German speaking community in Belgium

The area known today as the East Cantons or DGB was historically part of Germany but was annexed by Belgium following Germany's defeat in World War I. The new cantons had been part of Belgium for just 20 years when in 1940 they were once again retaken by the Germans in World War II. Many people of the east cantons welcomed this as they felt they were German. Following the defeat of Germany in 1945 the cantons were once again annexed by Belgium and as a result of alleged collaboration an attempt was made to 'un-Germanize' the local population by the Belgian and Wallonian authorities. Starting in the early 1960s Belgium was divided into four communities, the Dutch speaking Flemish community, the French speaking Wallonian community, the bilingual capital of Brussels, and the German speaking community of the east cantons. In 1973 all the community regions were granted greater autonomy and the legislative Council of the German Speaking Community, 'Rat der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft' was set up. Today the DGB has a relative high degree of autonomy especially in language and cultural matters. The DGB however still remains part of the region of French speaking Waloonia. There has been much argument in the past few years that the DGB should also be given its own region just as the Flemish and Wallonians.

The current Ministär-Präsident of the DGB is Karl-Heinz Lambertz

External Links

• Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Official Site of the German Speaking Community.

Referenced By