Eupen is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, 15 km from the German border (Aachen), from the Dutch border (Maastricht) and from the nature reservation "High Fens" (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 neighboring municipality of Malmedy to Belgian control.
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 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 is known in Belgium, as a conservative stronghold of the Roman Catholic Church.
Historical sketch
- 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 Guelders.
- 1477 Brabant and Limburg (with Eupen) become an (Austrian) Habsburg possession.
- 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.
- 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 German Empire and a popular Spa.
- 1919 Treaty of Versailles transfers Eupen to Belgium.
- 1920s extreme right groups in the style of the Nazi party form in Eupen.
- 1939 The Third Reich invades Belgium, Eupen becomes part of Third Reich.
- 1940 Eupen declares itself "Free from Jews"; the entire Eupen Jewish population dies in concentration camps.
- 1944 the US army occupies Eupen on the way to the Third Reich.
- 1945 Eupen again becomes part of Belgium; first lawsuit against Euper Nazi because of crimes against Jews.
- 1949 the left tower of St Nikolaus church burns down.
- 1952 last lawsuits against Eupern Nazi return from Soviet gulag.
- 1953 the centre of the municipality is flooded.
- 1970 the German Cultural Community is formed under Belgium first state reform.
- 1973 the historical centre of the municipality 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
- 1999 construction of the shopping mall "ATC".
- 2001 the shopping mall "ATC" goes bankrupt.
- 2002 The shopping mall reopens as "Euper Plaza".
External links
- Official Homepage
- Tourist Info
"Eupen". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
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