Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek

Schaerbeek Schaarbeek
Schaerbeek Schaarbeek
State :	Belgium
Region :	Brussels capital
Province :	("de-provincialized" since January 1st, 1995)
District :	Brussels capital
Coordinates :	50 ° 51 ′  N , 4 ° 22 ′  E Coordinates: 50 ° 51 ′  N , 4 ° 22 ′  E
Area :	8.14 km²
Residents:	133,309 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density:	16,377 inhabitants per km²
Post Code:	1030
Prefix:	02
Mayor:	Bernard Clerfayt (LB)
Local government address :	Maison Communale Place Colignon 1030 Schaerbeek Gemeentehuis Colignonplein 1030 Schaarbeek
Website:	www.schaerbeek.be www.schaarbeek.be

Schaerbeek ( [skaʁˈbek] ( French ) or [ʃaʁˈbɛk] ( German )) or Schaarbeek [ˈsxaːrbeːk] ( Dutch ) is one of 19 municipalities in the bilingual Brussels-Capital region in Belgium .

Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek has 133,309 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) on an area of ​​just eight square kilometers. With a rapidly growing population, it is the second largest municipality in the Brussels-Capital Region after the city ​​of Brussels itself. The municipality is located north of downtown Brussels and borders, apart from the city of Brussels , on the municipalities of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode / Sint-Joost-ten-Node , Evere , Woluwe-Saint-Lambert / Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe and Woluwe -Saint-Pierre / Sint-Pieters-Woluwe .

The place was first mentioned in 1120. Today the community is known for its cosmopolitan, multicultural flair as well as for its Art Nouveau villas and extensive green areas such as the Josaphat Park . Some of the most famous people born in the city include the famous Belgian singer Jacques Brel and the comic book writer Jean Roba , creator of Boule and Bill .

history

Schaerbeek town hall built in 1887

Schaerbeek was once known for the cultivation of sour cherries. Belgian brewers still use an old Schaerbeek cherry variety to make Kriek beer today . However, the cherries are no longer grown in the urban area. The names of some streets or buildings ( Avenue des Cerisiers / Kerselarenlaan , De Kriekelaar cultural center ) or the presence of Japanese cherry trees in avenues point to the past tradition of cherry cultivation . Schaerbeek remained a small country town until the beginning of the 19th century, the population of which rose from 600 inhabitants in 1526 to 1131 in 1800. From 1819 the urbanization of Schaerbeek began with the destruction of the old fortress walls at what is now the Botanical Garden and the extension of the Rue Royale / Koningsstraat to the Place de la Reine / Koninginneplein . Another stage was the construction of the first railway line in 1835, the establishment of the Brussels North Station on Place Rogier 1836–1841 and the expansion of the trunk road to Antwerp . The town center ( Bas-Schaerbeek / Laag-Schaarbeek ) in particular benefited from this as it attracted more and more people due to low real estate prices and a good range of services and local public transport, so that the population of the town reached 8,630 in 1850. In 1887, today's town hall was built on Place Colignon / Colignonplein and in 1900 the population had risen to 64,000. At the same time, industrialization also reached the place.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Avenue Louis Bertrand / Louis Bertrandlaan and the later Avenue Paul Deschanel / Paul Deschanellaan were created two new bourgeois avenues. This showed for the first time the social division into the Haut-Schaerbeek / Hoog-Schaarbeek and Bas-Schaerbeek / Laag-Schaarbeek. The latter was impoverished and run down in the 1980s, and many immigrants settled here. The then mayor Roger Nols was known for his xenophobic attitudes, statements and actions. It was only after his resignation in 1989 that Schaerbeekers with a migrant background moved into public office. In recent years, the old city center has been gentrified .

In a knife attack on October 5, 2016 in Schaerbeek, two police officers were seriously injured by an Islamist perpetrator during a routine check .

local community

The main axis of Schaarbeek is the axis Rue Royale / Koningstraat - Rue Royale Sainte Marie / Koninklijke Sint-Mariastraat - Rue Maréchal Foch Straat - Rue Princesse Elisabeth / Prinses Elisabethstraat, which runs straight north from the Brussels City Palace . Your end point is Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek train station; The town hall and St. Mary's Church are located on jewelry squares in the middle of the street. The community has mostly dense, Wilhelminian-style block development. The formerly industrial town of Niederschaarbeek on the border with Saint-Josse / Sint Joost has many Turkish and Moroccan immigrants , migrant workers from the 1960s and their descendants. Hochschaarbeek, especially around avenue Plasky / Plaskylaan , has a rather affluent, middle-class population, including many employees from the European institutions. The Terdelt district ( Place Terdelt / Terdeltplein ) is a garden city . The most affluent neighborhoods are the Quartier aux Fleurs / Bloemenwijk and the streets around the Brusilia high-rise and Avenue Louis Bertrand / Louis Bertrandlaan .

Attractions

Marienkirche

Schaerbeek train station

Street view Schaerbeek

Saint Servais church

Art Nouveau (65 Avenue Louis Bertrand)

