Liège, Wallonia, Belgium

🇧🇪 Liège is a major Walloon city and municipality and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. Liege is the last city of Wallonia that still maintains a functioning steel industry. Liège continues to be the economic and cultural capital of Wallonia, with its university, medieval heritage and heavy industry. The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 31.6 billion € in 2018.

The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from borders with the Netherlands (Maastricht is about 33 km (20.5 mi) to the north) and with Germany (Aachen is about 53 km (32.9 mi) north-east). In Liège, the Meuse meets the river Ourthe. The city is part of the sillon industriel, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia. It still is the principal economic and cultural centre of the region.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Angleur, Bressoux Chênée, Glain Grivegnée, Jupille-sur-Meuse, Liège, Rocourt, and Wandre. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,879 km² (725 sq mi). This includes a total of 52 municipalities, among others, Herstal and Seraing. Liège ranks as the third most populous urban area in Belgium, after Brussels and Antwerp, and the fourth municipality after Antwerp, Ghent and Charleroi.

Early Middle Ages Although settlements already existed in Roman times, the first references to Liège are from 558, when it was known as Vicus Leudicus. Around 705, Saint Lambert of Maastricht is credited with completing the Christianization of the region, indicating that up to the early 8th century the religious practices of antiquity had survived in some form. Christian conversion may still not have been quite universal, since Lambert was murdered in Liège and thereafter regarded as a martyr for his faith. To enshrine St. Lambert's relics, his successor, Hubertus (later to become St. Hubert), built a basilica near the bishop's residence which became the true nucleus of the city.

A few centuries later, the city became the capital of a prince-bishopric, which lasted from 985 till 1794. The first prince-bishop, Notger, transformed the city into a major intellectual and ecclesiastical centre, which maintained its cultural importance during the Middle Ages. Pope Clement VI recruited several musicians from Liège to perform in the Papal court at Avignon, thereby sanctioning the practice of polyphony in the religious realm. The city was renowned for its many churches, the oldest of which, St Martin's, dates from 682. Although nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire, in practice it possessed a large degree of independence.

Late Medieval and Early Modern Periods The strategic position of Liège has made it a frequent target of armies and insurgencies over the centuries. It was fortified early on with a castle on the steep hill that overlooks the city's western side. During this medieval period, three women from the Liège region made significant contributions to Christian spirituality: Elizabeth Spaakbeek, Christina the Astonishing, and Marie of Oignies.

In 1345, the citizens of Liège rebelled against Prince-Bishop Engelbert III de la Marck, their ruler at the time, and defeated him in battle near the city. Shortly after, a unique political system formed in Liège, whereby the city's 32 guilds shared sole political control of the municipal government. Each person on the register of each guild was eligible to participate, and each guild's voice was equal, making it the most democratic system that the Low Countries had ever known. The system spread to Utrecht, and left a democratic spirit in Liège that survived the Middle Ages.

At the end of the Liège Wars, a rebellion took place against rule from Burgundy. In 1468 Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy, witnessed by King Louis XI of France, captured and largely destroyed the city after a bitter siege which was ended with a successful surprise attack. The rebellion figures prominently in the plot of Sir Walter Scott's 1823 novel Quentin Durward.

The Prince-Bishopric of Liège was technically part of the Holy Roman Empire which, after 1477, came under the rule of the Habsburgs. The reign of prince-bishop Érard de La Marck (1506–1538) coincides with the dawn of the Renaissance.

During the Counter-Reformation, the diocese of Liège was split and progressively lost its role as a regional power. By the 17th century, the bishopric of Liège became a virtual Secundogeniture of the Bavarian royal house of Wittelsbach, with second sons of the Bavarian monarch ruling as prince-bishop. Beginning with the ascension of Ernest of Bavaria in 1581, Bavarian princes ruled over Cologne, Münster, and other bishoprics in the north-west of the Holy Roman Empire in addition to Liège. Ferdinand of Bavaria (bishop) ruled from 1612 to1650, and Maximilian Henry of Bavaria ruled from 1650 to 1688.

In 1636, during the Thirty Years' War, the city was besieged by Imperial forces under Johann von Werth from April to July. The army, mainly consisting of mercenaries, extensively and viciously plundered the surrounding bishopric during the siege.

18th century to World War I The Duke of Marlborough captured the city from the Bavarian prince-bishop and his French allies in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession.

