MALMDY

commune, Lige province, eastern Belgium. It is situated in the northern Ardennes, along the Warche River, southeast of Lige. Malmdy was established in the 7th century around a monastery founded by St. Remaclus, bishop of Maastricht. For more than 1,000 years thereafter, it (together with Stavelot) remained the seat of an ecclesiastical principality dependent on the Holy Roman Empire. It came under French rule from 1794 to 1814; and, together with the Eupen district, it was annexed to Prussia (1815) after the Congress of Vienna. Finally, it was awarded to Belgium (1920) after the Treaty of Versailles. Seized by Germany in World War II, it was heavily fought over during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. The town was the scene of the Malmdy Massacre (Dec. 17, 1944), in which advancing German SS troops murdered about 100 American soldiers who had surrendered to them. Malmdy's economy depends on tourism and the manufacture of paper, beer, and tanning fluid. Pop. (1990 est.) mun., 10,275.