Houffalize
| Houffalize | |||
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| State : |
 Belgium
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| Region : | Wallonia | ||
| Province : | Luxembourg | ||
| District : | Bastogne | ||
| Coordinates : | 50 ° 8 ' N , 5 ° 47' E | ||
| Area : | 166.58 km² | ||
| Residents: | 5193 (Jan. 1, 2019) | ||
| Population density: | 31 inhabitants per km² | ||
| Post Code: | 6660-63, 6666 | ||
| Prefix: | 061 | ||
Local government address : |
Administration Communale Rue de Schaerbeek, 1 6660 Houffalize |
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| Website: | www.houffalize.be | ||
Houffalize ( German Hohenfels ) is a Belgian municipality in the Bastogne arrondissement of the province of Luxembourg .
geography
location
Houffalize is located in the Ardennes on the Ourthe Orientale river . In the municipal area, the valleys are densely forested, while arable land predominates on the undulating high plateau.
Districts
In addition to the core town of Houffalize , the municipality comprises six further districts, each of which includes the eponymous village:
- Mabompré with Engreux, Bonnerue and Vellereux
- Mont with Achouffe, Dinez, Fontenaille, Sommerain and Wilogne
- Nadrin with Filly and Ollomont
- Les Tailles with Chabrehez and the hamlets of Collas and La Pisserotte
- Tavigny with Boeur, Buret, Cetturu and Vissoule
- Wibrin with Mormont
history
The first documentary mention is found indirectly in 1147 via a Winandus de Alta Falesia (high rock face). Falesia is a Latinization of falaise , a French word of Germanic origin to Old High German fel (i) s .
In 1235 the seigneur (lord of the castle) Thierry I and his son Henris founded a hospital.
In the final phase of the Second World War , when the Allies threw back the German Ardennes offensive , the core town of Houffalize was completely destroyed by massive bombardment. In the days from December 25, 1944 to January 6, 1945, especially in the night of December 30 to 31 (an attack with 166 bombers) and in the night of January 5 to 6 (an attack with 140 Bombers) the Royal Air Force (RAF), supported by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), dropped 1,000 tons of bombs on Houffalize in preparation for the Allied counterattack. The city was turned into a bomb crater field.
On January 16, advancing American troops occupied the ruins of Houffalize. This was an important turning point for her:
"On the 15th, men of the 101st Airborne Division entered Noville, five miles south of Houffalize. Early the next morning, the 11th Armored Division seized high ground along the highway immediately south of Houffalize. Southwest of the town, a patrol commanded by Maj. Joseph ML Greene met a patrol from the 2d Armored Division of the First Army's VII Corps. Rent by the counteroffensive, the First and Third Armies at last had linked at the waist of the bulge. In one way, it was an empty accomplishment; so measured had been the advance, such delays had the Germans imposed, that most of the troops in what might have been a sizable pocket had escaped. Juncture at Houffalize nevertheless marked completion of the first phase of the campaign to push in the bulge. "
Attractions
2.JPG)
- Sainte-Marguerite (Ollômont) , Romanesque chapel from the 12th century with a choir tower
economy
- Brasserie d'Achouffe , internationally known brewery.
Town twinning
The municipality of Houffalize is a member of the European partnership project Douzelage .
people
- Johann von Avesnes (1218–1257), Count of Hainaut
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sven Vrielinck: De territorial indeling van België 1795-1963 Volume 1 . Universitaire Pers Leuven 2000. page 48.
- ^ The National Archives : Royal Air Force Bomber Command. Campaign Diary. December 1944 , accessed November 30, 2016.
- ^ The National Archives: Royal Air Force Bomber Command. Campaign Diary. January 1945 , Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ John Herington: Air Power Over Europe, 1944-1945 (= Australia in the war of 1939-1945 , Series 3: Air , Vol. 4). Australian War Memorial, Canberra 1963, p. 396.
- ↑ Arthur Harris : Despatch on War Operations: February 23rd, 1942, to May 8th, 1945 . Routledge, London 1995, p. 28.
- ^ John Herington: Air Power Over Europe, 1944-1945 (= Australia in the war of 1939-1945 , Series 3: Air , Vol. 4). Australian War Memorial, Canberra 1963, p. 395.
- ^ Charles B. MacDonald: The Last Offensive (= United States Army in World War II. European Theater of Operations ). Department of the Army - Historical Division, Washington, DC 1973, p. 42 online .
Web links
- official website of the municipality of Houffalize
- Patrols of the 1st US Army and the 3rd US Army meet in Houffalize (from: Fig. 10 )
