Malmedy

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Malmedy
Malmedy wapen.svg Flag of Malmedy.svg
Malmedy (Liège)
Malmedy
Malmedy
State : BelgiumBelgium Belgium
Region : Wallonia
Province : Liege
District : Verviers
Coordinates : 50 ° 26 '  N , 6 ° 2'  E Coordinates: 50 ° 26 '  N , 6 ° 2'  E
Area : 99.96 km²
Residents: 12,741 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density: 127 inhabitants per km²
Post Code: 4960
Prefix: 080
Mayor: Jean-Paul Bastin

Local government address : 		Rue Jules Steinbach, 1
4960 Malmedy
Website: www.malmedy.be
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Malmedy (German (outdated): Malmünd , French: Malmedy , Walloon : Måmdey ) is a French-speaking city in Belgium in the province of Liège . It is named for the electoral and judicial canton of Malmedy .

Malmedy has 12,741 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019), an area of ​​100.62 km² and consists of the districts of Bellevaux-Ligneuville (German: Schönenthal-Engelsdorf) and Bévercé (German: Wywertz). Malmedy is also the seat of the district commissioner. The city is one of the community facilities with language facilities for German speakers.

geology

Seismic Risks

Seismic activity is higher in the provinces of Liège, Limburg and Hainaut than in the rest of the country. Malmedy is one of the municipalities located in Zone 2, that is, the zone exposed to the earthquakes in Belgium.

The 1692 earthquake that struck the Verviers region may have been responsible for the landslides observed in the Warche valley to the east of Bévercé (south of the confluence with the Trô Maret stream). These three landslides affecting the Malmedy custard stone were discovered in March 2015 during the surveys associated with the revision of the geological map.

history

The town was founded by Saint Remaclus , who founded an abbey, the Malmedy Monastery , here in 648 . After it had been part of a spiritual territory in the Holy Roman Empire , the Imperial Abbey of Stablo-Malmedy , for centuries, Malmedy belonged to the French Ourthe department as the arrondissement of Malmedy from 1795 to 1815 . From 1815 ( Congress of Vienna ) to 1920 ( Treaty of Versailles ) Malmedy was part of the Prussian Rhine Province and seat of the administrative district of Malmedy . In 1920 Malmedy came to the Kingdom of Belgium together with Eupen and Sankt Vith (see Ostbelgien ). At the time it belonged to the German Empire , the official language was German, but the colloquial language of a large minority of the population in the area (28.7% in 1900) was French or Walloon , a Gallo-Roman dialect . There was a German-language newspaper (Der Landbote) . Malmedy is now part of the French Community of Belgium .

Malmedy has been a center of the paper and leather industry since the 18th century .

Second World War

During the Second World War , Malmedy was occupied in May 1940 as part of the attack by German units on the neutral states of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. In September 1944, the city was first liberated by US troops , but then overrun by German troops on December 16, 1944 after the start of the Ardennes offensive . After being retaken by American troops, US bombers accidentally bombed Malmedy three times over the Christmas period. Almost half of the houses were destroyed. 230 civilians from Malmedy and refugees from Belgium and Germany were killed, along with a large number of US soldiers. A memorial plaque in Malmedy commemorates the bombings.

In the suburb of Baugnez, four kilometers southeast of Malmedy, 82 American soldiers were captured on December 17, 1944 in the same offensive. Shortly after their arrest, the prisoners were killed by members of the Waffen SS of the Peiper combat group ( Malmedy massacre ).

traffic

Malmedy is on the A 27 ( E 42 ) motorway . The national roads N 62, N 68 ( E 421 ) and N 632 run through the city. The latter joins the N 62 in Baugnez.

Attractions

Obelisk on Place Albert I.
Downtown with a view of the Villershaus
  • Cathedral Saints-Pierre, Paul et Quirin : on the Place du Châtelet , built as an abbey church from 1775–1784, parish church elevated to a cathedral since 1819 and 1921 (see Diocese of Eupen-Malmedy ), simple interior from the 18th century
  • The Way of the Cross from the cathedral to the Calvary, laid out in 1728 on the initiative of the Capuchin Father Albert von Dinant. It leads over 13 stations to a chapel with a hexagonal floor plan, which is dedicated to Saints Agathe and Apolline. The current reliefs (since 1913) were created by the sculptor Carl Burger .
  • The old city center
  • The monastery from 1708
  • The Resurrection Chapel : on the Place du Pont-Neuf , built 1755–1757, Renaissance style
  • The Capuchin Church: south of the cathedral in Ruelle des Capucins , completed in 1626 and consecrated in 1631, interior furnishings from the 17th century
  • The sick chapel: consecrated in 1188, rebuilt and consecrated in 1544
  • The Villers or Cavenshaus : built 1714–1724 by the Aachen master builder Laurenz Mefferdatis
  • The town hall: is located to the south not far from the cathedral and was built in 1900 by Jules Steinbach, in 1904 it came into the possession of the city of Malmedy as a gift.
  • Villa Lang : is opposite the town hall and was built in 1901; Jules Steinbach had it built for his daughter Juliette; the name goes back to Juliette's husband, the leather manufacturer Hubert Lang.
  • Villa Steisel : located behind the villa long and was built in 1897 (also by Jules Steinbach for his daughter Laure), Laure married Louis Steisel, the founder of the paper mill, hence the name of the villa, which also Lilac Villa was called
  • The seat of the Baltia government
  • The High Fens Nature Park
  • The obelisk on Place Albert I .: erected by the Abbot of Stavelot-Malmedy, Jacques de Hubin, in 1781
  • The neighboring Formula 1 racetrack Spa-Francorchamps .

  • Interior shot of the cathedral

  • Stained glass window in the cathedral

  • Resurrection Chapel

  • Autumn evening over Malmedy

  • town hall

  • Villa Lang

  • Villa Steisel

  • Malmedy pavilion

Town twinning

  • FranceFrance Beaune (France), since 1962
  • GermanyGermany Cochem (Germany), since 1975

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

Honorary citizen

Raymond Micha was an honorary citizen of Malmedy and Stavelot .

literature

  • Martin Thomas, Michael Neumann-Adrian: Belgium - Luxembourg. Verlag CJ Bucher GmbH, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-7658-1097-5 .
  • Reinhard Tiburzy: Belgium - Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia. Verlag DuMont, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-7701-6097-5 .
  • Team of authors: Belgium. Verlag Karl Baedeker GmbH, Ostfildern 2004, ISBN 3-87504-417-7 , pp. 303-304.

Web links

Commons : Malmedy  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ History of the GrenzEcho in a nutshell. ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.grenzecho.be
  2. ^ Peter Schrijvers: The unknown dead - Civilians in the Battle of the Bulge. Lexington 2005, pp. 63-68.
  3. ^ John M. Bausermann: The Malmédy Massacre. Shippensburg 1995, p. 94.