Editing St. Vith (section)

==History==
St. Vith was an important marketplace of the region by the 12th century and received [[German town law|town rights]] in 1350. The town was damaged by fires in 1543, 1602, and 1689. It was part of the [[Duchy of Luxemburg]] then of France until the defeat of French Emperor [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]. As a result of the [[Congress of Vienna]] it was given to the [[Kingdom of Prussia]].

St. Vith was transferred to Belgium on March 6, 1925, by the [[Treaty of Versailles]] after the defeat of the [[German Empire]] in [[World War I]].

[[File:117th Infantry North Carolina NG at St. Vith 1945.jpg|left|thumb|American soldiers in St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge]]
An important road and railway junction, St. Vith was [[Battle of St. Vith|fought over]] in the 1944 [[Battle of the Bulge]] during [[World War II]]. The [[United States Army]] defended the town against German assault for a few days, delaying the German attack plan, before eventually being forced to retreat. Once it was captured by [[Wehrmacht|German forces]], the town was bombed by the [[US Army Air Forces]] on 25 and 26 December 1944 and by [[RAF Bomber Command]] with 300 aircraft on 26 December.<ref>[http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/dec44.html "Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Battle Diary December 1944] {{webarchive|url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070706011932/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/dec44.html |date=2007-07-06 }}</ref>  St. Vith was mostly destroyed during the ground battle and subsequent air attack. American forces retook the town on January 23, 1945. The only pre-war architecture remaining is the {{ill|Büchel Tower|fr|Tour Büchel|de|Büchelturm}}.

St. Vith is the setting for [[Michael Oren]]'s [[novel]], ''Reunion'', concerning a fictional reunion of an American battalion which participated in the Battle of the Bulge.