Although settlements already existed in Roman times, the first references to Liège are from 558, when it was known as Vicus Leudicus. 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. 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 course of the 1794 campaigns of the French Revolution, the French army took the city and imposed strongly anticlerical regime, destroying the cathedral of Saint Lambert. The overthrow of the prince-bishopric 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 centers.
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 defense in depth. This presented a major obstacle to Germany's 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 on August 5, 1914 soon reached Liège, which was defended by 30,000 troops under General Gérard Leman (see Battle of Liège). The forts initially held off an attacking force of about 100,000 men but were pulverized into submission by a five-day bombardment by the Germans' 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.
The Germans returned in 1940, this time taking the forts in only three days. The German occupiers were expelled by the Allies of World War II in September 1944 but Liège was subsequently subjected to intense aerial bombardment, with more than 1,500 V1 and V2 missiles landing in the city between its liberation and the end of the war. 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 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 centers have been built, and numerous repairs carried out.
Take a Day Trip:
I took a Day Trip to Liège on 7 January 2012; mostly just to get out of the house after seven days of cold, rainy, gloomy weather. I have wanted to visit Liège for some time but the drive, parking, and language barrier had put me off time and time again. I went online to see if it was possible, with not too much effort, to get there by train. As it turns out, going by train is probably the best way to go unless you have a large family.
There is regular train service between Maastricht and Liège so my first goal was to get to Maastricht. I didn't want to pay for parking in Maastricht so I looked for local train stations that I could walk, bike, or drive to. I choose to use the station in Meersen because I have been to Meersen many times (there is a beautiful Basilica there), it is close to my house, and they have FREE parking at the train station. To get to the Meersen Train Station plug the following address into your GPS: Stationplein 1, 6231 Meersen, NL.
Park in the lot and walk around the fence to the station's building. HINT: Do not leave any valuables visible in your car. I always clean out my car before trips so there is no temptation for anyone to break in. This is not a manned station so you have to buy your ticket at the NS Ticket machine. There is a button to change the language on the machine to English. The fares are different on weekdays and weekends so make sure you make the right choice. You can buy one ticket to take you all the way to Liège or you can just buy a ticket to Maastricht. A round-trip ticket, weekend rate, from Meersen to Liège costs €11.00. A round-trip ticket just to the Maastricht station, weekend rate, is €4.20. You must pay with coins or a Pin Card. I didn't have enough change for a ticket to Liège so I only bought a ticket to Maastricht and then I planned on buying a ticket there for the trip to Liège.
The train from Maastricht to Liège departs at :10 and :20 minutes after the hour on weekdays but only at :10 on weekends. So I recommend you take the :16 or :36 train from Meersen if you start out there. If you start at another station you want to get to Maastricht no later than ten minutes before the hour so you can get your next ticket (if necessary) and find your platform (5a) for the train to Liège.
A 2nd Class, adult, full fare, round-trip ticket from Maastricht to Liège, purchased at the counter, cost me €5.60. That means that buying the tickets separately costs only €9.70; €1.30 cheaper than buying one ticket at Meersen. The train departs from platform 5a. The train to Liège is an older train, seen here, but it was clean and comfortable (except for the bathrooms, which were disgusting). Make sure you sit in the correct class; it is marked on the outside of the car. If you are in the wrong class, as I was, the conductor will politely ask you to move. The 1st class area has softer cloth covered seats and the 2nd class area has blue vinyl seats. You can see the uniform of a conductor in this photo. He will ask to see your ticket and punch it. There is not much to see on the ride but it only takes 30 minutes with four stops along the way (Maastricht Randwyck, Eysden, Vise`, and Bressoux) All these stops are for less than a minute.
When you arrive at the Liège-Guillemins station, you can go up the escalator and then exit the building down the front steps (an impressive view - see photo at left) or you can go down the steps between the platforms to the lobby or terminal of the station. Downstairs you can find restrooms, some shops, and cafes.
To get to the city center shopping district, just go straight out the front of the station and turn left. Head in the direction shown by the arrow on my map shown here. It is about a mile and there is lots to see on the way. I did not have a city map on my trip but I recommend you get one. The streets are well marked with street names on the sides of buildings at intersections. I just followed the traffic signs for "Centrum". Every once in a while I came across a city map on a pole as shown here on the right. These are very helpful because they show where you are standing on the map.While the common language here is strictly French, I had no trouble at all ordering food. The people I talked to were patient and polite as I gestured and threw in the few French words that I know. Prices are generally about 10-20% cheaper than in The Netherlands. The shopping district is huge and I barely scratched the surface. My main goal of this trip was to get out of the house and learn how to travel to Liège by train. I did go in St. Paul's Church and it is a beautiful Gothic style church. There is an English language pamphlet available for € 0.20 in the back of the church. There is also a museum of some sort there but there was a fee and I didn't have the time on this trip to go see it.
The return trip was easier since I now knew the layout of the two train stations and already had my tickets. On weekends, trains depart Liège at :17 after the hour until the last train at 2217 hrs. The train departs from platform 4. I arrived at the Maastricht station at 1855 and the train to Meersen departed at 1858. Luckily both trains use the same platform but the Meersen train is further down the platform.
I found this to be a remarkably easy and cheap trip. There is a huge shopping district in Liège as well as many tourist sights. Inside the shopping district were many indoor shopping areas called a "Galleria" and/or "Passage". So if you go on a crappy day, like I did, you can go indoors and continue to shop, window shop, eat, and drink. The people were friendly and polite, even with the language barrier. Prices were notably lower than here in The Netherlands.
If you like architecture and/or photography, this is the place to go. I saw many professional photographers working taking pictures of the many sites. There are plenty of parks and walking paths but winter is obviously not the ideal time to enjoy them.
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