Bastogne

Bastogne
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Bastogne in Luxembourg province
Bastogne Location in Belgium
Sovereign state	Belgium
Region	Wallonia
Community	French Community
Province	Luxembourg
Arrondissement	Bastogne
Coordinates	50°00′0″N 05°43′0″E / 50°N 5.716667°E / 50; 5.716667Coordinates: 50°00′0″N 05°43′0″E / 50°N 5.716667°E / 50; 5.716667
Area	172.03 km²
Population – Males – Females – Density	14,144 (2006-01-01) 49.53% 50.47% 82 inhab./km²
Foreigners	{{{foreigners}}}% ({{{foreigners-date}}})
Unemployment rate	12.13% (1 January 2006)
Mean annual income	€10,827/pers. (2003)
Mayor	Philippe Collard
Governing parties	Avenir
Postal codes	6600
Area codes	061
Website	www.bastogne.be

Bastogne (Dutch: Bastenaken, German: Bastenach, Luxembourgish: Baaschtnech) is a Belgian municipality located in the Walloon province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes. The municipality of Bastogne includes the old communes of Longvilly, Noville, Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, and Wardin. The town is situated on a ridge in the Ardennes at an altitude of 510m.

History

At the time of the Roman conquest the region of Bastogne was inhabited by the Treveri, a tribe of Gauls. A form of the name Bastogne was first mentioned only much later, in 634, when the local lord ceded these territories to the St Maximin's Abbey, near Trier. A century later, the Bastogne area went to the nearby Prüm Abbey. The town of Bastogne and its marketplace are again mentioned in an 887 document. By the 13th century, Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor and Count of Luxemburg, was minting coins in Bastogne. In 1332, John the Blind, his son, granted the city its charter and had it encircled by defensive walls, part of which, the current Porte de Trèves, still exists. In 1451, the lands of the county of Luxemburg were absorbed into the Duchy of Burgundy and as a result, Bastogne became part of the lands of the Spanish Crown when the Burgundian heir Charles became King of Spain in 1516.

The city’s walls were quite effective at protecting it during the troubled times that followed. The city’s economy actually flourished thanks to the renown of its agricultural and cattle fairs. The walls repelled a Dutch attack successfully in 1602. In 1688, they were dismantled by order of King Louis XIV when the town was occupied by French forces during the Nine Years War.

The 19th century and Belgium's independence were favourable to Bastogne as its forest products and cattle fairs became better known abroad. Several railway lines were built to link it to the neighbouring towns. This all came to an end with the German occupation during World War I.

World War II

Liberated by the Allies in late 1944, Bastogne was attacked by German forces shortly after. Hitler was, again, looking for control of the Ardennes. The goal was to advance to Antwerp, to cut off supply and separate British from American troops. On December 16, taking advantage of the cold and the fog, the German artillery started the so-called Battle of the Bulge by attacking the sparsely deployed American troops around Bastogne. A few days later, Brigadier General McAuliffe and the 101st Airborne Division along with elements of the 10th Armored Division arrived to counter-attack but, after heavy fighting, got encircled in the city. On December 22, German emissaries asked for the American surrender, to which the General answered quite briefly, “Nuts!” The next day, the weather cleared up, allowing air retaliation and the parachuting of much needed food, medicine, and weaponry. On December 26, the troops of General Patton broke the deadlock. The official end of the Battle of Bastogne only occurred three weeks later, when all fighting finally stopped.

Sights

The Mardasson Memorial (Battle of the Bulge, 1944)

• The Porte de Trèves, part of the defensive walls that had been erected in the 14th century by John the Blind, can still be seen.
• The Romanesque tower of St Pierre church and its baptismal fonts also date from the Middle Ages.
• The Mardasson Memorial, erected near Bastogne to honour the memory of the American soldiers wounded or killed during the Battle of the Bulge.
• Monuments to Brigadier General McAuliffe, General Patton and others can be found around town.

Folklore

The key character of all legends around Bastogne is the so-called piche-cacaye.^[1] Pronounced pishay-cackay.

Transportation

Bastogne originally had an NMBS/SNCB railway line connecting it to Libramont and to Gouvy. Passenger trains to Gouvy stopped in 1984 ^[2] and in the 1990s the line to Libramont was taken out of service ^[3][4]. The two station buildings in Bastogne remain, but are now used for other purposes. Part of the rail line has been converted into a cycle path

Sports

• Bastogne is the midpoint of the famous Liège-Bastogne-Liège classic bicycle race, one of the biggest events in the professional cycling calendar, dating from the end of the 19th century.
• The Circuit des Ardennes, which today refers to another bicycle race, used to refer to a 600-km-long car-racing event in the Bastogne area. The race used to attract famous enthusiasts, such as William II, German Emperor. It was relocated to Francorchamps around the time of World War I, where it now lives on as the Belgian Grand Prix.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bastogne

• Official city web site (in French)