Mechelen

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Mechelen (disambiguation) .

Mechelen
Mechelen
State :	Belgium
Region :	Flanders
Province :	Antwerp
District :	Mechelen
Coordinates :	51 ° 2 ′  N , 4 ° 29 ′  E Coordinates: 51 ° 2 ′  N , 4 ° 29 ′  E
Area :	65.2 km²
Residents:	86,616 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density:	1,328 inhabitants per km²
Post Code:	2800 (Mechelen, Walem) 2801 (Heffen) 2811 (Hombeek, Leest) 2812 (Muizen)
Prefix:	015 - 03
Mayor:	Bart Somers ( Open VLD )
Local government address :	Stadsbestuur Mechelen Grote Markt 21 2800 Mechelen
Website:	www.mechelen.be

IJzerenleen, Mechelen

Mechelen ( German  Mecheln, French Malines ) is a city in the province of Antwerp in Belgium with 86,616 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019). Mechelen is the seat of the Primate of Belgium, Archbishop Jozef De Kesel .

description

The city center of Mechelen, which is barely 1 km in diameter, has an almost circular shape, wide, regular streets and sizable public spaces, including the Grote Markt (large market square), the Veemarkt (cattle market) and the Schoenmarkt (shoemaker's market) with the monument by Margaret of Austria .

history

Mechelen fell to Lotharingien when the Frankish empire was partitioned between Karl the Kahlen and Ludwig the German , but between 911 and 915 it was given to the Count Palatine Wigerich by Karl the Simple . The city as part of the glory of Mechelen came in 1336 through purchase to the Dukes of Brabant and in 1383 through marriage to Philip the Bold of Burgundy . 1477 the city came by marriage of Mary of Burgundy , the heiress of Charles the Bold , with Maximilian I of the House of Habsburg . 1490 Mechelen was by Emperor Friedrich III. raised to a noble county and as such formed the 17th of the Dutch provinces. In 1559 the city became the seat of an archbishop . Under the governor Margaret of Austria , Mechelen was temporarily the capital of the Netherlands. After the fall of the seven united provinces, the city came back to Brabant and became the seat of the Grand Council of Mechelen , the highest court of justice for the entire Habsburg Netherlands. In 1572 Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba , started one of his cruelest slaughter here.

On May 5th, 1835, five years after Belgium gained independence , the Brussels - Mechelen railway was opened. It was one of the first steam-powered railway lines on the European continent and promoted the industrialization of the city and the region.

In 1863, a Catholic Congress held in Mechelen (here called Charles de Montalembert , the freedom of conscience ).

During the western campaign (May 1940) the Benelux countries were occupied by Wehrmacht troops; Until September 1944, the SS assembly camp in Mechelen was located in the city , from which more than 25,000 Jews were deported by the German occupying forces to Auschwitz . Today there is a memorial in the rooms of the former camp. In 1944 the city was liberated by British troops.

In the 1970s, as part of the second Belgian state reform , Mechelen became the provisional seat of the Flemish Community until it was moved to Brussels. On 1 January 1977, the city of Mechelen with the surrounding communities Heffen, Hombeek, Leest, Muizen and Walem merged and won by this municipality of fusion than 14,000 new residents. In the last few decades Mechelen, like other Belgian cities, has been heavily influenced by immigration : 27.3% of the residents are allochtones , around 20% are Muslims . The city struggled with social segregation, crime, pollution and emigration in the 1990s, but has now become an example of how these problems can be dealt with.

politics

coat of arms

Blazon : “Three red posts in gold, covered with a little plate, inside of which is a black eagle in gold . Raised on the edge of the shield is a golden ring crown with red-blue-red-blue-red square stones, set with thirty silver pearls on top, three in the middle and raised on the edges, held by two red-tongued and reinforced golden griffins , underneath in a golden currency ribbon in black capital letters the motto: "IN TROUWEN VAST" ("IN TREUE FEST") "

