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33-669: [REDACTED] County of Luxembourg 1239–1353 [REDACTED] Duchy of Luxembourg 1353–1795 [REDACTED] French Republic 1795–1804 [REDACTED] French Empire 1804–1815 [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Prussia 1815–1871 [REDACTED]   German Empire 1871–1918 [REDACTED]   Weimar Republic 1918–1933 [REDACTED]   Nazi Germany 1933–1945 [REDACTED]   Allied-occupied Germany 1945–1949 [REDACTED]   West Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED]   Germany 1990–present The city's name derives from its Celtic toponym , Beda . Bitburg originated approximately 2,000 years ago as

66-544: A 1089 document, he is referred to as "comes Henricus de Lutzeleburg". By 1083, this lower town contained two churches and bridges over the Alzette and Petruss rivers. Its inhabitants' occupations included fishing, baking, and milling. In the same year, the Benedictine abbey of Altmünster was founded on the hill behind the castle by Conrad I, Count of Luxembourg . In 1136 when Count Conrad II of Luxembourg died without heirs,

99-483: A 8,200-foot (2,500 m) long runway (with 1,000-foot (300 m) overruns at each end, total length would be 10,200 ft). In July 1952, the 53rd Fighter-Bomber Squadron from the 36th Wing moved from Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base a few miles west of Munich and arrived at the newly built base. Throughout the summer, elements of the 36th FBW moved into Bitburg, with the wing officially arriving in November 1952. With

132-556: A ceremonial visit by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to the nearby Kolmeshöhe Military Cemetery – which among its 2,000 graves included those of 49 members of the Waffen-SS . The most widely known Bitburg enterprise, and landmark of the city, is the Bitburger brewery . Its Pilsener -style lager beer ranks No. 3 among Germany's best selling beers , with sales of 3.86 million hectolitres (in 2008). In 1995,

165-584: A stopover for traffic from Lyon through Metz and Trier to Cologne . The first name mentioned was Vicus Beda . Emperor Constantine the Great expanded the settlement to a road castle around 330, the central part of which forms the town centre today. Bitburg is first documented only after the end of the Roman Empire around 715 as castrum bedense . It subsequently became part of Franconia . The first mention of Bitburg in historic annals occurred in connection with

198-563: Is a commercial airport serving Bitburg , a city in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany . It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Bitburg, 32 km (20 mi) north of Trier , and 217 km (135 mi) west of Wiesbaden . From 1952 until 1994, Bitburg Air Base was a front-line NATO air base. It was the home of the United States Air Force 's 36th Tactical Fighter Wing for over 40 years as part of

231-659: The Abbey of Echternach . From the Early Middle Ages to the Renaissance , authors attributed different names to Luxembourg, such as: Lucilinburhuc , Lutzburg , Lützelburg , Luccelemburc , Lichtburg . The name is usually translated from the Latin as "little castle". However, modern historians believe that the etymology of the word Luxembourg is a derivation of the word Letze , meaning fortification, which might have referred to either

264-638: The Eifel Region in general. In the cultural centre Haus Beda are exhibited works of the Düsseldorf painter Fritz von Wille (1860–1941), the Eifel's most widely known artist. More than 100 paintings are on display, including Die blaue Blume , Mosenberg , Burg Reifferscheid im Winter and Ein klarer Tag . Bitburg is partnered or twinned with: County of Luxembourg The County of Luxembourg ( French : Luxembourg ; Luxembourgish : Lëtzebuerg )

297-702: The Kingdom of Prussia , where until 1822 it belonged administratively to the province of Lower Rhine, and afterwards to the Rhine province. With the unification of Germany under Prussian dominance in 1871, Bitburg became part of the German Empire, and after World War I the Weimar Republic of Germany. In the interwar years, Bitburg, like most of the Eifel region, was impoverished and comparatively backward. Economic growth began after

330-610: The Nazi Seizure of Power and the Nazi regime's introduction of employment-boosting public works projects, including infrastructure for war, particularly the Westwall ; new armed forces barracks; and the development of the Nims - Sauer Valley railway. It is said that the building now used as the post office at Bitburg Annex (what is left of Bitburg Air Base) was the headquarters for Adolf Hitler when he

