Everything about Brussels totally explained
Brussels (;, ) is the largest city in
Belgium, and the administrative heart of the
European Union (EU). The
City of Brussels in the
Brussels-Capital Region is the country's
capital. Brussels has grown from a 10th century fortress town founded by
Charlemagne's grandson into a city of over one million inhabitants.
Brussels is also capital of the
Brussels-Capital Region, of
Flanders and of the
French Community of Belgium. It is not, however, the capital of the
Walloon Region (
Wallonia), whose capital is
Namur.
Depending on the context, the word Brussels may mean the largest
municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region officially called
the City of Brussels (ca. 140,000 inhabitants), the
Brussels-Capital Region (1,067,162 inhabitants as of
1 February 2008) or, the metropolitan area of Brussels (from 2,100,000 to more or less 2,700,000 inhabitants).
Brussels is often considered the
de facto capital of the European Union, and hosts key EU institutions such as the
Commission,
Parliament and the
Council. Hence, many other pan-European organisations are also headquartered in the city.
NATO is also based in Brussels.
Etymology
The name Brussels comes from the old Dutch
Bruocsella, which means marsh (
bruoc) and home (
sella) or "home in the marsh".
History
Middle Ages
The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in
Saint Gaugericus' construction of a chapel on
an island in the river
Senne around 580.
The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, because Duke
Charles transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from
Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel in Brussels, located on what would be called
Saint Gaugericus Island. The
Holy Roman Emperor Otto II gave the duchy of
Lower Lotharingia to
Charles, the banished son of King
Louis IV of France in 977, who would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island.
The county of Brussels was attributed to
Lambert I of Leuven,
count of Leuven around 1000. In 1047, his son
Lambert II of Leuven founded the Saint Gudula chapter.
Because of its location on the shores of the
Senne on an important trade route between
Bruges and
Ghent, and
Cologne, Brussels grew quite quickly; it became a commercial centre that rapidly extended towards the upper town (
St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral,
Coudenberg, Zavel area...), where there was a smaller risk of floods. As it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became
Dukes of Brabant at about this time (1183/1184). In the 11th century, the city got its first walls.
After the construction of the
first walls of Brussels in the early 13th century, Brussels grew significantly. In order to let the city expand,
a second set of walls was erected between
1356 and
1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the "
small ring", a series of roadways in downtown Brussels bounding the historic city centre, follows its former course.
In the fifteenth 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 independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous
Low Countries, and flourished.
Renaissance
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 V became the new archduke of the Austrian Empire and thus the
Holy Roman Emperor of the Empire "
on which the sun doesn't set". It was in
the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had greatly expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant, but it was destroyed by fire in 1731. All that remains is an archaeological site.
In 1695,
French troops sent by King
Louis XIV bombarded Brussels with artillery. Together with the resulting fire, it was most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels. The
Grand Place was destroyed, along with 4000 buildings, a third of those in the city. The reconstruction of
the city centre, effected during subsequent years, profoundly changed the appearance of the city and left numerous traces still visible today.
Revolution
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. Following independence, the city underwent many more changes. The Senne had become a serious
health hazard, and from 1867 to 1871 its entire
urban area was
completely covered over. This allowed
urban renewal and the construction of modern buildings and boulevards which are characteristic of downtown Brussels today.
Modern history
The city has hosted various fairs and conferences, including the fifth
Solvay Conference in 1927 and two world fairs - the 1935 world fair and the
Expo '58.
Beginning on
May 10 1940, Brussels was bombed by the German army; however, most of the war damage to the city took place in 1944–1945. The
North-South Junction was built, completed in 1952. The first
Brussels premetro was finished in 1969, and the first line of the
Brussels Metro was opened in 1976. The
Heysel Stadium disaster took place in Brussels on
May 29 1985. The Brussels Capital Region was founded on
June 18,
1989.
Geography
Climate
Political centre
Capital of Belgium
Although some believe, wrongly, that the capital of Belgium is the entire
Brussels-Capital Region, article 194 of the
Belgian Constitution lays down that the capital of Belgium is the City of Brussels municipality. Arguments that article 194's use of lower case for "
ville de Bruxelles" and "
stad Brussel" makes a subtle difference and means that greater Brussels being represented as the capital can't be legally defended.
