Verviers

Altitude: 200-240m/656-787ft

Population: 53,600

Where Limberg, the district of Herve and the foothills of the Ardennes meet extends the industrial town of Verviers, on the slopes of the valley of the Vesdre which flows through it, about half way between Liège and Aachen. Fine civic buildings testify to the prosperity of the town when the woolen industry was flourishing; even today Verviers still has a textile technical school.

As well as the textile industry the production of leather goods, agriculture, paper and building materials are of importance. In addition tourism is playing an increasing role, for the town is the gateway to the scenically charming Herve region and to the Ardennes. Verviers goes back to a Roman settlement called "Virovirus", but the settlement only acquired importance from 1651 when a charter was given to the town by the prince-bishop of Liège, and the increasing thriving of the woolen industry because of favorable conditions provided by water from the Vesdre and the proximity of sheep rearing areas in the Ardennes and the Eifel. The industrial revolution brought an unexpected impetus and the population rose from 20,000 in 1830 to 53,000 in 1900. Verviers was once the most important place in Europe for wool processing, but the world economic crisis in the 1930s put a stop to its prosperity.