Eupen

Town in the province of Liège, Belgium, 14 km/9 mi south of the German border city of Aachen; population (2006 est) 18,200. Eupen is predominantly German-speaking, having been part of Prussia (and thereafter the German Empire) from the early 19th century to the end of World War I.

The Treaty of Versailles (1919) stipulated that the districts of Eupen and Malmédy should be transferred from Germany to Belgium if the inhabitants wished it, as a subsequent plebiscite indicated that they did. When Belgium capitulated to the Germans in May 1940, Eupen once more fell to Germany but was returned to Belgium in 1945.