However, although the City of Brussels is the official capital, the funds allowed by the federation and region for the representative role of the capital are divided among the 19 municipalities, and some national institutions are sited in the other 18 municipalities. Thus, while
de jure only the City of Brussels is entitled to the title of capital city of Belgium,
de facto the entire Region plays this role.
City of Brussels
The City of Brussels is one of the
municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region (the largest) and is the official capital of Belgium.
Somewhat in the way that the
City of London is different from
London, the City of Brussels is different from Brussels. However, the expansion of the City of Brussels was frozen at a later stage than the City of London. As a result, in addition to the old centre of Brussels, the towns of
Haren,
Laeken and
Neder-Over-Heembeek, as well as
Avenue Louise/Louizalaan (a main shopping street, similar in design to the Parisian
Champs Elysées) and the
Bois de la Cambre/Terkamerenbos (the largest park in Brussels) are included within the limits of the City.
Flanders and the French community
The Brussels-Capital Region is one of the three federated regions of Belgium, alongside
Wallonia and the
Flemish Region. Geographically and linguistically, it's 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 de Belgique in French) and of
Flanders (
Vlaanderen); all Flemish capital institutions are established here:
Flemish Parliament,
Flemish government and its administration.
International centre
Brussels has become a significant centre for international institutions, notably those of the
European Union. The city also plays host to the headquarters of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is based in the city along with 1000 other international organisations and 2000 international corporations. Brussels is third in the number of international conferences it hosts also becoming one of the largest convention centres in the world. The presence of the EU and the other international bodies has led to there being more ambassadors and journalists in Brussels than
Washington D.C.. International schools have also been established to serve this presence. Furthermore three quarters of the work of the
European Parliament takes place in the city at its
Brussels hemicycle (its official seat is
Strasbourg).
Brussels began to host institutions in 1957, with the executives of the
EEC and
Euratom which were originally shared with
Luxembourg but quickly met in Brussels for practical reasons. In 1965 Brussels gained the right to host the merged Commission and Council, with some concessions to Luxembourg, and over the following years the Parliament established an increasing presence in Brussels, although was required to maintain its presence in
Strasbourg by the treaties.
Today the presence has increased considerably with the Commission alone occupying 865,000m² within the "European Quarter" in the east of the city. The concentration and density has caused concern that the presence of the institutions has caused a "
ghetto effect" in that part of the city. However the presence has contributed significantly to the importance of Brussels as an international centre. including the Museum of Modern Art, and the
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. The museum has an extensive collection of various painters, such as the
Flemish painters like
Brueghel,
Rogier van der Weyden,
Robert Campin,
Anthony van Dyck, and
Jacob Jordaens.
Gastronomy
Brussels is known for its local
waffle, its
chocolate, its
french fries and its numerous types of
beers . The
Brussels sprout was first cultivated in Brussels, hence its name.
The gastronomic offer includes approximately 1,800 restaurants with a European comparison in the above number of high quality bars. The Belgian cuisine is one among connoisseurs as one of the best in Europe. In addition to the traditional restaurants, there's an unmanageable number of cafes, bistros and the usual range of international fast food chains. The cafes are similar bars have been better with a beer and small dishes, coffee houses in the German understanding are the Salons de Thé. Also widespread are the so-called brasseries, usually a large number of beer and typical national restorations.
The Belgian cuisine is characterized by the combination of French cuisine with the more hearty Flemish kitchen. Culinary specialties are particularly Brussels waffles (Gaufres) and mussels (usually as "Moules frites" are served with fries). The city is a stronghold of chocolate and pralines manufacturers with traditional companies like Godiva, Neuhaus and Leonidas. The fries were invented by a Belgian and wafers as well as anywhere in Brussels on the street sold. In addition, the Belgian beer enjoys a good reputation - Hoegaarden, Leffe, Duvel, Jupiler, Stella Artois and Kriek (cherry beer) are examples.
Economy
Serving as the centre of administration for Europe, Brussels' economy is largely service-oriented. It is dominated by regional headquarters of multinationals, by European institutions, by various administrations, and by related services, though it does have a number of notable craft industries, such as the
Cantillon Brewery, a
lambic brewery founded in 1900.
Languages
Originally a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels is nowadays officially bilingual
French-
Dutch. French is the mother tongue of the majority of the population and the
lingua franca. Research in the city's archives shows that Dutch was by far the most widely used language in local administration until the French occupation (1793-1815), even though French had been the language of the local governors since the
Burgundian era. From 1880 on, more and more Dutch-speaking people became bilingual, resulting in a rise of monolingual French-speakers after 1910. Halfway through the 20th century the number of monolingual French-speakers carried the day over bilingual people.
