Misplaced Pages

St. Vith

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
This article is about the municipality. For the saint, see Saint Vitus. For the WWII battle, see Battle of St. Vith. For the canton, see Eupen Sankt Vith. Municipality in German-speaking Community of Belgium, Belgium
Sankt Vith Saint Vith (French)
Municipality
View of St. VithView of St. Vith
Flag of Sankt VithFlagCoat of arms of Sankt VithCoat of arms
Location of Sankt Vith
Sankt Vith is located in BelgiumSankt VithSankt VithLocation in Belgium Location of St. Vith in the province of Liège
Coordinates: 50°16′N 06°07′E / 50.267°N 6.117°E / 50.267; 6.117
Country Belgium
Community German-speaking Community of Belgium
RegionWallonia
ProvinceLiège
ArrondissementVerviers
Government
 • MayorHerbert Grommes (cdH)
 • Governing party/iesNBA Grommes
Area
 • Total147.15 km (56.81 sq mi)
Population
 • Total9,682
 • Density66/km (170/sq mi)
Postal codes4780-4784
NIS code63067
Area codes080
Websitewww.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 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 km, giving a population density of 62 inhabitants per km. 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.

American soldiers in St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge

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. 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 [fr; de].

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

  1. "Wettelijke Bevolking per gemeente op 1 januari 2018". Statbel. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  2. "Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Battle Diary December 1944 Archived 2007-07-06 at the UK Government Web Archive

Further reading

External links

Places adjacent to St. Vith
Stavelot
Trois-Ponts		 Malmedy, Amel Büllingen
Vielsalm (WLX) St. Vith Auw bei Prüm (DE-RP)
Oberlascheid (DE-RP)
Bleialf (DE-RP)
Mützenich (DE-RP)
Burg-Reuland Winterscheid (DE-RP)
Winterspelt (DE-RP)
Municipalities in the province of Liège, Wallonia
Huy
Liège
Verviers
Waremme
Categories: