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German-speaking Community of Belgium

 

Contents

Flag

Meaning/Origin of the Flag

Map

Numbers and Facts

History

Origin of the Country's Name



Flag

Flagge Fahne flag Belgien Belgium België Belgique Flagge Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft in Belgien flag German speaking Community in Belgium Communauté germanophone Duitstalige Gemeenschap
Flag of the German-speaking Community of Belgium,
ratio = 1:1,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)



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Meaning/Origin of the Flag

The flag of the German-speaking Community in Belgium shows a white cloth, then a red lion, which is surrounded blue nine "cinquefoils". The nine blue flowers stand for the nine municipalities that make up the community. The red lion on white reminiscents of the Duchy of Limburg, on its former territory of the northern German communities lie, but also to the old Luxembourg, on its former territory of the southern German communities lie.

Source: Wikipedia (EN), Volker Preuss

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Map

Position within Belgium:

Source: Wikipedia (DE)

Map:

Source: El Bubi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Numbers and Facts

Area: 225 square miles

Inhabitants: 77.949 (2020), mostly Germans, any Walloons

Density of Population: 236 inh./sq.mi.

Capital: Eupen, 19.677 inh. (2019)

official Language: German

Currency: 1 Euro (EUR, €) = 100 Cents

Time Zone: GMT + 1 h

Source: Wikipedia (D), Discovery '97

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History

58–51 B.C. · Roman conquest

481–843 · to the Frankish Empire

3rd century A.D. · Settlement by Franks and Frisians

880 · Treaty of Verdun and Ribbemont, by the division of the Frankish Empire comes West-Flanders  to the West Frankish kingdom (France) and East-Flanders to the East Franconian Empire (German Empire)

to 12th century · to the Duchy of Limburg

to 1355 · to the Duchy Brabant

1355–1406 · to the Duchy of Luxemburg

1406–1477 · to the Duchy of Burgundy

1477 · to the House of Habsburg Spanish line

1713 · to the house of Habsburg, Austrian line

1794–1815 · annexed by France, Département Ourthe

1815 · Vienna Congress, today's eastern Belgium comes to Prussia

1871 · founding of the German Empire (2nd Empire)

1914–1918 · First World War

1919 · Peace Treaty of Versailles, Eupen-Malmedy becomes ceded to Belgium in 1920

1919–1925 · administration by the Belgian military

1925 · in Eupen-Malmedy is carried out a controversial and repressive referendum about the belonging to the German Empire or Belgium, remain in Belgium

1925–1928 · negotiations about the return to the German Empire, stopped by France

1939–1945 · Second World War, Eupen and Malmedy was annexed by the German Empire on 18th of May in 1940, joined in 1945 back to Belgium

1962–1963 · Definition of the linguistic border between the cultural communities, Brussels is bilingual, recognition of the German language as a regional language in East Belgium

1970 · first Belgian state reform, the cultural communities of the Flemings and Walloons received constitutional status, creation of the Council of the German cultural community in Wallonia

1983 · establish of the German Community in Eastern Belgium as part of Wallonia

2004 · formation of the Parliament of the German-speaking Community

Source: Wikipedia (D), Atlas zur Geschichte

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Origin of the Country's Name

The territory of the German-speaking Community in Belgium is sometimes called as "East Belgium". This name goes beck to the territory of "Eupen-Malmedy" (or "Eupen-Malmedy-St-Vith"). It was until 1920 a part of the German Empire and had to be ceded to Belgium as a result of the Versailles Dictate in connection with a questionable referendum. The area of Malmedy was connected to the "Walloon community", because it is inhabited mostly by Walloons.

Source: Wikipedia (D)

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