363-916: The United States Air Forces in Europe ( USAFE ). Under contract with the United States Air Force, the French Army began construction of what would become the base in Western Germany's Eifel Mountains in early 1951. Located in the French occupation zone , construction began on farm land that had been a Wehrmacht tank staging and supply area for the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944. The air base and its housing area occupied nearly 1,100 acres (445 ha), with

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396-551: The 1288 Battle of Worringen . Nevertheless, Count Henry VII , whose father Henry VI had been killed in battle, settled the quarrel by marrying Margaret of Brabant in 1292. In 1308, he was elected King of the Romans and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1312, the first of three emperors provided by the House of Luxembourg. His son, John the Blind , became King of Bohemia in 1310, whereafter

429-705: The Ardennes–Luxembourg branch became extinct and the county, by order of Emperor Lothair II , passed to Conrad's maternal cousin Henry the Blind from the House of Namur . When Henry the Blind died in 1196, Count Otto I of Burgundy (a son of the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick Barbarossa ) raised claims to the throne. Henry the Blind's daughter, Ermesinde , married Count Theobald I of Bar , thus securing her own succession as Countess of Luxembourg. The town of Luxembourg became

462-454: The Bitburg base's high school was officially closed after over 60 years in operation. This marked the beginning the return of the land to Germany. The task of preparing the base was put to the U.S. armed forces. After families were relocated and buildings prepared to be returned in November 2017, the base had a small ceremony to commemorate the end of United States military presence since 1952. After

495-715: The East during the Migration Period in the 5th century, the Luxembourg region became part of Francia and the Carolingian Empire . In 843, Luxembourg became part of Middle Francia ( Treaty of Verdun ), then Lotharingia in 855 ( Treaty of Prüm ) and, finally, of Upper Lorraine in 959. Since 925, it has belonged to East Francia , predecessor of the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, and large parts were held by

528-515: The airport was officially returned to the German government, the United States held on to the land annexed for housing soldiers and their families. This land was designated as extra housing for airmen and their families, numerous support facilities, such as schools, a commissary, and a hospital. The intention to return these facilities was always the plan, but unknown when it would take place. In May 2017,

561-599: The centre of a state of strategic value in the Low Countries . Its fortifications were steadily enlarged and strengthened over the years by successive owners, which made it one of the strongest fortresses in Europe. Through its formidable defences it became known as the "Gibraltar of the North". The Luxembourg counts lost the Limburg heritage when they were defeated by the Dukes of Brabant in

594-531: The city came under French administration, and in 1798 became part of the newly created Département des Forêts . This led to a short lived economic upturn, and Bitburg received among other things a court and a land registry. In 1815, under agreements at the Congress of Vienna following the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte , Bitburg was, after having been a part of the Duchy of Luxembourg for centuries, transferred to

627-678: The construction of a partial city wall and moat . In addition to the small town near the Bockfiels and the Roman road, a further settlement was established in the Alzette Valley, today the Grund quarter of Luxembourg. By 1060 the fortress had been extended by Siegfried's descendants. Conrad I (d. 1086) was the first to call himself a "Count of Luxembourg". His son, Henry III , was the first count known to have established his permanent residence there, as in

660-548: The dynasty moved their seat of power to Prague Castle . The Duchy of Luxembourg was formed when the counties of Luxembourg, Durbuy , Laroche and Vianden (a vassal county since 31 July 1264), the Marquisat of Arlon , and the districts of Thionville , Bitburg and Marville were combined. Luxembourg was an independent fief of the Holy Roman Empire until 1353, when the Luxembourg emperor Charles IV elevated it to

693-565: The end of the Cold War , it was deemed that Bitburg AB was no longer needed as a military base and it was turned over to the German government on 1 October 1994. Between June and September 1997, it was necessary to repair the Spangdahlem Air Base runway and that called for a temporary location to accommodate the 52d Fighter Wing 's three squadrons of F-15s and F-16s . Bitburg Airport was the most logical place—only 10 miles (16 km) down

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726-627: The former French barracks. After the First Gulf War most of the USAF forces were moved to the larger Spangdahlem Air Base , about 12 km east of Bitburg. In 1994, NATO turned the Bitburg Air Base over to the city, which devoted it to public works projects. The Nims - Sauer Valley railway was abandoned step by step, beginning in 1969. Parts of it were converted into a bicycle path ( Radweg ). In 1985, Bitburg came to international attention due to

