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Brussels

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: European Geography

   City of Brussels
   Brussels skyline seen from the Kunstberg or Mont des Arts
   Brussels skyline seen from the Kunstberg or Mont des Arts

   Official flag of City of Brussels

                                    Official seal of City of Brussels
   Flag                             Seal
   Nickname: "The Capital Of Europe, Comic City

   City of a 100 Museums"
   Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium
   Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium
   Coordinates: 50°50′37″N, 4°21′27″E
   Country Belgium
   Region Brussels-Capital Region
   Founded 797
   Founded ( Region) June 18, 1989
   Mayor ( Municipality) Freddy Thielemans
   Area
    - City 162 ( Region) km²  (62.5  sq mi)
   Elevation 13 m  (43 ft)
   Population
    - City ( 2005) 140,000 ( Municipality)
    - Density 200/km² (656/sq mi)
    - Metro 1,975,000
   Time zone CET ( UTC+1)
    - Summer ( DST) CEST ( UTC+2)
   Website: www.bruxelles.irisnet.be
   Brussels City Hall
   Enlarge
   Brussels City Hall

   Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl], and sometimes
   [bʁyksɛl] by non-Belgian speakers of French; Dutch: Brussel, pronounced
   [brʏsəl]; 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 (and thus often considered 'The Capital
   of Europe').

   Brussels is, first of all, a city located in the centre 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
   1,018,804 inhabitants ( 1 January 2006). The Metropolitan area has
   about 2,090,000 inhabitants.

   The Brussels-Capital Region is one of the three federated regions of
   Belgium, 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 (though
   Antwerp is considered the cultural capital of Flanders).

   Two of the 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
   institution, 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 1958 World
   Exposition.

Etymology

   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 ((French) /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.

History

   Saint Michael and Gudula's Cathedral
   Enlarge
   Saint Michael and Gudula's Cathedral

   In 977 AD, the German emperor Otto II gave the duchy of Lower
   Lotharingia on 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 said to be when a small castle was built by Charles around
   979 on Saint-Géry island in the Zenne or Senne river. The donation by
   Emperor Otto II the Great is recorded. Duke Charles had a shrine built
   for the relics of Saint Gudula in the Saint Gery chapel.

   In 1041 the county of Brussels was taken over by Lambert I of Leuven,
   one of the Counts of Leuven who ruled the surrounding county, later the
   Duchy of Brabant. Under Lambert II of Leuven, a new castrum and the
   first city walls were built. In the 12th century the small town became
   an important stop on the trade route from Brugge and Ghent to Cologne.
   The village benefited from this favourable position and, 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).

   From 1357 to 1379, a new city wall was constructed as the former one
   was already proving to be too small: the inner ring or 'pentagon' now
   follows its course.

   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 independence, 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 abdicated in 1555. 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 (all that now remains is an 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 4,000
   houses were set on fire, including the medieval buildings on 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 however most
   of the damage was done 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.

   Brussels is famous for celebrating its history, as well as history in
   general. This is most evident in the fact that Brussels has well over
   100 museums.

Brussels as capital of Belgium

   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.

Places of interest

   Old houses on Brussels' Grand' Place or Grote Markt
   Enlarge
   Old houses on Brussels' Grand' Place or Grote Markt
   The royal palace in Brussels
   Enlarge
   The royal palace in Brussels
   The most famous statue: Manneken Pis
   Enlarge
   The most famous statue: Manneken Pis
     * Grand-Place (Dutch: Grote Markt), the central market square 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.

     * The Royal Palace of Laeken and the Royal Palace of Brussels.

     * Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (French: Musées Royaux des
       Beaux Arts, Dutch: Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten) 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.

     * Brussels is famous for being home to many Belgian comics
       characters, including The Smurfs, Largo Winch, Tintin and Lucky
       Luke to name but a few. Throughout Brussels, (also nicknamed Comic
       City) there are many murals and frescos celebrating the city's many
       cartoon heroes.

     * On the site of the Heysel/Heizel are the atomium, one of the
       symbols of Belgium, a remnant of the 1958 World exposition in
       Brussels, and Mini-Europe, a park which hosts miniature models of
       famous European buildings.

     * Manneken Pis (and Jeanneke Pis): a small bronze fountain sculpture
       depicting a little boy urinating into the fountain's basin.

     * Several churches, such as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in
       Koekelberg, and the Saint Michael and Saint Gudula Cathedral.

     * The Jubilee Arch (French: Les Arcades du Cinquantenaire, Dutch:
       Triomfboog van het Jubelpark)

     * La Bourse/De Beurs, the location of the stock market Euronext in
       Belgium.
     * De Munt/La Monnaie, an opera house.

