Brussels
Brussels (
Dutch:
Brussel, pronounced ;
French:
Bruxelles,
pronounced in
Belgian French and often by non-Belgian speakers of French;
German:
Brüssel) is the
capital of
Belgium, the
French Community of Belgium, the
Flemish Community and the main seat of the
European Union's institutions.
Brussels is, first of all, a city located in the center of
Belgium and is its capital, but it sometimes also refers to the largest municipality of the
Brussels-Capital Region. This municipality inside Brussels is correctly named
The City of Brussels (French:
Bruxelles-Ville or
Ville de Bruxelles, Dutch:
Stad Brussel), which is one of 19
municipalities that make up the Brussels-Capital Region (
see also:
Municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region). The municipality has a population of about 140,000 while the Brussels-Capital Region has 1,006,749 inhabitants. (01-01-2005). The Metropolitan area has about 1,975,000 inhabitants . [
1]
The Brussels-Capital Region is a region of Belgium in its own right (
Région à part entière), alongside
Wallonia and the
Flemish Region. Geographically and linguistically, it is a (bilingual)
enclave in the (unilingual) Flemish Region. Regions are one component of Belgium's complex institutions, the three communities being "the" other component: the Brussels inhabitants must deal with either the
French (speaking) community or the
Flemish Community for matters such as culture and education.
Brussels is also the capital of both the
French Community of Belgium (
Communauté française Wallonie-Bruxelles in French) and of
Flanders (
Vlaanderen); all Flemish capital institutions are established here:
Flemish Parliament,
Flemish government and its administration.
Two of the three main institutions of the
European Union - the
European Commission and the
Council of the European Union - have their headquarters in Brussels: the Commission in the
Berlaymont building and the Council in the
Justus Lipsius building facing it. The third main institution of the European Union, the
European Parliament, also has a parliamentary chamber in Brussels in which its committee meet and some of its plenary sessions are held (the other plenary sessions are held in
Strasbourg, and its administrative headquarters are in
Luxembourg).
Brussels is also the political seat of
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the
Western European Union (WEU) and
EUROCONTROL, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Due to this, some countries have three ambassadors present in Brussels: the normal bi-lateral ambassador, the EU-ambassador, and finally the NATO-ambassador.
The "language border" divides Belgium into a northern,
Dutch-speaking region, and a southern,
French-speaking region. Although the real language border and the official one are largely identical, there are bilingual pockets on both sides with, in certain cases, no specific linguistic rights for the population speaking the other language. The Brussels-Capital Region is officially
bilingual, while the majority of its residents speak French (see the linguistic history of Brussels in this article:
linguistic situation section).
The highest building in Brussels is the
South Tower (150 m); the most famous probably the
Atomium, which is a remnant from the
Expo '58.
The name Brussels comes from the old
Dutch Bruocsella,
Brucsella or
Broekzele, which means "marsh (
bruoc,
bruc or
broek) home (
sella or
zele)" or "home consisting of one room, in the marsh". "Broekzele" was spelt "Bruxelles" in French. In
Belgian French pronunciation as well as in Dutch, the "k" eventually disappeared and "z" became "s", as reflected in the current Dutch spelling ( /bʀy.ˌsel/ ;
Dutch /ˈbry.s(ɘ)l/ or /ˈbrɘ.s(ɘ)l/). The names of all other municipalities in the
Brussels-Capital Region are also of
Dutch origin, except for
Evere, which is of
Celtic origin.
|
Saint Michael and Gudula's Cathedral |
In 977 AD, the
German emperor
Otto II gave the duchy of
Lower Lotharingia, the empire's western frontier to
Charles, the banished son of King
Louis IV of France. Mention was already made of Brussels at the time: Bishop Saint-Gery of Cambrai-Arras settled a chapel on a small island (695). A century later Saint-Vindicianus, also a monk of Cambrai-Arras lived on that island. However, the founding of Brussels is usually known to happen when a small castle was built by Charles around 979 on an island (called Saint-Gery island) encompassed by the
Zenne or
Senne river. The donation by Emperor OTTO II the Great is recorded. Duke Charles installs the reliques schrine of Saint Gudula in the Saint Gery chapel.