In the middle of the eighteenth century the ideas of the French Encyclopédistes began to gain popularity in the region. Bishop François-Charles de Velbrück (1772–84), encouraged their propagation, thus prepared the way for the Liège Revolution which started in the episcopal city on 18 August 1789 and led to the creation of the Republic of Liège before it was invaded by counter-revolutionary forces of the Habsburg monarchy in 1791.

In the course of the 1794 campaigns of the French Revolution, the French Revolutionary Army took the city and imposed strongly anticlerical regime, destroying St. Lambert's Cathedral. The overthrow of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège was confirmed in 1801 by the Concordat co-signed by Napoléon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII. France lost the city in 1815 when the Congress of Vienna awarded it to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Dutch rule lasted only until 1830, when the Belgian Revolution led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic and neutral Belgium which incorporated Liège. After this, Liège developed rapidly into a major industrial city which became one of continental Europe's first large-scale steel making centres. The Walloon Jacquerie of 1886 saw a large-scale working class revolt. No less than 6,000 regular troops were called into the city to quell the unrest, while strike spread through the whole sillon industriel.

Liège's fortifications were redesigned by Henri Alexis Brialmont in the 1880s and a chain of twelve forts was constructed around the city to provide defence in depth. This presented a major obstacle to the Imperial German Army in 1914, whose Schlieffen Plan relied on being able to quickly pass through the Meuse valley and the Ardennes en route to France. The German invasion of Belgium on 5 August 1914 soon reached Liège, which was defended by 30,000 troops under General Gérard Leman in the Battle of Liège. The forts initially held off General Alexander von Kluck's German First Army of about 100,000 men but were pulverised into submission by a five-day bombardment by heavy artillery, including thirty-two 21 cm mortars and two German 42 cm Big Bertha howitzers. Due to faulty planning of the protection of the underground defense tunnels beneath the main citadel, one direct artillery hit caused a huge explosion, which eventually led to the surrender of the Belgian forces. The Belgian resistance was shorter than had been intended, but the twelve days of delay caused by the siege nonetheless contributed to the eventual failure of the German invasion of France. The city was subsequently occupied by the Germans until the end of the war. Liège received the Légion d'Honneur for its resistance in 1914.

As part of Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg's Septemberprogramm, Berlin planned to annexe Liege under the name Lüttich to the German Empire in any post-war peace agreement.

World War II to the present The Germans returned in 1940, this time taking the forts in only three days. Most Jews were saved, with the help of the sympathetic population, as many Jewish children and refugees were hidden in the numerous monasteries. Liege was liberated by the British Second Army in September 1944.

After the war ended, the Royal Question came to the fore, since many saw King Leopold III as collaborating with the Germans during the war. In July 1950, André Renard, leader of the Liégeois FGTB launched the General strike against Leopold III of Belgium and "seized control over the city of Liège". The strike ultimately led to Leopold's abdication.

Liège began to suffer from a relative decline of its industry, particularly the coal industry, and later the steel industry, producing high levels of unemployment and stoking social tension. During the 1960-1961 Winter General Strike, disgruntled workers went on a rampage and severely damaged the central railway station Guillemins. The unrest was so intense that "army troops had to wade through caltrops, trees, concrete blocks, car and crane wrecks to advance. Streets were dug up. Liège saw the worst fighting on 6 January 1961. In all, 75 people were injured during seven hours of street battles".

Liège is also known as a traditionally socialist city.

Liège has shown some signs of economic recovery in recent years with the opening up of borders within the European Union, surging steel prices, and improved administration. Several new shopping centres have been built, and numerous repairs carried out.

Culture The city is well known for its very crowded folk festivals. The 15 August festival ("Le 15 août") may be the best known. The population gathers in a quarter named Outre-Meuse with plenty of tiny pedestrian streets and old yards. Many people come to see the procession but also to drink alcohol (mostly peket) and beer, eat cooked pears, boûkètes or sausages or simply enjoy the atmosphere until the early hours. The Saint Nicholas festival around 6 December is organized by and for the students of the University; for a few days before the event, students (wearing very dirty lab-coats) beg for money, mostly for drinking.

Liège is renowned for its nightlife. Within the pedestrian zone behind the Opera House, there is a square city block known locally as Le Carré (the Square) with many lively pubs which are reputed to remain open until the last customer leaves (typically around 6 am). Another active area is the Place du Marché.

