Eupen

For other uses, see Eupen (disambiguation).

Eupen
Flag Coat of arms
Eupen Location in Belgium
Coordinates: 50°38′N 06°02′E / 50.633°N 6.033°E / 50.633; 6.033
Country	Belgium
Region	Wallonia
Community	German-speaking Community
Province	Liège
Arrondissement	Verviers
Government
– Mayor	Elmar Keutgen (CSP)
– Governing party/ies	CSP, PDB
Area
– Total	103.74 km2 (40.1 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2010)[1]
– Total	18,717
– Density	180.4/km2 (467.3/sq mi)
Demographics
– Foreigners	12.98% (7 January 2005)
Postal codes	4700, 4701
Area codes	087
Website	www.eupen.be
Map of Eupen

St Nikolaus church in Eupen

Eupen (German and French) is a municipality in the Belgian province of Liège, 15 km (9.32 mi) from the German border (Aachen), from the Dutch border (Maastricht) and from the "High Fens" nature reserve (Ardennes). The town is also the capital of the Euroregion Meuse-Rhine.

After the end of the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles transferred Eupen and the neighbouring municipality of Malmedy from Germany to Belgium.

On 1 January 2006 Eupen had a total population of 18,248 (8,892 males and 9,356 females). The total area is 103.74 km² (40.05 sq mi) which gives a population density of 175.90 inhabitants per km².

Eupen is the seat of the Council of the German speaking community in Belgium and the official language in Eupen is German. There is also a small University College in Eupen, the Autonome Hochschule in der deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, offering bachelor degrees in Education and Nursing. Eupen has an association football team, K.A.S. Eupen promoted to Belgian Pro League after winning promotion-relegation play-offs in 2010.

Eupen is considered in Belgium to be a Roman Catholic region with strongly conservative views.^{[citation needed]}

Historical sketch

Map of Belgium in 1843: Eupen and the East Cantons were then German.

• 1213 First documentary mention of Eupen and the St. Nikolaus Chapel in the Duchy of Limburg.
• 1288 Following the Battle of Worringen the Duchy of Limburg is annexed by John I. of Brabant.
• 1387 Brabant and Limburg fall to the house of Burgundy. Eupen is burned to the ground during the war against the Guelders.
• 1477 Brabant and Limburg (with Eupen) become (Austrian) Habsburg possessions.
• 1544 Emperor Charles V grants Eupen the privilege to conduct two markets per year.
• 1555 Brabant and Limburg (with Eupen) become a Spanish-Habsburg possession.
• 1565 First mention of Protestantism in Eupen.
• 1582 Eupen is burned down by Dutch troops.
• 1635 The plague devastates the town's population.
• 1648 Eupen obtains its own court of law.
• 1674 Eupen obtains city rights, giving it greater recognition and autonomy.
• 1680 Introduction of textile manufacture.
• 1713 With the Treaty of Utrecht Brabant and Limburg (with Eupen) revert to the Austrian Habsburgs.
• 1794 Eupen is annexed by Revolutionary France and becomes part of the Département Ourthe, préfecture Liège, sous-préfecture Malmedy.
• 1815 Following the Congress of Vienna, Eupen becomes part of Prussia's Rhine Province.
• 1870 Eupen becomes part of the German Empire and a popular spa.
• 1919 Treaty of Versailles transfers Eupen to Belgium.
• 1920s Extreme right Nazi-like groups form in Eupen.
• 1940 Germany, under the Third Reich, invades Belgium; Eupen annexed to the Third Reich.
• 1940 Eupen declared to be a city "Free from Jews";^{[citation needed]} the entire Eupen Jewish population dies in concentration camps.
• 1944 The US army arrives in Eupen in September. Eupen becomes a centre of fierce fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.
• 1945 Eupen again becomes part of Belgium; first lawsuit against an Eupen Nazi because of crimes against Jews.
• 1949 The left tower of St Nikolaus church burns down.
• 1952 Last lawsuit against an Eupen Nazi who returned from a Soviet gulag.^{[citation needed]}
• 1953 The centre of the municipality is flooded.
• 1970 The German Cultural Community is formed under the first Belgian state reform.
• 1973 The historical centre of the city is demolished for parking lots.
• 1976 Fusion of the municipalities of Eupen and Kettenis (under protest of population of Kettenis).
• 1980 The German Cultural Community becomes The German-speaking Community with Eupen as its capital.

Museums

• Municipal Museum, Gospertstrasse
• IKOB: Museum of Contemporary Art
• Permanent exhibition of paintings at the Christian Silvain Foundation

Sport

• The K.A.S. Eupen reached the Belgian Pro League in the 2010–11 season. It's the first football club of the German-speaking community, which is represented in this league.

Folklore

• Rheinish Carnival occurring around Rosenmontag.

References

1. ^ Population per municipality on 1 January 2010 (XLS; 221 KB)

External links

• Official Homepage
• Tourist Info
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Eupen". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.