In 1041 the county of Brussels was taken over by
Lambert I of Leuven of the
Counts of Leuven (
Leuven), who ruled the surrounding county, later duchy of
Brabant. Under
Lambert II of Leuven, a new
castrum and the first city walls were built. The small town became in the
12th century an important stop on the commercial road from
Brugge and
Ghent to
Cologne. The village benefited from this favourable position and was growing with a population of around thirty thousand and the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of
Leuven became
Dukes of Brabant at about this time also (1183/1184).
From 1357 to 1379, a new city enclosure was constructed as the former one was already proving to be too small: it is now known as the inner ring or pentagon.
In the
15th century, by means of the wedding of heiress
Margaret III of Flanders with
Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, a new Duke of Brabant emerged from the House of
Valois (namely
Antoine, their son), with another line of descent from the Habsburgs (Maximilian of Austria, later
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, married
Mary of Burgundy, who was born in Brussels).
Brabant had lost its independency, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous
Low Countries, and flourished.
Charles V, heir of the
Low Countries since 1506, though (as he was only 6 years old) governed by his aunt
Margaret of Austria until
1515, was declared King of the unified Spain, in 1516, in the Cathedral of Saint Gudule in Brussels.Upon the death of his grandfather,
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1519, Charles became also the new archduke of the Austrian Empire and thus the
Holy Roman Emperor of the Empire "
in which the sun does not set". It was in the Palace complex at the Brussels' Coudenberg, that
Charles V in 1555 abdicated. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had expanded a lot since it was first the seat of the dukes of Brabant, but was sadly destroyed in 1731 in a huge fire (there only remains now an important archaeological site).
In 1695 Brussels was attacked by general Villeroy of King
Louis XIV of France. A bombardment destroyed the city's heart: more than 4000 houses were set on fire, including the medieval buildings at the
Grote Markt or
Grand Place.
In 1830, the
Belgian revolution took place in Brussels after a performance of
Auber's opera
La Muette de Portici at
De Munt or
La Monnaie theatre. On
July 21,
1831,
Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians, ascended the throne, undertaking the destruction of the city walls and the construction of many buildings. Under
Léopold II, the city underwent many more changes: the Zenne was culverted (as it brought diseases), the
North-South Junction was built, and the
Tervuren Avenue was laid out.
From
May 10,
1940, Brussels was bombed by the German army. Most of the damage was done however in 1944-1945. The
Heysel Stadium disaster took place in Brussels on
May 29,
1985. The
Brussels Capital Region was founded on
June 18,
1989.
Although some misbelieve that the capital of Belgium is Brussels at large, according to the Belgian Constitution (Art. 194) the capital of Belgium is the City of Brussels municipality. Arguments that the use of lower case in
"ville" and
"stad" in Article 194 for
"ville de Bruxelles" (French),
"stad Brussel" (Dutch) makes a subtle difference and means that Brussels at large is the capital cannot be defended on a legal basis. However, although the City of Brussels is the official capital, the by the federation and region delegated funds for the representative role of the capital are divided among the 19 municipalities and in practice, national Belgian institutions are indeed not only located in the City of Brussels, although many are, but also in most of the other 18 municipalities of the
Brussels-Capital region. Meaning that
de facto the entire Region serves as capital, but
de jure only the City of Brussels is entitled to the title of capital city of Belgium.
 |
Old houses on Brussels' Grand' Place or Grote Markt |
 |
The royal palace in Brussels |
Grand-Place (Dutch:
Grote Markt), possibly one of the most beautiful squares in Europe and the jewel in Brussels' crown. The Grand-Place is Brussels' top tourist attraction justified by the
Gothic magnificence of the
Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall) and the
Baroque exuberance of the late seventeenth-century
guildhouses surrounding the square.
*
Royal Museum of Fine Arts (
Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts) a great museum, combining four interconnected sections of old masters and modern art collections. Together they make up Belgium's most complete collection of fine art with works by, amongst many,
Pieter Bruegel,
Rubens,
Delvaux and
Magritte.
*
Atomium*
Mini-EuropeLa Bourse (Dutch:
De Beurs)
*
Heysel (Dutch:
Heizel)
*
Jeanneke Pis*
Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg
*
The Jubilee Arch (French:
Les Arcades du Cinquantenaire, Dutch:
Triomfboog)
*
Manneken Pis*
De Munt (French:
La Monnaie)
*
Saint Michael and Saint Gudula Cathedral*
The Floral Carpet (not permanent)
*
Tour et Taxis*
Palais Stoclet (Dutch: Stoclethuis)
*
Maison Horta (Dutch: Hortahuis)
The original language of the Brussels area is
Dutch.
