Malmedy

That Belgium is trilingual is well known to everyone. And that the German-speaking area comprises the towns of Eupen and Malmedy is also fairly common knowledge. But why is Malmedy Belgian territory? In my collection of postcards from the German Reich, there are two pieces where the designation (Kr. Malmedy) is found in the bottom margin of the stamps. This sparked my curiosity about the history of that area. I read on the internet that Malmedy belonged to the Southern Netherlands until the year 1795. The area was annexed by the French and then belonged to the Department of Ourthe under the name Malmédy. In 1815, the Eastern Cantons (Eupen, Malmedy, and St. Vith) were assigned to Prussia during the Congress of Vienna. Malmedy became part of the Rhine Province. The name was changed to Malmünd, but this was not used by everyone. The first postcard was sent on February 16, 1907, from Burgreuland (now Burg-Reuland) to Herbesthal. Both places are located in the Malmedy district. However, the arrival stamp from Herbesthal has only a letter 'a' in the bottom segment. It is remarkable, though, that the card took less than eight hours to travel. A distance of 70 kilometers by road. The second postcard is also addressed to Mr. Bangert in Herbesthal. The card was sent on September 30, 1914, from Weismes, also in Kreis Malmedy. Unfortunately, an arrival stamp is missing. The distance is half, 35 kilometers. The First World War had broken out on July 28, 1914, only a few months before that. After the First World War, in 1919, Malmedy was assigned to Belgium under the Treaty of Versailles. Malmedy was German again only from 1940 to 1944. The massacre that took place on December 17, 1944, during the Battle of the Ardennes is notorious. 90 American prisoners of war perished in it. After the war, the area of ​​Eupen and Malmedy became part of Belgium again. And it remains so to this day. Seemingly a very quiet area, but with a turbulent history.