The "Batte" market is where most locals visit on Sundays. The outdoor market goes along the river Meuse and also attracts many visitors to Liège. The market typically runs from early morning to 2 o'clock in the afternoon every Sunday year long. Produce, clothing, and snack vendors are the main concentration of the market.

Liège is home to the Opéra Royal de Wallonie (English: Royal Opera of Wallonia) and the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (OPRL) (English: Liège Royal Philharmonic Orchestra).

The city annually hosts a significant electro-rock festival Les Ardentes and jazz festival Jazz à Liège.

Liège has active alternative cinemas, Le Churchill, Le Parc and Le Sauvenière. There are also two mainstream cinemas, the Kinepolis multiplexes.

Liège also has a particular Walloon dialect, sometimes said to be one of Belgium's most distinctive. There is a large Italian community, and Italian can be heard in many places.

Sport The city has a number of football teams, most notably Standard Liège, who have won several championships and which was previously owned by Roland Duchâtelet, and R.F.C. de Liège, one of the oldest football clubs in Belgium. It is also known for being the club who refused to release Jean-Marc Bosman, a case which led to the Bosman ruling.

In spring, Liège hosts the start and finish of the annual Liège–Bastogne–Liège cycling race, one of the spring classics and the oldest of the five monuments of cycling. The race starts in the centre of Liège, before heading south to Bastogne and returning north to finish in the industrial suburb of Ans. Traveling through the hilly Ardennes, it is one of the longest and most arduous races of the season.

Liège is the only city that has hosted stages of all three cycling Grand Tours. It staged the start of the 1973 and 2006 Giro d'Italia; as well as the Grand Départ of the 2004, 2012, and 2017 Tour de France making it the first city outside France to host the Grand Départ twice or more times. In 2009, the Vuelta a España visited Liège after four stages in the Netherlands, making Liège the first city that has hosted stages of all three cycling Grand Tours.

Economy Liège is the most important city of the Walloon region from an economic perspective. In the past, Liège was one of the most important industrial centres in Europe, particularly in steel-making. Starting in 1817, John Cockerill extensively developed the iron and steel industry. The industrial complex of Seraing was the largest in the world. It once boasted numerous blast furnaces and mills. Liège has also been an important centre for gunsmithing since the Middle ages and the arms industry is still strong today, with the headquarters of FN Herstal and CMI Defence being located in Liège. Although from 1960 on the secondary sector is going down and now is a mere shadow of its former self, the manufacture of steel goods remain important.

The economy of the region is now diversified; the most important centres are: Mechanical industries (Aircraft engine and Spacecraft propulsion), space technology, information technology, biotechnology and the production of water, beer or chocolate. Liège has an important group of headquarters dedicated to high-technology, such as Techspace Aero, which manufactures pieces for the Airbus A380 or the rocket Ariane 5. Other stand-out sectors include Amós which manufactures optical components for telescopes and Drytec, which produces compressed air dryers. Liège also has many other electronic companies such as SAP, EVS, Gillam, AnB, Balteau, IP Trade. Other prominent businesses are the global leader in light armament FN Herstal, the beer company Jupiler, the chocolate company Galler, and the water and soda companies Spa and Chaudfontaine. A science park south east of the city, near the University of Liège campus, houses spin-offs and high technology businesses.

University of Liège The University of Liège (French: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301–350 category worldwide according to Times Higher Education, 451st by QS World University Rankings, and between the 201st and 300th place by the Academic Ranking of World Universities. More than 2,000 people, including academics, scientists and technicians, are involved in research of a wide variety of subjects from basic research to applied research.

HEC Liège Management School HEC Liège Management School - University of Liège (in French, HEC Liège - École de gestion de l'Université de Liège and shortened as HEC Liège) is the college and graduate school of the University of Liège in the fields of economics, finance, business administration, entrepreneurship and engineering management (business IT management, management science, operational research & business process engineering).

The Liège university school of business & economics also covers, among other things, public economics & public finance, accounting & tax, insurance & actuarial science, international business & economics, marketing, a wide range of foreign languages, information management systems, e-commerce, real estate, corporate finance, environmental-green-&-ecological management, portfolio administration, financial risk engineering & asset management, industrial economics, sport & leisure business management, financial markets & banking, leadership, tourismanagement, entrepreneurship, operations & production management, applied sciences & technological management, corporate strategy & governance, econometrics, supply chain management & logistics, stock market analysis, HR management, ICT & business computing, digital marketing & e-business as well as not-for-profit & social development management.

The foreign languages taught are French, English, Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese. The school counts about 2.500 students among all of its programmes.

