which unites Aix-la-Chapelle with Welkenrade.
This territory, belonging to no one, and claimed by two states, was not always in this condition. For a long time it formed part of the duchy of Limburg, and is mentioned in public documents as far back as 1414 under the name of Kelmis. This name is derived from the mineral calamine, called in the patois of the country "kelme," which was found there. Later, in 1438, it was known for many years as Galmeiberg. In consquence of the discovery of another similar mine in that region it was called the Alten Galmei-Berg. From this is derived by abbreviation, the name Altenberg, which, during the French rule, from 1795 to 1814, became Vieille Montagne, the name of the French-Belgian company to which the mines belong.
These are not all the changes of name which the country has borne. Towards the close of the French domination, it was sparsely populated, and the mines were not worked to any extent; it was then annexed to the commune of Moresnet. After 1814 and the fall of the French Empire, the district was not assigned to either of the neighboring states, Prussia and Holland, who claimed it, but became an undivided territory, whose neutrality is recognized.
It is now known as the Neutral Territory of Moresnet, or Moresnet Neutral, to distinguish it from ancient Moresnet or Belgian Moresnet, and from new Moresnet, which has been formed upon its southern boundary, and is called Prussian Moresnet. It should be added that to the people of the country its chief town is known as Kelmis, and the outlying land as Altenberg.
The undivided and semi-independent state of the Neutral Territory dates from the year 1814. Under the French regime, it made part of the Department of the Ourthe, of which it occupied the angle nearly at the extreme northeast, and belonged to the canton of Aubel and the commune of Moresnet — localities now attached to the kingdom of
