Leopoldsburg

Leopoldsburg
	Leopoldsburg
	Leopoldsburg
State :	Belgium
Region :	Flanders
Province :	Limburg
District :	Hasselt
Coordinates :	51 ° 7 ' N , 5 ° 16' E Coordinates: 51 ° 7 ' N , 5 ° 16' E
Area :	22.49 km²
Residents:	15,755 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density:	701 inhabitants per km²
Post Code:	3970, 3971
Prefix:	011
Mayor:	Wouter Beke ( CD&V )
; Local government address :	Gemeentehuis ; Koningin Astridplein 37 ; 3970 Leopoldsburg
Website:	come.to/leopoldsburg

Leopoldsburg ( Limburgish Leopolsbörch ) is a municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg with 15,755 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019). Leopoldsburg is part of the Hasselt arrondissement .

history

Camp de Beverlo

After Louvain-la-Neuve (established in 1969), Leopoldsburg is the second youngest town in Belgium. The village was founded in 1850 after the Belgian Army on behalf of King Leopold I , the military camp Kamp van Beverlo in Beverloer was build heath. The heather area, which is very extensive by today's standards and stretched from Oostham via Lommel , was sparsely populated in the early 19th century and was separated from the communities of Beverlo (today to Beringen ) and Oostham (today to Ham ) by royal decree .

In the vernacular, Leopoldsburg is still called "Kamp" (camp) or "Strooiendorp" (straw village) after the first thatched roof houses that were built for the military in the immediate vicinity of the camp.

places

The municipality of Leopoldsburg includes the village of the same name, where the municipal administration is located, as well as the village of Heppen and a few smaller towns.

Garrison town

Various infantry and tank battalions of the Belgian armed forces have been housed in Leopoldsburg , which are still conspicuously present in the streets, although conscription was abolished in Belgium in 1994.

During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II , numerous units and units of the reserve army and the Waffen SS were housed on the grounds of the military training area, which completed part of their training there while they also acted as occupiers.

After the liberation by the British Army in 1944, the area served as a base for further advance. On September 15, 1944, the British Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks gave his troops the order to operate Market Garden in what was then the cinema in Leopoldsburg . The military operation began two days later at Joe's Bridge in the neighboring town of Lommel .

Today's barracks complex is the largest site of the Belgian army.

literature

Henry B. Harvey: A visit to the camp of Beverloo . Parker, Furnivall, and Parker, London 1852 ( Google Books ).

Web links

Commons : Leopoldsburg - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Homepage of the municipality of Leopoldsburg (Dutch, English)