HEC Liège delivers diplomas such as BS, Master, MA, MS, MBAs, MPAs, MPhil, PhD as well as executive education diplomas (specialized complementary master's degrees) and teaching licenses of economics & business.

NB: In Belgium, universities offer academic programmes in Business Engineering. These studies are combining business administration, finance, economics with mathematics, statistics, sciences (physics, chemistry), management science and technologies for the main but also computer science as well as social science (ethics and law) and foreign languages. They are composed of a Bachelor of Science (B.S. ; 3-year track) and followed by a master's degree (M.S.) leading to the title of "Business Engineer" ("Ingénieur de gestion" in French/ "Wirtschaftsingenieur" in German / "Handelsingenieur" in Dutch / "Ingegnere Gestionale" in Italian). Graduates are granted at the end of the five (or more) years a diploma of "Master of Science in Business Engineering". HEC Liège is member of both the AACSB and the EFMD. In 2011, the school received the EPAS accreditation from the EFMD for its MS in Management and PhD programmes.

Liège Science Park Liège Science Park is a business incubator and science park of the University of Liège and is located on the territories of the municipalities of Seraing and Liège in Belgium.

Tourist Industry • The vast palace of the Prince-Bishops of Liège is built on the Place St Lambert, where the old St. Lambert's Cathedral used to stand before the French Revolution. The oldest rooms date from the 16th century. An archeological display, the Archéoforum, can be visited under the Place St Lambert. • The perron on the nearby Place du Marché was once the symbol of justice in the Prince-Bishopric and is now the symbol of the city. It stands in front of the 17th century city hall. • The seven collegiate churches of Liège: ◦ St Paul (raised to cathedral status as Liège Cathedral in 1802, after the demolition of St Lambert's Cathedral), It contains a treasury and Saint Lambert's tomb. ◦ St James (raised to collegiate status after the demolition of St Peter's Collegiate Church in 1811). Built in the flamboyant gothic style, with an early Renaissance porch. The statues are by Liège sculptor Jean Del Cour. Saint-Jacques contains 29 14th-century misericords. ◦ St Martin ◦ St Denis ◦ St John the Evangelist ◦ Holy Cross ◦ St Bartholomew • The main museums in Liège are: ◦ La Boverie (Musée des Beaux-Arts) ◦ Museum of Walloon Life ◦ Museum of Walloon Art & Religious Art (Mosan art) ◦ The Grand Curtius Museum is an elegantly furnished mansion from the 17th century along the river Meuse, housing collections of Egyptology, weaponry, archaeology, fine arts, religious art and Mosan art. • Other sites of interest include the historical city centre (the Carré), the Hors-Château area, the Outremeuse  area, the parks and boulevards along the river Meuse, the Citadel, the 374 steps stairway "Montagne de Bueren", leading from Hors-Château to the Citadel, 'Médiacité' shopping mall designed by Ron Arad Architects and the Liège-Guillemins railway station designed by Santiago Calatrava. • Liège's pedestrian zone is the biggest pedestrian zone of the Walloon Region and the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion; it is also the oldest in Belgium. The pedestrian zone progressively has grown since 1965 to contain the majority of the hypercentre of Liège. It continues to grow today with the addition of the Rue de la Casquette on 12 December 2014.

Transport: Air Liège is served by Liège Airport, located in Bierset, a few km west of the city. It is the principal axis for the delivery of freight and in 2011 was the world's 33rd busiest cargo airport. Passenger services are very few.

Maritime The Port of Liège, located on the river Meuse, is the 3rd largest river port in Europe. Liège also has direct links to Antwerp through the Albert Canal and to Rotterdam via the river Meuse.

Transport: Rail Liège is served by many direct rail links with the rest of Western Europe. Its three principal stations are Liège-Guillemins railway station, Liège-Carré, and Liège-Saint-Lambert. The InterCity Express and Thalys call at Liège-Guillemins, providing direct connections to Cologne and Frankfurt and Paris-Nord respectively.

Liège was once home to a network of trams. However, they were removed by 1967 in favour of the construction of a new metro system. A prototype of the metro was built and a tunnel was dug underneath the city, but the metro was never built. The construction of a new modern tramway has been ordered and was once scheduled to open by 2017; however the first rails were only laid in April 2021.

Transport: Road Liège sits at the crossroads of a number of highways including the European route E25, the European Route E42, the European Route E40 and the European Route E313.