     * The Floral Carpet (not permanent)
     * Tour and Taxis: a former stockhouse of the Thurn and Taxis family.
     * Palais Stoclet/Stoclethuis
     * Maison Horta/Hortahuis
     * Avenue Louise/Louisalaan, an avenue in the fashionable part of
       Brussels.

Folklore

   Brussels’ identity owes much to its rich folklore and traditions, among
   the liveliest in the country:
     * A good introduction to the brusseleir local dialect and way of life
       can be obtained at the House of Toone. This theatre of marionettes,
       originally located in the Marolles area, is now delivering its
       slapstick comedy in a 1696 estaminet a stone throw away from the
       Grand Place.
     * The Ommegang (from old Dutch: walking around) started in the
       14th-century as a religious procession. Taking place every year in
       July, it now commemorates Charles V’s Joyous Entry in the city in
       1549. The colourful parade includes floats, traditional giant
       puppets, such as Saint Michael and Saint Gudula, and scores of
       folkloric groups, either on foot or on horseback, dressed in
       medieval garb. The parade ends in a pageant on the Grand Place.
     * The Meyboom (tree of May) is an even older Brussels tradition (
       1308), which takes place paradoxically on August 9. After parading
       a young beech in the city, it is planted in a joyful spirit
       involving lots of music, brusseleir songs, and giant puppets.

Linguistic situation

   Bilingual signs in Brussels.
   Enlarge
   Bilingual signs in Brussels.

   Brussels Capital Region is officially bilingual French-Dutch, although
   French, mother tongue of the majority of the population, is the lingua
   franca and is most widely used. Every public institution in Brussels,
   however, has to be bilingual.

   For most centuries of its history, Dutch, (Brabantian variant), or more
   precisely the linguistic predecessor of it, was the common vernacular.
   French was only used by upper classes (less than 5% of the population).
   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
   (probably some governors also spoke Dutch).

   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) recognised Dutch, the language of the
   majority of its population, as an official language only in 1878.

   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. One third of Brussels' inhabitants has a foreign origin and
   does not have Belgian nationality. Since Brussels is completely
   surrounded by Flemish territory, 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.

   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 often minimal knowledge of Dutch of some French
   speakers and the perceived unwillingness of some to learn Dutch,
   although they live in Flanders, along with the increasingly
   nationalistic agenda of most flemish politicians, have led to friction
   between the two communities. One way of quickly identifying whether you
   are in Brussels or in Flanders is by looking at the colors on the
   pilars of the traffic lights: they are red and white in Brussels, and
   yellow and black in Flanders.

   A curiosity 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).

Universities and colleges

   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.

   The Koninklijk Conservatorium is a drama school in the city attended by
   many of the top actors and actresses to come out of Belgium.

Transport

   Brussels metro (actually here premetro), de Brouckère station
   Enlarge
   Brussels metro (actually here premetro), de Brouckère station
   Platforms at Brussels North station
   Enlarge
   Platforms at Brussels North station

Connections

   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).

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.

   There are four companies managing public transport inside Brussels:
     * STIB/MIVB (metro, bus, tram; Brussels' Regional services)
     * NMBS/SNCB (train, organised 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 Schuman

   The 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)
     * Watermael (Dutch: Watermaal)
     * Boitsfort (Dutch: Bosvoorde)
     * Boondael (Dutch: Boondaal)
     * 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
   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 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.

Conferences and world fairs

   Photograph of the fifth conference in 1927.
   Enlarge
   Photograph of the fifth conference in 1927.

   Brussels hosted the famous fifth Solvay Conference in 1927, where
   physicists like Albert Einstein, Planck, Curie, Lorentz, Dirac, De
   Broglie, Borh, Schrödinger, Pauli and Heisenberg discussed about the
   path of the modern physics, specifically the new Quantum Theory.
   Einstein, disenchanted with Heisenberg's " Uncertainty Principle",
   remarked "God does not play dice". Bohr replied, "Einstein, stop
   telling God what to do." (See Bohr-Einstein debates). Seventeen of the
   twenty-nine attendees were or became Nobel Prize laureates.

   Brussels hosted the third Congrès international d'architecture
   moderne(Dutch:Internationaal Congres voor Moderne Architectuur) 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.

Twin cities

     * Flag of United States  United States: Atlanta, Georgia
     * Flag of Germany  Germany: Berlin
     * Flag of People's Republic of China  China: Beijing
     * Macau  Macau, People's Republic of China: Macau
     * Flag of Spain  Spain: Madrid
     * Flag of United States  United States: Washington, D.C.
     * Flag of Ukraine  Ukraine: Kiev

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