Kelmis (; , ) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

located in the Belgian province of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, named for the historical deposits of

calamine Calamine, also known as calamine lotion, is a medication made from powdered calamine (mineral), calamine mineral that is used to treat mild itchiness. Conditions treated include sunburn, insect bites, Toxicodendron radicans, poison ivy, poiso ...

(

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

ore) nearby. , the population was 10,881; the area is , and the

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is . The municipality comprises the following sub-municipalities: Kelmis proper,

Hergenrath Hergenrath () or Hergenraedt (Dutch language, Standard Dutch: ''Hergenraat''; Limburgish: ''Herjent'') is a village and deelgemeente, sub-municipality in Belgium. It is located in the municipality of Kelmis in Liège Province, part of Wallonia. I ...

, and

Neu-Moresnet Neu-Moresnet (, ) is a village and deelgemeente, sub-municipality of Kelmis in the German-speaking Community of Belgium, German-speaking community of the province of Liège Province, Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. The village was founded as Prussian-Mo ...

. The territory around the

Vieille Montagne Vieille Montagne () was a zinc mine in Kelmis (La Calamine), a town in Belgium between Liège and Aachen. The mine's name is French for "old mountain" or "old mine", and this is also reflected in its German name, (earlier, ). The mine was once ...

mine in Kelmis was

Neutral Moresnet Neutral Moresnet (, , , ) was a small Belgian–Prussian condominium in western Europe that existed from 1816 to 1921 and was administered jointly by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (Belgium after its independence in 1830) and the Kingdo ...

, a neutral

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

(later

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) from 1816 to 1919, with the Mayor of Kelmis nominated by two commissioners from the neighbouring countries. Although there were attempts by locals to make it evolve into a fully independent

microstate A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or land area, usually both. However, the meanings of "state" and "very small" are not well-defined in international law. Some recent attempts to define microstates ...

, all of them were thwarted, and it remained under double sovereignty and neutrality until its eventual annexation by Belgium after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. There is a war memorial to German soldiers from Kelmis who were killed during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, located in the Aachener Strasse, and one to inhabitants of Kelmis who were killed in the First and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

s, located in the Kirchplatz (French: ''Place de l'Église''). A small museum in Kelmis, the ''Museum Vieille Montagne'', includes exhibits on Neutral Moresnet. Of the 60 border markers for the territory, more than 50 are still standing. In the nineteenth century, a Low Dietsch dialect was spoken in Kelmis. Today, Kelmis is German-speaking. It has facilities for French speakers, and is one of the nine municipalities of the

German‑speaking Community of Belgium The German-speaking Community (, , DG), also known as East Belgium ( ), is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. The community is composed of nine municipalities in Liège Province, Wallonia, within the Eupen-Malmedy region in East ...

References

External links

* * * Capitals of former nations Neutral Moresnet {{Liege-geo-stub

See also

References

External links