• There are many Art Nouveau buildings, including outstanding examples such as the Maison Autrique built by Victor Horta in 1893 ( Chaussée de Haecht / Haachtsesteenweg ; → Lage )
• Several Art Nouveau buildings are lined up along the Avenue Louis Bertrand ( → location )
• At the end of Avenue Louis Bertrand is the neo-Gothic Saint-Servais church ( → Lage )
• The largest and most eye-catching church is the Romanesque-Byzantine Marienkirche ( → Lage )
• The town hall ( → location )
• The train station is considered the most beautiful in all of Brussels ( → location )
• The Chaussée de Haecht is a popular shopping and nightlife street . There is a large number of restaurants, cafés, grocery stores and boutiques, especially in the section between St. Mary's Church and Saint-Servais Church. There are also numerous shops and restaurants belonging to the Turkish community, which has earned the area the nickname Petite Anatolie .
• Opposite the train station at the end of avenue Huart Hamoir is the Art Deco Church of the Holy Family ( → Location )
• The Josaphatpark, an English garden with a stadium, playing fields, a small zoo, archery, mini golf and many artistic sculptures from different eras is well worth seeing. From the park you can enjoy a good view of Brussels ( → location )
• Architecturally interesting buildings are also the Les Halles cultural center ( → location ), the Dailly barracks ( → location ) and the École Josaphat (school, built in Art Nouveau; → location )
• The 89 meter high television tower of the RTBF and VRT .
• The Schaerbeek cemetery is considered a celebrity cemetery .
• The Beer Museum on Avenue Louis Bertrand presents traditional methods of brewing beer as well as an extensive collection of bottles and glasses.

population

Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek, like most places in the region, has a high proportion of immigrants . In 2018, 36.3% of the population were foreigners, which is roughly the average for the Brussels region (34.8%). The largest groups of foreigners (in descending order) are Moroccans with 4% of the population, Bulgarians (3.5%), French (3.1%), Romanians (2.9%), Poles and Turks (both 2.8%) , Spanish (2.2%), Italians (2.1%) and Portuguese (1.1%). All other nationalities each make up less than 1% of the population, including larger groups from Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Overall, a majority of Schaerbeekers, namely 74%, have a migration background (Dutch allochtonen ). According to a study from 2010, 38.5% of Schaerbeek's residents were Muslim .

politics

Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek is regarded as a bastion of liberalism , but currently (2007–2012), after some political quarrels between Bernard Clerfayt ( MR - FDF ) and Laurette Onkelinx (PS), a conservative-liberal-green majority, made up of four parties, governs the city council .

traffic

Tram lines 7, 25, 32, 55, 62, 92 and 94 run through Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek . The Brussels North Station is partly in Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek (the city limits run right through the building). In addition to the Nordbahnhof and Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek station, there are two other Belgian railway stations in the east of the city . The city of Brussels is currently planning an extensive expansion of the Schaerbeek metro . The new line is to run from the Nordbahnhof along the Liedts, Collignon (town hall), Riga and Paix stops to the Bordet station.

Town twinning

Partnerships exist with:

• Al-Hoceima , Morocco
• Beyoğlu , Turkey

sons and daughters of the town

• Louis Dubois (1830–1880), painter
• Paul Deschanel (1855–1922), French politician and President of the Third Republic
• Private Livemont (1861–1936), painter, poster, sgraffito, glass window and mosaic artist of Art Nouveau
• Georges Lemmen (1865–1916), painter
• Camille Jenatzy (1868–1913), designer of electric cars , racing driver, three times owner of the land speed record
• Gustave Van Vaerenbergh (1873-1927), sculptor
• Louis Gustave Cambier (1874–1949), painter, etcher and sculptor
• Jeanne de Vietinghoff (1875–1926), writer
• Louis Bernacchi (1876–1942), Australian-British polar explorer
• Joseph Cardijn (1882–1967), cardinal and founder of the Christian Worker Youth CAJ
• Henri-Julien Matthys (1884–1925), entrepreneur and racing car driver
• Nicolas Caerels , (1889–1966), racing car driver
• Albert Rigaux (1897–1981), impressionist painter
• Paul-Henri Spaak (1899–1972), politician and statesman
• Gus Deloof (1909–1974), jazz musician
• Ferdinand de Grève (1910–1980), civil servant and resistance fighter against National Socialism, prisoner in Buchenwald concentration camp, secretary of the Belgian Buchenwald Society and member of the General Council of the International Buchenwald-Dora Committee and Commands
• Pierre Bouckaert SJ (1912–1992), religious, Bishop of Popokabaka
• Andrée de Jongh (1916–2007), member of the Resistance in World War II, head of an international refugee network
• Roger Hentges (* 1917), agent of German intelligence services
• Louis van Gelder (1921–2017), table tennis player and functionary
• José Desmarets (1925–2019), politician
• Raymond Pauwels (1926–1997), track cyclist
• Jacques Brel (1929–1978), chansonnier and actor
• Jean Roba (1930–2006), comic book writer known for Boule and Bill
• Patrick Nothomb (1936-2020), Belgian diplomat
• Alain Hutchinson (* 1949), politician, MEP
• Jacques Duvall (* 1952), singer and songwriter
• Peter Jacquemyn (* 1963), visual artist and double bass player
• Virginie Efira (* 1977), actress and presenter
• Nicolas Colsaerts (* 1982), professional golfer

Web links

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

• Official website of the municipality of Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek (French, Dutch, English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://global.handelsblatt.com/politics/in-schaerbeek-between-beers-and-beards-483023
2. ↑ Berliner Zeitung: Suspected terrorism: knife attack on police officers in Brussels . In: Berliner Zeitung . ( berliner-zeitung.de [accessed on October 7, 2016]).
3. ↑ Two policemen injured in Brussels stabbing in Suspected terror attack , The Telegraph. October 5, 2016. Accessed October 9, 2016. 
4. ^ Two Brussels police officers stabbed in terror attack, prosecutor says , CNN. October 5, 2016. Accessed October 9, 2016. 
5. ↑ The TV tower on the RTBF website (French)
6. ↑ Cf. population statistics of the Federal Public Service Economy: Nationalité actuelle de la population par commune ( Memento of the original of April 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , here as of January 1, 2008 
7. ↑ BuG 51. Accessed on July 13, 2020 . 
8. ↑ http://www.npdata.be/Data/Godsdienst/Le-Soir/SOIR_20101117_BRUX_UNE_7.pdf