For most centuries of its history,
Dutch, or more precisely the linguistic predecessor of it, was the common vernacular. French was only used by upper classes. Research in the city's archives indicates that Dutch was by far the most widely used of the two as a vernacular and in its local administration, until the French occupation in
1793, even though French had been the language of the governors since the Burgundian era. [
2]
During the 19th and the 20th century, Belgium was completely dominated by the French-speaking bourgeoisie. Although the majority (about 60%) of the Belgian population spoke Dutch, it was French that became the official language. Civil administration, justice, education and even socio-economic business were for a long time conducted in French, even in the Dutch-speaking areas of the country.Brussels, naturally, attracted far more French-speaking immigrants than any other part of the country since it was there that the apparatus of the central government of the French-only speaking state was installed. In the capital Brussels, it was even more obvious that French rather than Dutch was the language of chances and prestige and more useful, as higher education and the better jobs all required french. Moreover, the Belgian state (founded in 1830) recognized Dutch, the language of the majority of its population, as an official language only in 1878.
Nowadays, the Brussels Capital Region is officially bilingual French-Dutch. There are no official statistics on the first language of its population. However, according to a 2001 study by Rudi Janssens, a sociolinguist at the
VUB, 80% of the population are more or less native French-speakers, 8.5% are native Dutch-speakers and 10.2% have both Dutch and French as a mother tongue (often mixed-language parents). Allophones, who speak neither Dutch nor French at home, are a small but growing segment of the population.Since Brussels is surrounded by a Flemish province, the number of Dutch speakers is quite large, during working hours and in cultural consumption time. In a survey conducted by the
Universite Catholique de Louvain in
Louvain-La-Neuve and published in June 2006, 51% of respondents from Brussels claimed to be bilingual.
[*http://regards.ires.ucl.ac.be/Archives/RE042.pdf Report of study by Universite Catholique de Louvain (in French)] ] [ *Article at Taaluniversum.org summarising report (in Dutch)]It should be noted that due to the growth of the city of Brussels, the periphery, which is institutionally part of Dutch-speaking
Flanders, attracts an important French-speaking population. In some of the municipalities immediately bordering the Brussels Capital Region, the majority of the population has become French-speaking, in a few cases numbering over 70%. The less than satisfactory knowledge of Dutch of some French speakers and the perceived unwillingness of some to learn Dutch, although they live in Flanders, has led to friction with Dutch speakers.
A curiousity is the "Marollien" dialect, heavily influenced by
Walloon which used to be spoken mostly in a central section of the city. Today, the Brussels dialects are on the verge of extinction, although some try to revive them (see links).
Brussels has several
universities, the
Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the
Facultés Universitaires Saint Louis (FUSL), the
Katholieke Universiteit Brussel (KUB) and the
Royal Military Academy (RMA). A satellite campus of the
Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) is also located in Brussels: it is called "Louvain-en-Woluwe" or "UCL-Brussels", and hosts the faculty of Medicine of the university.
 |
Brussels metro (actually here premetro), de Brouckère station |
|
Platforms at Brussels North station |
Brussels is served by
Brussels National Airport, located in the nearby Flemish municipality of
Zaventem, and by
Brussels South Airport, located near
Charleroi (Wallonia), some 80km from Brussels. Brussels' major train stations link the city to the
United Kingdom by
Eurostar, and to other major European cities by high speed rail links (such as the
Thalys).
The
Brussels metro dates back to
1976 (but underground lines known as
premetro have been serviced by tramways since
1968). A comprehensive bus and
tram network also covers the city. Brussels also has its own port on the
Willebroek canal located in the northwest of the city.
There are four companies managing public transport inside Brussels:
* STIB/MIVB (metro, bus, tram; Brussels' Regional services)
* SNCB/NMBS (train, organized on a Belgian scale)
*
De Lijn (buses based in Flanders)
* TEC (buses based in Wallonia)An interticketing system means that a STIB/MIVB ticket holder can use the train or long-distance buses inside the city. The commuter services operated by De Lijn, TEC and SNCB/NMBS will in the next few years be augmented by an
RER rail network around Brussels.
