German-speaking Community of Belgium

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The German-speaking Community of Belgium (German: Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens, short DGB) is one of the three federal communities in Belgium.^[1] It is the main part of the so-called East Cantons (German Ost-Kantone) of Belgium. It has an area of 854 km², and a population of over 73,000, of which almost 100% are German speaking (traditionally Ripuarian-speaking). Its capital is Eupen; it is part of the province of Liège and borders on the Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg.

[edit] History

The area known today as the East Cantons consists of the German-speaking Community and the municipalities of Malmedy and Waimes (Weismes), which belong to the French-Speaking Community of Belgium. The East Cantons were part of the Rhine Province of Prussia in Germany until 1920 (as the counties (Landkreise) of Eupen and Malmedy), but were annexed by Belgium following Germany's defeat in World War I and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles.^[2] Thus they also became known as the cantons rédimés, "redeemed cantons". The peace treaty of Versailles demanded the "questioning" of the local population, about their political status. This process was not carried out as an anonymous plebiscite. Instead those locals who were unwilling to become Belgians and who wanted the region to remain a part of Germany were required to register themselves along with their full name and address. In fact the Belgian military administration, headed by Herman Baltia, prevented an equitable carrying out of this "questioning" and the process was a farce as many locals feared reprisals or even expulsion after enlisting.

In the mid-1920s there were secret negotiations between Germany and Belgium and the kingdom of Belgium seemed to be inclined to sell the region back to Germany as a way to improve its finances. A price of 200 million gold marks has been mentioned.^[2] At this point the French government fearing for the complete postwar order intervened at Brussels and the Belgian-German talks were called off.

The new cantons had been part of Belgium for just 20 years when in 1940 they were retaken by Germany in World War II. The majority of people of the east cantons welcomed this as they considered themselves German. Following the defeat of Germany in 1945 the cantons were once again annexed by Belgium, and as a result of alleged collaboration with Nazi Germany an attempt was made to de-Germanize the local population by the Belgian and Wallonian authorities.

Starting in the early 1960s Belgium was divided into four linguistic areas, the Dutch speaking Flemish area, the French speaking area, the bilingual capital of Brussels, and the German speaking area of the east cantons. In 1973, three communities and three regions were established and granted internal autonomy. The legislative Parliament of the German-speaking Community, Rat der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, was set up. Today the German-speaking Community has a fair degree of autonomy, especially in language and cultural matters, but it still remains part of the region of French speaking Wallonia. There has been much argument in the past few years that the German-speaking Community should also become its own region which is an ongoing process with the permanent transfer with previous accord of some competences concerning social policy, conservation of sites and monuments, environment protection policy, transport, the financing of municipalities, among other things from the Walloon Region. One of the proponents of full regional autonomy for the German-speaking Community is the current Minister-President Karl-Heinz Lambertz.

[edit] Government

The German-speaking Community has its own government, which is appointed for five years by its parliament.^[3] The Government is headed by a Minister-President, who acts as the "prime minister" of the Community, and is assisted by the Ministry of the German-speaking Community. The government currently formed by four Ministers:

• Karl-Heinz Lambertz, Minister-President and Minister for District Authorities
• Bernd Gentges, Deputy Minister-President and Minister for Vocational Training and Employment, Social Policy and Tourism
• Oliver Paasch, Minister for Education and Research
• Isabelle Weykmans, Minister for Culture and Media, Monuments and Sites, Youth and Sport

[edit] Municipalities in the German-speaking Community

The German-speaking Community consists of the following nine municipalities:^[4]

• Amel
• Büllingen
• Burg-Reuland
• Bütgenbach
• Eupen
• Kelmis
• Lontzen
• Raeren
• Sankt Vith

[edit] List of Ministers-President of the German-speaking Community

[edit] Flag and coat of arms

In 1989, there was a call for proposals for a flag and arms of the Community. In the end the coat of arms of the Community was designed by merging the arms of the the Duchy of Limburg and the Duchy of Luxembourg, to which the two parts of the community had historically belonged.

A decree adopted on October 1, 1990 and published on November 15, 1990 prescribed the arms, the flag, the colours as well as the Day of the German-speaking Community of Belgium, which was to be celebrated annually on November 15.^[5]

The coat of arms, in heraldic blazon, is: Arms: Argent, a lion rampant gules between nine cinquefoils azure. Crest: A royal crown. The flag shows a red lion together with nine blue cinquefoils on a white field. The colours of the German-speaking Community are white and red in a horizontal position.

[edit] See also

• Parliament of the German-speaking Community
• German-speaking Europe

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Official site of the German-speaking Community in Belgium
• Parliament of the DG
• Official site of Karl-Heinz Lambertz, the current premier

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