Twin cities

• Arvada , Colorado
• Chengdu , China
• Sibiu , Romania

economy

In Mechelen there is metalworking, precision engineering and chemical industry as well as machine and transformer construction. The city ​​is also known for its breweries ; in particular through the traditional brewery Het Anker , which is one of the oldest breweries in Belgium. In addition, there are companies for the production of jewelery located here, as well as companies that still produce the traditional Mechlin bobbin lace . The Kellogg Company produces Pringles in Mechelen for the European market, but the location is not secured after their sale. The drug researcher Galapagos is also headquartered in Mechelen.

Transport links

Located on a fertile plain on the Dijle and on a canal leading from Leuven to Antwerp , the Mechelen railway junction is connected to Antwerp, Leuven, Lier , Brussels , Dendermonde , Gent and Terneuzen by railway lines. There is also a repair shop and the former Muizen marshalling yard , which is still used as a freight yard after renovation . The city is located on the European route 19 (Antwerp – Paris) and is about the same distance from Brussels (30 km south) and Antwerp (25 km north).

Worth seeing

St. Rombouts Cathedral with the monument to Margaret of Austria

The three famous town houses of Sint Jozef, De Duivel (The Devil) and Het Paradijs (The Paradise) ; → location

town hall

Brussels City Gate ( → Location )

The density of more than 300 listed buildings, including eight churches, on less than three square kilometers is remarkable.

• Gothic cathedral of St. Romuald (Sint-Rombouts-Kathedraal) from the 13th-15th centuries Century with a 98 m high but unfinished tower, which as a belfry has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage “Belfries in Belgium and France” since 1999 and houses two carillons , as well as valuable paintings (altarpiece by van Dyck ).
• The Belfry of the Cloth Hall (1340), now part of the town hall, is also part of the UNESCO World Heritage.
• Town hall ( → location )
• Town house, also called "De Beyaert" (15th century; → location )
• The large and the small beguinages - both have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Flemish beguinages since 1998.
• Liebfrauenkirche ( → Lage ) from the 16th century, with Rubens' famous fish haul.
• Johanniskirche ( → Lage ) contains some valuable paintings by Peter Paul Rubens.
• Basilica of Our Lady of Hanswijk , Baroque pilgrimage church
• Palace of Margaret of Austria, since the 20th century court of justice ( → location )
• Hof van Busleyden ( → Lage ) and the Court of Savoy (early 16th century)
• IJzerenleen street with many historical buildings, including the Oud Schepenhuis ( → Lage )
• Archbishop's Palace ( → Location )
• Munizipalkollegium (formerly Deutschordenshaus )
• Mechelen Railway Museum
• Kazerne Dossin - Memorial, museum and documentation center for the Holocaust and human rights on the site of the former SS assembly camp in Mechelen
• Armory
• Mechelen TV and water tower