Railway stations
The major stations in Brussels are on the
North-South Junction:
*
Brussels North (Dutch:
Brussel-Noord, French:
Gare du Nord)
*
Brussels Central (Dutch:
Brussel-Centraal, French:
Gare Centrale)
*
Brussels Midi (Dutch:
Brussel-Zuid, French:
Gare du Midi or
Bruxelles-Midi) (the
Eurostar,
Thalys, HST or
TGV and
ICE international terminal)
Two more stations serve the
EU district in Brussels. Trains towards
Namur and
Luxembourg call at:
*
Brussels Luxembourg/Luxemburg*
Brussels SchumanThe last two stations located in the centre of Brussels (they also are on the North-South Junction and operate only in rush hours) are:
* Brussels Congress (French:
Bruxelles-Congrès, Dutch
Brussel-Congres)
* Brussels Chapel (French:
Bruxelles-Chapelle, Dutch:
Brussel-Kapellekerk)
Other railway stations in other Brussels municipalities include :
*
Schaerbeek (Dutch: Schaarbeek)
* Etterbeek
*
Uccle Stalle (Dutch: Ukkel Stalle)
*
Uccle Calevoet(Dutch: Ukkel Kalevoet)
* Jette
*
Merode*
Delta*
Saint-Job (Dutch: Sint-Job)
*
Forest Est (Dutch: Vorst Oost)
*
Forest Midi (Dutch: Vorst Zuid)
*
Berchem Sainte-Agathe (Dutch: Sint-Agatha-Berchem)
*
Saint-Gilles (Dutch: Sint-Gillis)
*
Watermael (Dutch: Watermaal)
*
Boitsfort (Dutch: Bosvoorde)
*
Boondael (Dutch: Boodnaal)
* Meiser
Road network
In mediaeval times Brussels stood at the intersection of routes running north-south (the modern Hoogstraat/Rue Haute) and east-west (Gentsesteenweg/Chaussée de Gand-Grasmarkt/Rue du Marché aux Herbes-Naamsestraat/Rue de Namur). The ancient pattern of streets radiating from the
Grote Markt/Grand'Place in large part remains, but has been overlaid by boulevards built over the River
Zenne/Senne, the city walls and the railway junction between the North and South Stations.
As one expects of a capital city, Brussels is the hub of the fan of old national roads, the principal ones being clockwise the N1 (N to
Breda), N2 (E to
Maastricht), N3 (E to
Aachen), N4 (SE to
Luxembourg) N5 (S to
Reims), N6 (SW to
Maubeuge), N8 (W to
Koksijde) and N9 (NW to
Ostend)
[Belgian N roads]. Usually named
steenwegen/chaussées, these highways normally run straight as a die, but on occasion lose themselves in a
labyrinth of narrow shopping streets.
As for motorways, the town is skirted by the
European route E19 (N-S) and the
E40 (E-W), while the
E411 leads away to the SE. Brussels has an
orbital motorway, numbered
R0 (R-zero) and commonly referred to as the "ring" (French:
ring Dutch:
grote ring). It is pear-shaped as the southern side was never built as originally conceived, owing to residents' objections.
The city centre, sometimes known as "the pentagon", is surrounded by the "small ring" (Dutch:
kleine ring, French:
petite ceinture), a sequence of boulevards formally numbered
R20. These were built upon the site of the second set of city walls following their demolition. Metro line 2 runs under much of these.
On the eastern side of the city, the
R21 (French:
grande ceinture, no particular name in Dutch) is formed by a string of boulevards that curves round from Laken (
Laeken) to Ukkel (
Uccle). Some
premetro stations (see
Brussels metro) were built on that route. A little further out, a stretch numbered R22 leads from
Zaventem to
Sint-Job.
Brussels hosted the third
Congrès international d'architecture moderne in
1930.
Two world fairs took place in Brussels, the
Exposition universelle et internationale (1935) and the World
Expo '58 in
1958. The
Atomium, a 103 metre representation of an
iron crystal was built for the Expo '58, and is still there, now renovated.
Throughout
2003, Brussels celebrated native son
Jacques Brel on the 25th anniversary of his death.