759-474: The former NATO base was designated the Bitburg Airfield Trade Area , providing commercial development district where 180 enterprises have established themselves. Bitburg-Erdorf station is part of the Eifel line (KBS 474). Trains that pass through include: The Regional Museum of Bitburg-Prüm is housed in a former agricultural school. It contains numerous artifacts of the history of Bitburg and

792-403: The history of Luxembourg began with the castle's construction, it seems that Siegfried and his immediate successors did not make the castle their primary residence. During the following years, a small town and market grew around the new castle. Its first inhabitants were probably servants of Count Siegfried and clergy of Saint Michael's Church. The settlement soon received additional protection by

825-525: The most important political forces of the 14th century, contending with the House of Habsburg for supremacy in the Holy Roman Empire . The historic region of Luxembourg was settled by Celtic tribes in the 2nd Century BCE. After the conquests of Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars from 58 to 51 BC, it was incorporated into the Roman province of Germania Inferior . Upon the invasion of Germanic Franks from

858-582: The remains of a Roman watchtower or to a primitive refuge of the Early Middle Ages. The first known reference to the territory was by Julius Caesar in his Commentaries on the Gallic War . The ruined, supposedly Roman, fortification called Lucilinburhuc was first mentioned in 963, when Count Siegfried acquired it from Wikerus, Abbot of St. Maximin's Abbey in Trier . Siegfried first appeared about 950. He

891-610: The road. The USAF departed for the second time in September 1997, and Bitburg Airport was returned to civilian use. On September 15, 2008, the Ministry of Transport of Rhineland-Palatinate granted the airport contractor landing rights for aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of more than 14 tonnes. The airport contracting company is currently evaluating plans to develop the airport into a regional freight airport. There are no scheduled airline services to and from Bitburg Airport. Although

924-573: The signing in 1239 of the Trier-Luxembourg Treaty between Archbishop Theoderich II of Trier and Countess Ermesinde II of Luxemburg, under which the town came under the archbishopric's protection. Bitburg received a town charter in 1262 from Count Henry V of Luxembourg . In 1443, Bitburg came under the sway of the Duchy of Burgundy , then in 1506 was acquired by the Austrian Netherlands , which controlled most of modern Belgium. In 1794

957-657: The status of a duchy for his half-brother, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg . Upon the extinction of the Luxembourg dynasty, the duchy passed to the House of Valois-Burgundy in 1443, and then to the Archduchy of Austria in 1482. It was integrated into the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, by Emperor Charles V in the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 . During the French Revolutionary Wars , Luxembourg

990-536: Was a State of the Holy Roman Empire . It arose from medieval Lucilinburhuc ("Little Fortress") Castle in the present-day City of Luxembourg , purchased by Siegfried, Count of the Ardennes in 963. His descendants of the Ardennes–Luxembourg dynasty began to call themselves Counts of Luxembourg from the 11th century onwards. The House of Luxembourg , a cadet branch of the Dukes of Limburg , became one of

1023-575: Was annexed to the department of Forêts . Following agreement at the 1815 Congress of Vienna , some of the former duchy's territory became the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg under the rule of, but not part of, the Kingdom of the Netherlands , after which it joined the German Confederation . Bitburg Air Base Bitburg Airport ( German : Flugplatz Bitburg ) ( IATA : BBJ , ICAO : EDRB )

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1056-457: Was in the city. In late December 1944, Bitburg was 85 percent destroyed by Allied bombing attacks, and later officially designated by the U.S. military as a "dead city." Subsequently, the town was occupied by Luxembourg soldiers, who were replaced by French forces in 1955. In 1952 a North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) base was opened at Bitburg by the U.S. Air Force. At the end of the 1980s, French troops were withdrawn and NATO took over

1089-532: Was possibly a son of Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine , and his mother Cunigunda was a granddaughter of the West Frankish King Louis the Stammerer . In the following years, Siegfried built a new castle on the site of the ruins, on a rock later called " Bockfiels ". The castle dominated a stretch of the old Roman road linking Reims , Arlon and Trier that provided prospects for trade and taxation. Although

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