St. Vith
Sankt Vith
Saint Vith (French) | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 50°16′N 06°07′E / 50.267°N 6.117°E | |
Country | Belgium |
Community | German-speaking Community of Belgium |
Region | Wallonia |
Province | Liège |
Arrondissement | Verviers |
Government | |
• Mayor | Herbert Grommes (cdH) |
• Governing party/ies | NBA Grommes |
Area | |
• Total | 147.15 km2 (56.81 sq mi) |
Population (2018-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 9,682 |
• Density | 66/km2 (170/sq mi) |
Postal codes | 4780-4784 |
NIS code | 63067 |
Area codes | 080 |
Website | www.st.vith.be |
St. Vith (German: Sankt Vith [zaŋkt ˈfɪt]; French: Saint-Vith [sɛ̃ vit] ⓘ; Luxembourgish: Sankt Väit [ˌzɑŋkt ˈvæːɪt]; Walloon: Sint-Vit) is a city and municipality of East Belgium located in the Walloon province of Liège. It was named after Saint Vitus. The majority language here is German, as in the rest of the German Speaking Community of Belgium.
On January 1, 2006, St. Vith had a total population of 9,169. The total area is 146.93 km2, giving a population density of 62 inhabitants per km2. The official language of the municipality is German.
The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities: Sankt Vith, Crombach, Lommersweiler, Recht, and Schönberg.
History
St. Vith was an important marketplace of the region by the 12th century and received town rights in 1350. The town was damaged by fires in 1543, 1602, and 1689. It was part of the Duchy of Luxemburg then of France until the defeat of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. As a result of the Congress of Vienna it was given to the Kingdom of Prussia.
St. Vith was transferred to Belgium on March 6, 1925, by the Treaty of Versailles after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I.
An important road and railway junction, St. Vith was fought over in the 1944 Battle of the Bulge during World War II. The United States Army defended the town against German assault for a few days, delaying the German attack plan, before eventually being forced to retreat. Once it was captured by German forces, the town was bombed by the US Army Air Forces on 25 and 26 December 1944 and by RAF Bomber Command with 300 aircraft on the 26.[2] St. Vith was mostly destroyed during the ground battle and subsequent air attack. American forces retook the town on January 23, 1945. The only pre-war architecture remaining is the Büchel Tower.
St. Vith is the setting for Michael Oren's novel, Reunion, concerning a fictional reunion of an American battalion which participated in the Battle of the Bulge.
Sister cities
See also
References
- ^ "Wettelijke Bevolking per gemeente op 1 januari 2018". Statbel. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ "Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Battle Diary December 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive
Further reading
- Makos, Adam (2019). Spearhead (1st ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 69, 88. ISBN 9780804176729. LCCN 2018039460. OL 27342118M.
External links
- Media related to Sankt-Vith at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Pages using the Phonos extension
- Webarchive template other archives
- Articles with short description
- Short description is different from Wikidata
- Articles containing French-language text
- Coordinates on Wikidata
- Pages using infobox settlement with image map1 but not image map
- Articles containing German-language text
- Pages with German IPA
- Pages with French IPA
- Pages including recorded pronunciations
- Articles containing Luxembourgish-language text
- Pages with Luxembourgish IPA
- Articles containing Walloon-language text
- Commons category link from Wikidata
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- Articles with J9U identifiers
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- Articles with NKC identifiers
- Articles with MusicBrainz area identifiers
- St. Vith
- Cities in Wallonia
- Pages using the Kartographer extension