Amel
Encyclopedia
Amel is a Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the Walloon province of Liège
Liège (province)
Liège is the easternmost province of Belgium and belongs to the Walloon Region. It is an area of French and German ethnicity. It borders on the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and in Belgium the provinces of Luxembourg, Namur, Walloon Brabant , and those of Flemish Brabant and Limburg . Its...

, and is part of the German-speaking Community of Belgium
German-speaking Community of Belgium
The German-speaking Community of Belgium is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. Covering an area of 854 km² within the province of Liège in Wallonia, it includes nine of the eleven municipalities of the so-called East Cantons...

 .

On January 1, 2006 Amel had a total population of 5,282. The total area is 125.15 km² which gives a population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 42 inhabitants per km².
There are seventeen villages in Amel: Schoppen, Stephanshof, Iveldingen, Eibertingen, Montenau, Born, Deidenberg
Deidenberg
Deidenberg is a town in the German-speaking Community of Belgium. It is part of the municipality of Amel in the province of Liege ....

, Medell, Möderscheid, Hepscheid, Heppenbach, Halenfeld, Mirfeld, Valender, Wereth, Meyerode and Herresbach
Herresbach
Herresbach is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-External links:*...

.

The name Amel is of Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

ic origin and means water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

. The river Amblève
Amblève (river)
The Amblève or Amel is a 93 km long river in eastern Belgium in the province of Liège. It is a right tributary of the river Ourthe. It rises near Büllingen in the High Fens , close to the border with Germany.Tributaries of the Amblève are the rivers Warche, Eau Rouge, Salm and Lienne...

  flows through the municipality.

Amel is the birthplace of Karl-Heinz Lambertz
Karl-Heinz Lambertz
Karl-Heinz Lambertz , is a jurist and politician, currently the leader of the Government of the German-speaking Community of Belgium. He is noted for voicing an outspoken demand for his community, numbering about 70,000 around Eupen, to be separated from Wallonia and be recognised as a autonomous...

, current leader (Minister-President
Minister-President
A minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...

) of the community executive of the German-speaking community of Belgium
German-speaking Community of Belgium
The German-speaking Community of Belgium is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. Covering an area of 854 km² within the province of Liège in Wallonia, it includes nine of the eleven municipalities of the so-called East Cantons...

.

History

In 716, the Battle of Amblève
Battle of Amblève
The Battle of Amblève took place in 716 near Amel. The mayor of the palace of Austrasia, Charles Martel, defeated his Neustrian and Frisian rivals who were led by King Chilperic II, his mayor Ragenfrid, and Radbod, Duke of the Frisians. It was the first major victory of Martel in a long career of...

, between Charles Martel
Charles Martel
Charles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...

 with the Austrasia
Austrasia
Austrasia formed the northeastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Metz served as its capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Rheims, Trier, and...

ns on one side and the joined forces of the Frisia
Frisia
Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...

ns and Neustria
Neustria
The territory of Neustria or Neustrasia, meaning "new [western] land", originated in 511, made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, approximating most of the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities...

ns under Ragenfrid
Ragenfrid
Ragenfrid was the mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy from 715, when he filled the vacuum in Neustria caused by the death of Pepin of Heristal, until 718, when Charles Martel finally established himself over the whole Frankish kingdom.His original centre of power was the Véxin...

 and Chilperic II
Chilperic II
Chilperic II , born Daniel, the youngest son of Childeric II, was king of Neustria from 715 and sole king of the Franks from 718 until his death. He was the last Merovingian dynast to exercise any authority on his own....

on the other side, was the first victory for Charles Martel.

External links

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