Seraing

Seraing
Seraing
State :	Belgium
Region :	Wallonia
Province :	Liege
District :	Liege
Coordinates :	50 ° 36 '  N , 5 ° 31'  E Coordinates: 50 ° 36 '  N , 5 ° 31'  E
Area :	35.34 km²
Residents:	64,259 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density:	1,818 inhabitants per km²
Post Code:	4100 (Seraing, Boncelles) 4101 (Jemeppe-sur-Meuse) 4102 (Ougrée)
Prefix:	04
Mayor:	Francis Bekaert ( PS )
Local government address :	Ville de Seraing Place Communale 4100 Seraing
Website:	www.seraing.be

Seraing is a Belgian city ​​in the arrondissement of Liège in the province of the same name , southwest of the city ​​of Liège .

history

Seraing was first mentioned on March 9, 956 when a farm with saran (or saring ) is mentioned as the owner of this area. However, finds made during the construction of a canal in 1830 showed that the area was populated as early as the 5th or 6th century. The area then became the property of the Church of Liège. In the course of time there are different orthographies for the place name, so Serang (1147), Serayng (1151), Sereng (1246), Serangne (1298) and Serey (1598), until Seraing and also in the 17th and 18th centuries Serain naturalized. With a resolution of the local council of December 23, 1800 Seraing was chosen as the official city name.

Hard coal deposits in the immediate vicinity on the other bank of the Meuse in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse were already known in the Middle Ages . A bridge was built as early as 1381 so that the coal did not have to be transported across the Maas by boat.

The former episcopal castle in Seraing was the summer residence of the prince-bishops of Liège . Seraing became internationally known through the steelworks and mechanical engineering companies Cockerill-Sambre founded by John Cockerill . As one of Belgium's central industrial locations, 31,398 people lived in Seraing in 1888. In 1820 there were only 2,000.

Eugenio Barsanti built his internal combustion engine in Seraing around 1860.

All of the films by the brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne up to 2005 are set in their hometown Seraing.

politics

Mayor of the city was Alain Mathot . After the local elections in 2018, Francis Bekaert was elected as the new mayor. The city council consisted of 39 members in the 2012–2018 electoral period, and 45 members after the local elections.

Infrastructure

In 1977 the neighboring communities of Ougrée, Jemeppe-sur-Meuse and Boncelles were incorporated.

Seraing is particularly interesting today because it is still an industrial city as it was a hundred years ago; H. Industrial and residential areas are right next to each other, while in most old industrial cities the industrial areas have moved to the outskirts. The actual city center is therefore very small and surrounded by steel mills. The districts south of the center have z. Some of them still retain their character - own marketplaces, business centers, etc.

To the south of the city lies an extensive wooded area in which the air is remarkably good, which can be seen from the fact that lichens are often found on the trees - lichens only grow when the air is relatively clean.

Seraing is on the Meuse and on the Liège- Namur railway line . The A604 is connected to the motorway.

Attractions

Old abbey residence Val-Saint-Lambert

• The Cistercian monastery Val-St-Lambert was located in Seraing . The new abbot's residence, which has housed a crystal manufacture since 1826, is also located on the same site. Today a crystal museum has been set up here.

Cockerill Castle

• Cockerill Castle was the former summer residence of the Prince-Bishops of Liège. At the time of Napoleon it was a military hospital for his troops, later an ammunition store, until it came into the hands of the industrialist family Cockerill in 1817.
• The main church was consecrated in 1713
• The town hall dates from 1867.

Town twinning

The city has partnered with

• Douai in the French region of Hauts-de-France , since 1964, originally a partnership of the then still independent municipality of Jemeppe
• Rimini in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna , since 1974
• Châtel in the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes , since 2001
• Linares in Andalusia , Spain

Personalities

• Louis Grogna (1879–1940), track cyclist
• Eddie Busnello (1929–1985), jazz musician
• Christian Piot (* 1947 in Ougrée), football goalkeeper
• Jean-Pierre Dardenne (1951 in Engis , grew up in Seraing), film director, film producer and screenwriter
• Rudy Lenners (* 1952), musician, drummer with the Scorpions
• Luc Dardenne (* 1954 in Awirs , grew up in Seraing), film director, film producer and screenwriter
• Sal La Rocca (* 1961), jazz musician
• Marc Tarabella (* 1963), Walloon politician ( Parti socialiste )
• Michaël Goossens (* 1973), football player
• Thomas Doret (* 1996), actor

Web links

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

• Official website of the city

Individual evidence

1. ^ C'est reparti pour six ans. Ville de Seraing, December 4, 2018, accessed December 13, 2018 (French). 
2. ↑ Le Conseil communal. Ville de Seraing, accessed December 13, 2018 (French).