Malmedy’s history
Malmedy was founded by the Aquitain monk, bishop and missionary Remaclus, who was later canonized and who founded a Benedictine abbey here under the Franconian king Sigibert III in the mid-7th century. In the 10th century they founded the Princedom Stavelot-Malmedy, jointly with the Abbey Stablo, which was founded by the Merowingian Sigibald, .This continued to exist up until the time of the annexation by French revolutionary armies in 1795, when it was allocated to the Departement de l'Ourthe. It never was part of Burgundy, Spain, Austria or The Netherlands.
With the Vienna Congress of 1815, Malmedy was allocated to the Prussian kingdom, where it remained until the Contract of Versailles, 1919. During this time, jointly with St. Vith, it formed the county of Malmedy. After this, the area of today’s community was allocated to Belgium, with a short interruption from 1940 to 1945, when it was annexed by the German Reich.
From 1603 to 1658, the city of Malmedy was fortified. From the 16th century on, the now extinct leather industry came into being. From the 18th century on, Malmedy has been the center of the paper and leather industries.
