Brussels

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City of Brussels
Brussels skyline seen from the Kunstberg or Mont des Arts
Flag of City of Brussels
Flag
Official seal of City of Brussels
Seal
Nickname: Capital of Europe, Comic City
Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium
Coordinates: {{#invoke:Coordinates|coord}}{{#coordinates:50|50|48.22|N|4|21|8.94|E|type:city
name= }}
Country Belgium
Region Brussels-Capital Region
Founded 979
Founded (Region) June 18, 1989
Government
 - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans
Elevation 13 m (43 ft)
Population (2005)
 - Region 1,024,492
 - Metro 1,975,000
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Website: www.brussels.irisnet.be

Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl]; Dutch: Brussel, pronounced [ˈbrɵsəɫ]) 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.[1] Brussels has grown from a 10th century fortress town founded by Charlemagne's grandson into a metropolis of over one million inhabitants[2][3].

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.

Although the City of Brussels historically was the city's core, the population has long since outgrown the municipality. Today, the settlement of Brussels is effectively most often synonymous with the more recently established Brussels-Capital Region; one of Belgium's three regions.

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. Brussels is a metonymy for the European Union's government. 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.[4]

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.

1555 map of the city

The county of Brussels was attributed to Lambert I of Leuven, count of Leuven around 1000. In 1047, his son Lambert II, Count 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.[5]

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

Grand Place after the 1695 bombardment by the French army

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 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 does not 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

Episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830, Wappers (1834)

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