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Brussels, Belgium)
Brussels (French: Bruxelles, Dutch: Brussel, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium and is considered by many as the capital of the European Union. Two of the three main institutions of the European Union have indeed their headquarters in Brussels.
Overview
Brussels is first of all a city located in the middle of Belgium and 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: de Stad Brussel), which is one of 19 municipalities that make up the Brussels-Capital Region. The municipality has a population of about 140,000 while the Brussels-Capital Region has almost a million inhabitants.
See also: Municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region.
The Brussels-Capital Region is a region of Belgium in its own right, alongside the Flemish Region and Wallonia. Geographically, it is an enclave of the Flemish Region. Regions are one component of Belgium's complex institutions, the three communities being "the" other component: the Brussels inhabitants must deal with the either the French (speaking) community or the Flemish Community for matters such as culture and education.
Old houses on Brussels' Grand Place
Brussels is also the capital of the
French Community of Belgium (
Communauté française Wallonie-Bruxelles in French) and of
Flanders; all Flemish capital institutions are established there:
Flemish Parliament,
Flemish governement 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 the Berlaymont building in Brussels. The third main institution of the European Union, the European Parliament, also has parliamentary chambers in Brussels (its plenary sessions are held at its headquarters in Strasbourg).
Brussels is also the political seat of NATO, i.e. the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and the Western European Union (WEU).
The "language frontier" divides Belgium into a northern, Dutch-speaking, region and a southern, French-speaking, region. The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual, while the majority of its residents speaks French (see the linguistic history of Brussels in this article's history section).
The highest building in Brussels is the South Tower (150m), the most famous probably the Atomium, which is a remnant from Expo '58.
Etymology
The name Brussels comes from Bruocsella, Brucsella or Broekzele, which means "marsh (bruoc, bruc or broek) home (sella or zele)" or "home 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.
History
A small castle was built around 979 near the Senne.
The small town became in the 12th century an important stop on the commercial road from Bruges to Cologne.
The Heysel Stadium disaster took place in Brussels on May 29, 1985.
Linguistic history
The Brussels Capital Region is currently home for both French- and Dutch-speakers. Dutch, or more precisely its "linguistic predecessors", was the language of the city from its foundation. In those first 6 centuries, French was only used in the relations with the then "Romance-speaking" (linguistic predecessors of French) areas around Nivelles. During the Austrian period, 'Dutch' remained the popular language in Brussels, and French was for several centuries only spoken by the haute-bourgeoisie and the nobility. It started becoming only a somewhat popular language under the French regime, and especially after 1830, by the immigration of many French (revolutionaries and others) and many Walloons, attracted by the new Belgian authorities. As in 1830, only the haute-bourgeoisie and the nobility (1% of the population) had voting rights, these groups wanted to fashion the new state along their personal preferences. As a result, they had to attract many French-speaking Walloons to staff the public services.
The area, which is geographically situated in the south of Flanders, was still mostly Dutch-speaking until the middle of the 20th century. During the 19th and 20th century, more and more French-speaking civil servants coming from Wallonia settled in Brussels and persistent social, administrative, cultural and political pressure made many Flemings switch their vernacular to French.
The royal palace in Brussels
The Brussels-Capital region nowadays is officially French-Dutch bilingual and some municipalities in Flanders around Brussels have special linguistic facilities to protect the right of the French-speaking minorities.
On 4 September 1998 the Council of Europe published a resolution entitled "Situation of the French-speaking population living in the Brussels periphery" [1] http://assembly.coe.int/documents/workingdocs/doc98/edoc8182.htm which focussed on a linguistic conflict affecting six communes in Flanders, and made recommendations to both the Flemish government and the French-speaking inhabitants.
The International Labour Organisation, a UN agency, reported ([2] http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/migrant/papers/imp23/ch10.htm ) the results of an experiment, involving two testers applying for jobs in Belgium, where the Moroccan job applicant was discriminated against in favour of the Belgian.
On the one hand, many Flemings complain about a strong pressure from French-speakers against the bilingual status inside the Brussels-Capital region. Belgian judiciary has never engaged in any official investigation; all these complaints are still pending. In the early 90's, an official declaration from the regional government explicitly acknowledged that social housing was de facto reserved entirely for those applying in French. As late as 2003, Rudy Demotte, the federal minister of Public Health and a French-speaking socialist, has publicly acknowledged that urgent medical services discriminated against Dutch speakers, in the sense that it was often difficult for Dutch speakers to use their own language [3] http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc03/FDOC10009.htm .
On the other hand, there are reports and claims of discriminations against French-speakers in the outskirts of Brussels regarding access to health care, using their own language, and social housing [4] http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc04/EDOC10115.htm [5] http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc02/EDOC9536.htm [6] http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/AdoptedText/TA98/eres1172.htm .
Universities
Brussels has several universities, two of them being the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). 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.
Transport
Brussels is served by Brussels International Airport, located in the municipality of Zaventem, and by Brussels South Airport , located near Charleroi. Brussels' major train stations link the city to the United Kingdom by Eurostar, and to major European cities by high speed rail links (such as the Thalys).
The Brussels metro dates back to 1976.
Conferences and world fairs
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 Expo '58 in 1958. The Atomium, a 103 metre representation of an iron crystal was built for the Expo '58, and is still there.
Throughout 2003, Brussels celebrated native son Jacques Brel on the 25th anniversary of his death.
Tourist attractions
See also
External links
- Brussels-Capital Region http://www.bruxelles.irisnet.be/ , official site
- Eurobru http://www.eurobru.com/ , a portal for Brussels
- WikiTravel guide for Brussels http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Brussels
- Brussels.org http://www.brussels.org/ , Useful addresses for tourists in Brussels.
- Graphicalic - pictures from Brussels http://www.graphicalic.dk/pages/photo/belgium/brussels.html
- Brussels Jobs http://www.jobs-brussels.com
- Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Brussels http://www.500.be (French: Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Bruxelles or CCIB, Dutch: Kamer voor Handel en Nijverheid van Brussel or KHNB)
- Transport
- Brussels Airport http://www.brusselsairport.be/ , at Zaventem
- Brussels South Airport http://www.charleroi-airport.com/BSCA/siteEN.nsf/.Accueil?Readform , near Charleroi
- STIB-MIVB http://www.stib.be/ , Brussels' public transport company (in French or Dutch only)
- Maps
- Map http://www.hot-maps.de/europe/belgium/brussels/homeen.html
- Interactive map of Brussels city centre http://www.ilotsacre.be/site/en/default_en.htm
Last updated: 04-25-2005 03:06:01