sons and daughters of the town

• Johannes Varennius (1462–1536), teacher at the Collegium Trilingue , wrote: SYNTAXIS LINGVUAE GRAECAE… COLONIAE Martinus Gymnicus excudebat ANNO MDL
• Jan van Wavere († 1521/1522), Brabant barrel painter
• Franz II von Taxis (around 1514–1543), postmaster general of the 16th century
• Augustinus Hunnäus (1521–1577 / 1578), theologian and philosopher
• Philippe de Monte (1521–1603), 16th century composer
• Caspar Heidanus (1530–1586), Reformed theologian and preacher
• Hans Ruckers (1533 / 55–1598), founder of the Ruckers family dynasty (best known Flemish harpsichord maker from Antwerp in the 16th and 17th centuries)
• Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590), engraver and eraser
• Mathias Hovius (1542–1620), Archbishop of Mechelen
• Anton van Obberghen (1543–1611), builder from Antwerp , Helsingør and Danzig
• Philips van der Aa († after 1586), Orange lawyer and statesman
• Joannes Wachtendonck (1592–1668), theologian and bishop
• Abraham van den Kerckhoven (around 1618–1702), composer and organist
• Rombout Verhulst (1624–1698), Flemish sculptor of the 17th century
• Oswald Onghers (1628–1706), baroque painter of the 17th and 18th centuries
• Jakob van der Auwera (1672–1760) court sculptor in Würzburg, father of Lukas Anton and Johann Wolfgang van der Auwera
• Jean François Michel (1697–1772), lawyer and businessman
• Ludwig van Beethoven (1712–1773), the grandfather of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven
• Pierre-Joseph van Beneden (1809-1894), parasitologist and paleontologist
• Egide Walschaerts (1820–1901), mechanical engineer
• Willem Geets (1838–1919), history painter and etcher and art teacher
• Rik Wouters (1882–1916), sculptor, painter
• Gerard Bosch van Drakestein (1887–1972), Dutch track cyclist
• Jean Baptiste Janssens (1889–1964), 27th general of the Societas Jesu
• Staf Nees (1901–1965), composer and carillon player
• Jan Diddens (1906–1972), football player
• Alex Fain (1912–2009), tropical medicine specialist, acarologist and parasitologist
• Henry Bauchau (1913–2012), psychotherapist and writer
• Peter Cabus (1923-2000), Flemish composer
• John Ward (1927-2015), jazz drummer
• Jan Segers (* 1929), composer, conductor, musician and editor
• Michel van Esbroeck (1934–2003), Jesuit and orientalist
• Vic Nees (1936–2013), composer for choral works, program director for choral music at Flemish Radio
• Victoire Van Nuffel (* 1937), cyclist, born in Hombeek
• Fernand Goyvaerts (1938-2004), football player
• Julien Stevens (* 1943), racing cyclist
• Georges Leekens (* 1949), football player and coach
• Chris Joris (* 1952), jazz musician
• Carry Goossens (* 1953), actor and comedian
• Luc Deflo (1958-2018), crime writer
• André Donni (* 1971), jazz musician
• Jan Verlinden (* 1977), football player
• Hans Somers (* 1978), football player
• Steven Defour (born 1988), football player
• Anthony Limbombe (* 1994), football player

See also

• Gertrud from le Forts Novelle Plus ultra is in Mechelen.

Web links

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

Wikisource: Mechelen in the Topographia Circuli Burgundici (Mathäus Merian)  - sources and full texts

• Website of the city of Mechelen
• Website of the Planckendael Zoo
• Illustration by Frans Hogenberg from 1580: How instead of Mecheln was conquered by Cornell vom Temell, and Cornell Norwits and Captain Michell mitt gwalt and 150 soldiers and 60 burgers remained toot ( digitized version )
• Illustration by Daniel Meisner from 1624: Mechelen; Post Nubila Phœbus ( digitized version )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Illustration by Frans Hogenberg from 1576: When Bergen was taken, Khumpt of Alba with his share, Before Mechlen a beautiful place, ... ( digitized version )
2. ^ Oskar Panizza : German theses against the Pope and his dark men. With a foreword by MG Conrad. New edition (selection from the “666 theses and quotations”). Nordland-Verlag, Berlin 1940.m p. 13 f. and 207.
3. ↑ www.bundesarchiv.de: Chronology of the deportations from Belgium . First transport August 4, 1942, last July 31, 1944. All of them started in Mechelen, almost all of them ended in Auschwitz
4. ↑ www.kazernedossin.eu
5. ↑ http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/mechelen-ein-buergermeister-raeumt-auf.1773.de.html?dram:article_id=377065
6. ↑ Pringles vendus: quel avenir pour l'usine de Malines? (Eng .: Pringles sold. What future does the Mechelen plant have? )
7. ^ Scientific City Library Mainz: Sign. I b 34 ( Memento from July 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
8. ^ Pius Bieri: The sculptor family Auwera (Auvera) . 2011.