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Malmedy

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Malmedy



 
 
Malmedy is a municipality
Municipality

A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them....
 of Belgium
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
. It lies in the country's Walloon Region
Walloon Region

The Walloon Region, commonly called Wallonia, is one of the three Regions of Belgium of Belgium. It represents 33% of the population and 55% of the territory of Belgium....
 and Province of Liege
Liège (province)

Li?ge is the easternmost Provinces of regions in Belgium of the Wallonia, in Belgium. It is predominantly French language speaking, with a German language speaking minority living along the eastern border with Germany and Luxembourg....
. It belongs to the French Community of Belgium
French Community of Belgium

The French Community of Belgium is one of the three Communities and regions of Belgium#Communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community and the German speaking community in Belgium....
. On January 1, 2006 Malmedy had a total population of 11,829. The total area is 99.96 km² which gives a population density
Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans....
 of 118 inhabitants per km².

old sources spell the city's name "Malmédy" as this accent was intentionally added when being part of Prussia
Prussia

Prussia was, most recently, a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. This state had for centuries substantial influence on Germany and European history....
 and Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, but its official website lists it as "Malmedy", with no accent.






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Malmedy is a municipality
Municipality

A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them....
 of Belgium
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
. It lies in the country's Walloon Region
Walloon Region

The Walloon Region, commonly called Wallonia, is one of the three Regions of Belgium of Belgium. It represents 33% of the population and 55% of the territory of Belgium....
 and Province of Liege
Liège (province)

Li?ge is the easternmost Provinces of regions in Belgium of the Wallonia, in Belgium. It is predominantly French language speaking, with a German language speaking minority living along the eastern border with Germany and Luxembourg....
. It belongs to the French Community of Belgium
French Community of Belgium

The French Community of Belgium is one of the three Communities and regions of Belgium#Communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community and the German speaking community in Belgium....
. On January 1, 2006 Malmedy had a total population of 11,829. The total area is 99.96 km² which gives a population density
Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans....
 of 118 inhabitants per km².

History

Malmedy Jpg00
Some old sources spell the city's name "Malmédy" as this accent was intentionally added when being part of Prussia
Prussia

Prussia was, most recently, a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. This state had for centuries substantial influence on Germany and European history....
 and Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, but its official website lists it as "Malmedy", with no accent. Today the city enjoys a degree of political autonomy, being a French-speaking part of the East Cantons
Eupen-Malmedy

Eupen-Malmedy, or the East Cantons , is a group of Cantons of Belgium in Belgium, composed of the former Prussian districts of Malmedy and Eupen, together with the neutral Moresnet....
 together with Waimes
Waimes

Waimes is a Walloon Region municipality located in the Li?ge , in Belgium. On January 1 2006 Waimes had a total population of 6,728. The total area is 96.93 km? which gives a population density of 69 inhabitants per km?....
 and the municipalities of the German-speaking Community of Belgium
German-speaking Community of Belgium

The German-speaking Community of Belgium is one of the three federal communities in Belgium. It is the main part of the so-called East Cantons of Belgium....
.

The main church of Malmedy was built in 1777 and served as a cathedral from 1920 to 1925. It still holds the title of cathedral.

Malmedy was historically part of Liege but was annexed by Prussia in 1815.

Post World War I

At the end of the First World War
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, Malmedy and neighbouring Eupen
Eupen

Eupen is a municipality located in the Belgium province of Li?ge , 15 km from the Germany border , from the Netherlands border and from the nature reservation "Hohes Venn" ....
 were subject to a plebiscite to determine whether the region would be separated from Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 and annex
Annexation

Annexation is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities....
ed to Belgium. The plebiscite ballot
Ballot

A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the secret ballot....
s required names and addresses of the voters, and the German-speaking population of Eupen and Malmedy were intimidated. Both were formally annexed on March 6, 1925.

World War II

In 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge

The Ardennes Offensive was a major German offensive launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes of Belgium , France and Luxembourg on the Western Front ....
, the area was the site of the Malmedy massacre
Malmedy massacre

The Malmedy massacre refers to a war crime in which about 90 unarmed United States POW were murdered by their German people captors. The massacre was committed on December 17, 1944 by Kampfgruppe Joachim Peiper , a Nazi Germany combat unit, during the Battle of the Bulge....
, where 84 American prisoners of war were murdered by German
Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
 SS
Schutzstaffel

The , abbreviated SS- or - was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the F?hrer's "Praetorian Guard," the Nazi Party's "Shield Squadron" and a force that, fielding almost a million men, managed to exert as much political influence as th...
 troops. Moreover, on 23, 24 and 25 December 1944 the city was bombed repeatedly by the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. The direct precursor to the United States Air Force, its peak size was over 2.4 million men and women in service and nearly 80,000 aircraft in 1944, and 783 domestic bases in December 1943....
 despite the fact it was actually under control of U.S. troops. Approximately 200 civilians were killed in the tragic attacks, while the number of American casualties has never been revealed by the U.S. Department of War
United States Department of War

The United States Department of War, sometimes also called the War Office, was the department of the United States Federal government of the United States's Federal government of the United States#Executive branch responsible for the operation and maintenance of land Military of the United States from 1789 until September 18, 1947,...
.

See also

  • Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
    Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

    The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is the venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix and the Spa 24 Hours endurance race. It is also home to the 25 Hours of Spa, run by the Uniroyal Fun Cup....
    , which also has a corner named after Malmedy - actually: part of the circuit is on Malmedy ground


External links

  • , official website of the city of Malmedy. In French, German, English, and Dutch.
  • Dominic Jacob