Notable parks
|
The Floral Carpet on the Grote Markt in 2004 |
*
Parc de Bruxelles (Dutch:
Warandepark), wrongly called
Parc Royal (Dutch:
Koninklijk Park)
*
Bois de la Cambre (Dutch:
Ter Kamerenbos)
*
Cinquantenaire (Dutch:
Jubelpark)
*
Parc de Laeken (Dutch:
Park van Laken)
*
Parc de Woluwe (Dutch:
Park van Woluwe)
*
Parc Josaphat (Dutch :
Josaphatpark)
*
Parc Roi Baudouin (Dutch:
Koning Boudewijnpark)
*
Kauberg*
Jardin botanique (Dutch
Plantentuin)
*
Parc Léopold (Dutch:
Leopoldpark)
*
Jardins du Maelbeek (Dutch :
Maalbeektuinen)
*
Parc Duden (Dutch :
Dudenpark)
*
Parc Astrid (Dutch :
Astridpark)
Notable people from Brussels
See also:
Notable people from Brussels*
Pierre Alechinsky, artist
*
Plastic Bertrand, musician
*
Jacques Brel, musician
*
Rene Carcan, artist
*
Michel De Ghelderode, dramatist
*
Marc Didden, film director
*
Saint Gudulae of Brussels and Eibingen, Saint of the city and national saint of Belgium
*
Audrey Hepburn, actress
*
Hergé,
comics writer
*
Victor Horta,
Art Nouveau architect
*
Jacky Ickx, racing driver
*
Paul-Emile Janson, politician, former Prime Minister of
Belgium*
René Magritte, painter
*
Amélie Nothomb, writer
*
Peyo (Pierre Culliford), illustrator and creator of the
Smurfs*
François Schuiten,
comics artist
*
Paul-Henri Spaak, politician, several times Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister of
Belgium, former Secretary General of the
NATO*
Toots Thielemans, jazz musician
*
Jean-Claude Van Damme, actor; nickname: "The Muscles from Brussels"
*
Marguerite Yourcenar, writer and first female member of
Academie FrançaiseSports clubs
*
R.S.C. Anderlecht,
football*
F.C. Molenbeek Brussels Strombeek, football
*
R. Union Saint-Gilloise, football
*
R.R.B.C. Brussels,
basketballConcert halls
*
Ancienne Belgique*
Beursschouwburg*
Botanique*
Cirque Royal (Dutch: Koninklijk Circus), a dependency of Botanique*
Espace Senghor*
Flagey*
Palace of Fine Arts (Paleis voor Schone Kunsten - Palais de beaux-arts), including the prestigious Great Concert Hall "Henry Le Boeuf", with its world famous acustics
*
Forest National(Dutch: Vorst Nationaal)*
Halles de Schaerbeek (Dutch: Hallen van Schaarbeek)*
VaartkapoenMuseums
* Royal Museums of Fine Arts
* Palace of Fine Arts (Paleis voor Schone Kunsten - Palais de beaux-arts)
* Film Museum
* Musical Instrument Museum (MiM)
* National Army Museum
* National Museum for Arts and History
* Comic Book Museum (Musée de la BD - Stripmuseum)
*
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences*
Royal Museum for Central Africa (in
Tervuren)
*
toys museum' (only available in French at the moment)
Other
*
List of Minister-Presidents of Brussels*
Brussels Cross*
Brussels sprout - the vegetable named after the city
*
Art Nouveau*
List of metro stations of Brussels*
Sonian Forest*
Memorial van Damme*
Eurovision Song Contest 1987*
Brussels-Capital Region, official site
*
Eupedia Belgium Guide : Brussels, detailed city guide with flash map of the city centre.
*
Brussels.org, Useful addresses for tourists in Brussels.
*
brusselssucks.be: insider guide shortlisting clubbing, cultural and art events in Brussels.
*
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Brussels (French:
Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Bruxelles or
CCIB, Dutch:
Kamer voor Handel en Nijverheid van Brussel or
KHNB)
* Transport
**
Brussels Airport, at Zaventem
**
Brussels South Airport, near Charleroi
**
Planitram Public transport in the Region of Brussels Capital, unofficial site (in English and French)
* Maps
**
Map**
Interactive map of Brussels city centre*
WikiSatellite view of Brussels at WikiMapia * Museums
**
Royal Museums of Fine Art of Belgium* Hospitals
**
AZ VUB**
CHU Brugmann**
CHU Saint-Pierre**
Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc**
Queen Fabiola Children's Hospital**
Hôpital Erasme**
Institut Jules Bordet**
IRIS Hospital Network*Dialect
**
Academie van het Brussels**
Académie pour la Défense et l'Illustration du Parler Bruxellois (Marollien)
*Festivals
*
20km of Brussels - every year there is a spectacular run with 25,000 runners running 20km
*
Ommegang Festival
