Editing Herstal

{{Short description|Municipality in Liège Province, Belgium}}
{{Redirect|Liers|the Spanish parish|Lieres|the French commune|Lières|people who lie|Lie}}
{{Infobox Belgium municipality
|name            = Herstal
|native_name     = {{native_name|wa|Hesta}}
|type            = city
|picture         = Vue Herstal.jpg
|picture-legend  = View from the heights of Herstal
|map             = Herstal Liège Belgium Map.svg
|map-legend      = Location of Herstal in Liège province
|arms            = Blason Herstal.svg
|flag            = Flag of Herstal.svg
|region          = {{BE-REG-WAL}}
|community       = {{BE-FR}}
|province        = {{BE-PROV-LG}}
|arrondissement  = [[Arrondissement of Liège|Liège]]
|nis             = 62051
|pyramid-date=
|0-19=
|20-64=
|65=
|foreigners=
|foreigners-date =
|mayor           = Frédéric Daerden (PS)
|majority        = [[Socialist Party (Belgium)|PS-H]]
|postal-codes    = 4040-4042
|telephone-area  = 04
|web             = [http://www.herstal.be/ www.herstal.be]
|coordinates     = {{coord|50|40|N|05|38|E|region:BE|display=inline,title}}
}}
'''Herstal''' ({{IPA|fr|ɛʁstal|-|LL-Q150 (fra)-Manestra-Herstal.wav}}; {{langx|wa|Hesta}}), formerly known as '''Heristal''', or '''Héristal''' ({{IPA|fr|eʁistal|pron}}), is a [[Municipalities of Belgium|municipality]] and [[City status in Belgium|city]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Décret accordant le titre de ville à la commune d'Herstal |url=https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/decret/2009/04/30/2009202285/moniteur |date=30 April 2009 |lang=fr |website=www.ejustice.just.fgov.be |publisher=[[Belgian Official Gazette]] |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> of [[Wallonia]] located in the [[Liège Province|province of Liège]], Belgium. It lies along the [[Meuse]] river. Herstal is included in the "Greater [[Liège]]" [[urban agglomeration|agglomeration]], which counts about 600,000 inhabitants.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Herstal, [[Liers]], [[Milmort]], and [[Vottem]].

A large armaments factory, the ''[[FN Herstal|Fabrique Nationale]]'' or FN, and the biggest industrial zone of Wallonia (Haut-Sart) provide employment locally.

==History==

===Merovingian and Carolingian golden age===

The name Herstal is of [[Franconian languages|Franconian]] origin, consisting of the elements ''hari'' ("army") and ''stal'' ("resting place", "camp"; compare Modern German ''Stall'', "stable"). The first mention of Herstal is in Latin documents from ±718 (''Cheristalius'' corrected to ''Charistalius'') and 723 (''Harastallius''). The first possibly non-Latinized occurrences are ''Eristail'' (in 919) and ''Harstail'' (1197).<ref>Wolfgang Haubrichs: ''The Multilingualism of the Early Middle Ages: Evidence from Peripheral Regions of the ''Regnum orientalium Francorum''.'' In: Robert Gallagher, Edward Roberts, Francesca Tinti (eds.): ''The Languages of Early Medieval Charters: Latin, Germanic Vernaculars, and the Written Word.'' Leiden 2020, ISBN  9789004428119, p. 85f.</ref><ref>Maurits Gysseling, [http://bouwstoffen.kantl.be/tw/lemma/?id=7238 Herstal] in the Toponymical Dictionary of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Northern France and West Germany (before 1226).</ref>

[[File:Charlemagne-liege-2.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Monument to Charlemagne, Liège, [[Louis Jéhotte]], sculptor, 1867]]
[[Pippin of Herstal]] (ca 635–714), [[Mayor of the Palace]] and de facto ruler of [[Austrasia]] and [[Neustria]] and founder of the family that established the [[Carolingian]] dynasty, probably chose this location as his main residence because of its proximity to the major cities of [[Tongeren]], [[Maastricht]], and [[Liège]].  Pippin was the father of [[Charles Martel]], victor of the decisive [[Battle of Tours]] that stopped the Arab-Muslim advance into northwestern Europe, and great grandfather of [[Charlemagne]], also supposedly born in Herstal. Charlemagne lived for at least fifteen years in Herstal but later established his capital in [[Aachen]], ending Herstal's period of medieval glory as capital of the empire.

