At the time of the Roman conquest the region of Bastogne was inhabited by the
Treveri, a tribe of
Gauls. A form of the name Bastogne was first mentioned only much later, in 634, when the local lord ceded these territories to the
St. Maximin's Abbey, near
Trier. A century later, the Bastogne area went to the nearby
Prüm Abbey. The town of Bastogne and its marketplace are again mentioned in an 887 document. By the 13th century,
Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor and
Count of Luxembourg, was minting coins in Bastogne. In 1332,
John the Blind, his son, granted the city its charter and had it encircled by defensive walls, part of which, the current
Porte de Trèves, still exists. In 1451, the lands of the county of Luxemburg were absorbed into the
Duchy of Burgundy and as a result, Bastogne became part of the lands of the Spanish Crown when the Burgundian heir
Charles became king of
Spain in 1516. The city's walls were quite effective at protecting it during the troubled times that followed. The city's economy actually flourished thanks to the renown of its agricultural and cattle fairs. In 1602, the walls successfully repelled an attack by forces of the
Dutch Republic. In 1688, they were dismantled by order of King
Louis XIV when the town was occupied by French forces during the
Nine Years War. The 19th century and
Belgium's independence were favourable to Bastogne, as its forest products and cattle fairs became better known abroad. Several railway lines were built to link it to the neighbouring towns. This all came to an end with the
German occupation during
World War I.
World War II Liberated by the
Allies on 10 September 1944, Bastogne was attacked by German forces a few months later.
Hitler's plan was to regain control of the
Ardennes, splitting British from American forces, then advance to and reoccupy the strategic port of
Antwerp and cut off the key Allied supply line. The
Battle of the Bulge began on 16 December, when
German artillery, taking advantage of cold and fog, attacked the American divisions deployed sparsely around Bastogne. A few days later, Brigadier General
Anthony McAuliffe and the
101st Airborne Division along with elements of the
10th Armored Division and the
82nd Airborne Division, arrived to counter-attack but, after heavy fighting, became encircled within the town. On 22 December, German emissaries asked for the American surrender; McAuliffe answered tersely, "Nuts!" The next day the skies cleared, allowing Allied air forces to retaliate and to drop much-needed food, medicine, and weapons to ground forces. On 26 December, the
Third U.S. Army, under the command of
General George S. Patton, arrived and broke the
siege. The official end of the
Battle of Bastogne occurred three weeks later, when all fighting in the area ceased. Bastogne is the terminus of the
Liberty Road, the commemorative way that marks the path of liberating Allied forces, and of the Third Army that subsequently relieved Bastogne. == Geography ==