Bastogne: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 59 - 59 Le Merceny Motel
 This hotel benefits from modern sound-proofed rooms with free wired internet, only 5 minutes’ drive from the A25 motorway. Merceny Motel is part of … MoreEUR 65 - 145 Hotel Leo At Home
 Leo offers sound-proofed rooms with free wired internet and cable TV in the centre of Bastogne. This design hotel was established in 1946 and is situa… MoreEUR 67 - 157 Best Western Hotel Melba
 Best Western offers accommodation with free Wi-Fi in the town centre. It is only a 5-minute drive from Bastogne Historic Centre museum and benefits fr… More | ||||||||||||||||||
Bastogne: Guide
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Bastogne (German: Bastenach,
Belgian Municipalities in Belgium|municipality located in the Wallonia|Walloon Provinces of Belgium|province of Luxembourg (province of Belgium)|Luxembourg in the Ardennes. The municipality of Bastogne includes the old communes of Longvilly, Noville, Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, and Wardin.
History
Origins until World War I
Before 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 of Bohemia|John the Blind, his son, granted the city its charter and had it circled by defensive walls, part of which, the current Porte de Trèves, still subsists.
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. The walls repelled a Netherlands|Dutch attack successfully in 1602. In 1688, they were dismantled by order of King Louis XIV.
The 19th century and Belgian Revolution|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 Germany|German occupation during World War I.
World War II
In December 1944, after Bastogne had already been liberated, and as a last-ditch effort to avoid complete defeat, Hitler’s troops attacked again in the Ardennes, just as they did in 1914 and 1940. The goal was to advance to Antwerp, to cut off supply and separate British from American troops. On December 16, taking advantage of the cold and the fog, the Wehrmacht|German artillery started the so-called Battle of the Bulge by attacking the sparsely deployed American troops around Bastogne. A few days later, Anthony McAuliffe|General McAuliffe and the 101st Airborne Division arrived to counter-attack but, after heavy fighting, got encircled in the city. On December 22, German emissaries asked for the American surrender, to which the General’s answer was quite brief: “Nuts!”. The next day, the weather cleared up, allowing air retaliation and the parachuting of much needed food, medicine, and weaponry. On December 26, the troops of George S. Patton|General Patton broke the deadlock. The official end of the Battle of Bastogne only occurred three weeks later, when all fighting finally stopped. By that time, the city was completely destroyed and more than 25,000 people had been killed, not counting the more than 50,000 who were never found.
Sights
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The key character of all legends around Bastogne is the so-called piche-cacaye.
Bastogne originally had an NMBS/SNCB railway line connecting it to Libramont and to Gouvy. Passenger trains to Gouvy stopped in 1984 - rail.lu and in the 1990s the line to Libramont was taken out of service . The two station buildings in Bastogne remain, but are now used for other purposes. Part of the rail line has been converted into a cycle path
Bastogne is the midpoint of the famous Liège-Bastogne-Liège classic bicycle race, one of the biggest events in the professional cycling calendar, dating from the end of the 19th century.
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Bastogne". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
The Porte de Trèves, part of the defensive walls that had been erected in the 14th century by John of Bohemia|John the Blind, can still be seen.
The Romanesque tower of the St Martin church and its baptismal fonts also date from the Middle Ages.
The Mardasson Memorial was erected near Bastogne to honour the memory of the 76,890 American soldiers who were wounded or killed during the Battle of the Bulge. Besides the memorial is the Bastogne Historical Centre, which houses uniforms, vehicles, and other memorabilia. It also shows a 24-minute movie assembled from footage shot during the battle.
Monuments to Anthony McAuliffe|General McAuliffe, George S. Patton|General Patton, and others can be found around town.Folklore
Transportation
Sports
The Circuit des Ardennes, which today refers to another bicycle race, used to refer to a 600-km-long car-racing event in the Bastogne area. The race used to attract famous enthusiasts, such as William II, German Emperor. It was relocated to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps|Francorchamps around the time of World War I, where it now lives on as the Belgian Grand Prix.References
External links
(in French language|French)