===Late Middle Ages and modern era===
The town was incorporated into the Duchy of [[Lower Lotharingia]], which became part of the [[Duchy of Brabant]] at the end of the 12th century.  Despite its proximity to [[Liège]], the territory of Herstal did not become part of the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]] until 1740, when the prince-bishop Georges-Louis de Berghes bought it from [[Frederick II of Prussia]].<ref>Histoire de la principauté de Liège, B. Dumoulin, J.L. Kupper, éd. priv., 2002, ({{ISBN|2708947753}})</ref>  By that time, the town was mainly known for its able craftsmen: ceramists, blacksmiths, and clockmakers.

In the 19th century, Herstal became a city of coal and steel.  It would, however, become world-famous thanks to the foundation of the [[FN Herstal|Fabrique Nationale]], a major armament factory, in 1889.  Several [[motorcycle]] manufacturers also established themselves in town.  On August 7, 1914, at the very beginning of [[World War I]], the invading [[Germany|German]] army executed 27 civilians and destroyed 10 homes in Herstal.

[[File:GP35 Gravé JPG1.jpg|thumb|right|Engraved firearm from the ''[[Fabrique Nationale de Herstal|Fabrique Nationale]]''|220px]]
After [[World War II]], heavy industry saw a prolonged period of decline, drastically reducing the number of jobs in these areas.  Today, Herstal's economy is picking up again, with more than 200 companies established on its territory, including Techspace Aero, which manufactures precision parts for the [[European Space Agency]]’s [[Ariane (rocket)|Ariane]] rocket.

==Politics==
{| class="wikitable" width="40%"
! colspan="2" | Municipal head
|-
|'''Mayor'''
|[[Frédéric Daerden]] (PS)
|-
|'''Deputies'''
|Franco Ianeri (PS)<br/>Marc Haeken (PS)<br/>Jean-Louis Lefebvre (PS)<br/>Christian Laverdeur (PS)<br/>Léon Campstein (PS)<br/>André Namotte (E.P.H.)<br/>Isabelle Thomsin (PS)
|}

{| class="wikitable"
! Party
!  %
! Diff. 2000
! Seat
! Diff 2000
! Leader
|-
| PS
| 50,86
| -1,14
| 20
| -1
| Albert Crépin
|-
| EPH (PSC)
| 18,99
| +2,59
| 6
| +1
| Norbert Weytjens
|-
| MR<ref>[http://www.mrherstal.be/ MR : Section de HERSTAL<!-- Titre généré automatiquement -->] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120605004537/http://www.mrherstal.be/ |date=2012-06-05 }}</ref> (PRL)
| 14,14
| +3,24
| 4
| +1
| Jennifer Maus <ref>{{cite web|url=http://jennifermaus.skynetblogs.be/|title=Jennifer Maus|access-date=2009-03-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027183553/http://jennifermaus.skynetblogs.be/|archive-date=2010-10-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| PTB<ref>[http://liege.ptb.be/fr/accueil.html liege.ptb.be: Actuel<!-- Titre généré automatiquement -->]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
| 9,38
| +2,18
| 2
| 0
| [[Nadia Moscufo]]
|-
| ECOLO<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liege.ecolo.be/spip/|title=ECOLO - Ecolo - Groupe local de Liège|access-date=2008-12-13|archive-date=2017-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322015344/http://www.liege.ecolo.be/spip/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| 6,62
| -2,28
| 1
| -1
| Anne-Marie Meunier-Balthasart
|}
Herstal is a left-wing/socialist stronghold. It was also the strongest area in support of the far-left [[Workers' Party of Belgium]] in the 2019 elections, gaining 27.55% of the votes in Herstal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ptb.be/resultats2019|title = Les résultats électoraux du PTB}}</ref>

== Sites ==
{{See also|List of protected heritage sites in Herstal}}

==Notable people==
*[[Pippin of Herstal]], [[Mayor of the Palace]] of [[Austrasia]], [[Neustria]] and [[Burgundians|Burgundy]] (635 or 640–714)
*[[Charles Martel]], [[Mayor of the Palace]] and [[Duke of the Franks]] (686–741)
*[[Charlemagne]], king of the [[Franks]] and founder of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (742 or 747–814, birth in Herstal is uncertain)
*[[John Browning]], [[United States|American]] [[firearm]]s designer (1855–1926)

==Twin cities==
*{{ITA}}: [[Castelmauro]]
*{{SCO}}: [[Kilmarnock]]
*{{FRA}}: [[Alès]]

==See also==
* [[Rida (River)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*{{Official website|http://www.herstal.be }} {{in lang|fr}}

{{Geographic location
|Centre = Herstal
|N  = [[Oupeye]]
|E  = [[Liège]]
|S  = [[Liège]]
|W  = [[Liège]]
|NW = [[Juprelle]]
}}
{{Municipalities in Liège}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Herstal| ]]
[[Category:Cities in Wallonia]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Liège Province]]