ^ German Embassy Brussels (German, Dutch and French) . German Embassy Brussels. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
3. ↑ d'Lëtzebuerger Land - At the German Confederation in Eupen (September 2nd, 2016)
4. ↑ Boards of the parliamentary groups in the 18th electoral period ( memento of the original from August 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.