During the 19th century, as literacy progressed, most dialect-speakers turned to French rather than to Dutch as their language of culture. The main reasons for this were the higher prestige of the French language at the time (even the Flemish elites had adopted French), the perception that Dutch was the language of rural and poor
Flanders and the fact that the Belgian administration was solely conducted in French. The education system was almost exclusively French-speaking, which hampered the spread of the Dutch standard language and contributed to low-class image of Dutch. As a result, people would often speak a Dutch dialect in private but French in public occasions. Even today, it isn't uncommon to meet (older) French-speaking "Bruxellois" who are unable to express themselves in standard Dutch but who speak or at least understand the
Brabantian dialect.
A linguistic curiosity is
Marols (
Marollien), a variant of the Dutch dialect of Brussels heavily influenced by the
Walloon of
Liège, which used to be spoken mostly in the
Marolles/
Marollen, a central section of the city. Today, all Brussels dialects are on the verge of extinction.
Nowadays, the Brussels Capital Region is officially bilingual French-Dutch. There are no official linguistic statistics since the State-run decennial linguistic census has been abolished after the fixation of the Belgian
language border. All studies carried out can only be estimations.
As Brussels is the capital of a country of which 60% of the inhabitants are Dutch speakers, and the Brussels Region is completely surrounded by the Flemish region, it's logical that many Dutch speakers from the periphery come to the city for working, shopping and going out.
So, although the lingua franca is French, knowledge of Dutch is considered highly desirable. One of the consequences of this change of attitude towards the Dutch language is, for example, that most children in Dutch-speaking schools in Brussels don't speak Dutch at home. Janssens estimates that 28.23% of the population have a
good to perfect knowledge of Dutch (either as a first or as a second language). For English this is 35.4% and for French 95%, due to its role as lingua franca.
Education
There are several
universities in Brussels. The two main universities are the
Université Libre de Bruxelles, a
French-speaking university with about 20,000 students in three campuses in the city (and two others outside), and the
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, a
Dutch-speaking university with about 10,000 students. Both universities originate from a single ancestor university founded in 1834, namely the
Free University of Brussels, which was split in 1970 at about the same time the Flemish and French Communities gained legislative power over the organisation of higher education.
Other universities include the
Facultés Universitaires Saint Louis with 2,000 students,, the Catholic University of Brussels (
Katholieke Universiteit Brussel)
, the
Royal Military Academy, a military college established in 1834 by a
French colonel and two drama schools founded in 1982: the
Dutch-speaking Koninklijk Conservatorium and the
French-speaking Conservatoire Royal.
Still other universities have campuses in Brussels, such as the
Université Catholique de Louvain that has had its medical faculty in the city since 1973. In addition the
Boston University Brussels campus was established in 1972 and offers masters degrees in business administration and international relations. Due to the post-war international presence in the city, there are also a number of international schools, including the
International School of Brussels with 1,450 pupils between 2½ to 18, the British School of Brussels, and the four
European Schools serving those working in the
EU institutions.
Transport
Connections
Brussels is served by
Brussels Airport, located in the nearby Flemish municipality of
Zaventem, and by the much smaller so-called
Brussels South Charleroi Airport, located near
Charleroi (Wallonia), some from Brussels. Brussels is also served by direct high-speed rail links: to
London by the
Eurostar train via the Channel Tunnel (1hr 51 min); to Amsterdam, Paris and Cologne by the
Thalys; and to Cologne and Frankfurt by the German
ICE.
Public transport
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.
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 a metropolitan
RER rail network around Brussels.
Since 2003 Brussels has had a car-sharing service operated by the
Bremen company Cambio in partnership with STIB/MIVB and local ridesharing company taxi stop. In 2006 shared bicycles were also introduced.
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
Grand Place in large part remains, but has been overlaid by boulevards built
over the River Zenne/Senne,
over the city walls and over the
railway connection 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
Rheims), N6 (SW to
Maubeuge), N8 (W to
Koksijde) and N9 (NW to
Ostend) . Usually named
steenwegen/chaussées, these highways normally run straight as a die, but on occasion lose themselves in a maze 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,
grote ring 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.
Twin cities
Brussels is
twinned with the following cities:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Brussels'.
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