Beauvechain

Beauvechain
Beauvechain
State :	Belgium
Region :	Wallonia
Province :	Walloon Brabant
District :	Nivelles
Coordinates :	50 ° 47 '  N , 4 ° 47'  E Coordinates: 50 ° 47 '  N , 4 ° 47'  E
Area :	30.58 km²
Residents:	7243 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density:	237 inhabitants per km²
Post Code:	1320
Prefix:	010
Mayor:	Marc Deconinck ( PS )
Local government address :	Place Communale, 3 1320 Beauvechain
Website:	www.beauvechain.be

Beauvechain Town Hall

Beauvechain ( Walloon Bôvetchén , Dutch Bevekom ) is a municipality in the French-speaking province of Walloon Brabant in Belgium . It consists of the five districts of Beauvechain , Hamme-Mille , Nodebais , L'Ecluse (Dutch Sluizen ) and Tourinnes-la-Grosse (Dutch Deurne ).

geography

Beauvechain is located in Wallonia in the province of Walloon Brabant , eight kilometers from the provincial capital Wavre . The distance to the Belgian capital, Brussels , as well as to Nivelles , the capital of the arrondissement, is around 40 km.

The municipality of Beauvechain has an area of ​​38.59 km². Of these, 12.63 fall on Beauvechain itself, 8.54 on Tourinnes-la-Grosse, 8.24 on Hamme-Mille, 5.38 on Nodebais and 3.80 on L'Ecluse.

In the southern area is the Beauvechain military airfield .

The neighboring municipalities are Jodoigne , Incourt and Grez-Doiceau in Walloon Brabant and Oud-Heverlee , Bierbeek and Hoegaarden in Flemish Brabant . The French-speaking municipality of Beauvechain thus borders in the north on Dutch-speaking Flanders .

history

The area around the municipality of Beauvechain has been inhabited since ancient times. Fortified ramparts and graves from the Bronze and Iron Ages were found near the Saint-Nicaise forest . Descendants of the Cimbri , Eburones and other Celtic tribes crossed the area. The Romans also colonized it. The ancient Roman road from Boulogne-sur-Mer to Cologne ran along here.

The center of Beauvechain has been a town since the Frankish times. Ermelinde (died 600), the country's first saint, lived here. Since the division of the empire of Charlemagne in 843, as agreed in the Treaty of Verdun , the place belonged to Lotharingia and after its division in 977 to Lower Lorraine . End of the 10th century the area fell to Notger of Liège , the bishop of Liège .

At the beginning of the second millennium, Beauvechain was first mentioned by name as Bavechin or Bavenchen . In 1013, after the battle of Hoegaarden , Hamme, L'Ecluse, Mille and Nodebais fell to the Count of Leuven , while Tourinnes and Beauvechain continued to belong to Liège.

Nodebais in particular suffered from the unrest that occurred during the reign of Maximilian I in 1488/89 . Maximilian's son, Philip the Handsome , stayed in Hamme in 1504. His son, Charles V , went hunting in the Meerdael forest.

In the Franco-Dutch War , the villages of Beauvechains became a battlefield. Only with the Peace of Utrecht in 1713 did calm return. During the reign of Maria Theresa , the connecting road between Leuven and Namur was built. In 1811 Hamme and Mille were merged.

Both in the first (20 August 1914) and in the Second World War (15 May 1940) the villages of the municipality of Beauvechain were occupied by the Germans.

In the course of the regional reform , Beauvechain, Hamme-Mille, L'Ecluse, Nodebais and Tourinnes-la-Grosse were merged in 1977 to form the new municipality of Beauvechain.

Web links

Commons : Beauvechain  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Beauvechain website (French)