Saint-Gilles / Sint-Gillis

Saint-Gilles Sint-Gillis
Saint-Gilles Sint-Gillis
State :	Belgium
Region :	Brussels capital
Province :	("de-provincialized" since January 1st, 1995)
District :	Brussels capital
Coordinates :	50 ° 50 ′  N , 4 ° 21 ′  E Coordinates: 50 ° 50 ′  N , 4 ° 21 ′  E
Area :	2.52 km²
Residents:	50,267 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density:	19,947 inhabitants per km²
Post Code:	1060
Prefix:	02
Mayor:	Charles Picqué (LB)
Local government address :	Place Maurice Van Meenen 39 1060 Saint-Gilles Maurice Van Meenenplein 39 1060 Sint-Gillis
Website:	www.stgillis.irisnet.be

Saint-Gilles ( French ) or Sint-Gillis ( Dutch ) (officially: Saint-Gilles-lez-Bruxelles / Sint-Gillis-Obbrussel) is one of 19 municipalities in the bilingual Brussels Capital Region in Belgium . It has 50,267 inhabitants (January 1, 2019) on an area of ​​just 2.5 square kilometers. It borders immediately to the south of Brussels' old town (Porte de Hal / Hallepoort) , as well as the communities of Ixelles / Elsene , Forest / Vorst and Anderlecht, which also belong to the Brussels-Capital Region .

The Brussels South Station (Gare de Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuidstation) , the most important train station in the city, is located in Saint-Gilles / Sint-Gillis . The Chaussée de Waterloo / Waterloose steenweg , the main shopping street of Saint-Gilles / Sint-Gillis, which leads to the suburb in the south of Brussels, begins at the former city gate to Halle (Porte de Hal / Hallepoort) , which is still preserved today, but is largely alienated from a classicist and romantic perspective . The church that gave the community its name is also located here. Also worth seeing are the town hall and the Art Nouveau residential area, where the Espace Photographique Contretype photography museum is located in the listed Art Nouveau building Hôtel Hannon.

The district is well served by public transport, the underground lines 2 and 6 (stations Louise / Louiza, Hôtel de Monnaies / Munthof, Porte de Hal / Hallepoort and Gare du Midi / Zuidstation ) and the pre-metro Lines 3 and 4 ( Albert, Horta, Parvis de Saint-Gilles / Sint-Gillis Voorplein, Porte de Hal / Hallepoort and Gare du Midi / Zuidstation stations ), as well as trams 18, 48, 81, 82, 91 and 92 .

There are two large prisons in the south of the community .

The headquarters of Thalys International and THI Factory, which jointly operate the European high-speed train Thalys , are located in Saint-Gilles .

Attractions

• Art Nouveau buildings, partly in the border area of ​​Saint-Gilles, Ixelles and Forest:

- Maison & Atelier Victor Horta, today's Victor Horta Museum ( → location )

Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Art Nouveau buildings by Victor Horta in Brussels

- Hôtel Hannon (architect: Jules Brunfaut), today photography museum ( → location )

- the entire street of Rue Vanderschrick between Chaussee de Waterloo and Avenue J. Volders ( → Location )

- Maison Hankar (Rue Defacqz, architect: Paul Hankar; → location )

- Hôtel Ciamberlani (Rue Defacqz, architect: Paul Hankar; → location )

- Avenue Dejaer 9 ( → Location )

• the strikingly large town hall ( → location )
• the Saint-Gilles church ( → location )
• the facade of the city prison, designed like a castle ( → Lage )

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  Saint-Gilles Church

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  Saint-Gilles Town Hall

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  Hotel Hannon

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  Avenue Dejaer 9

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  Saint-Gilles prison

history

Originally and during the entire period of the Ancien Régime , the place was called Opbrussel (also Obbrussel) in the sense of "Upper Brussels" and only took the name of the church at the end of the eighteenth century. Obbrussel is mentioned for the first time in August 1216 in the founding document of the parish church of Saint-Gilles, but witnesses from Saint Gilles are named in the Forest / Vorst abbey as early as the twelfth century, the first being an Albert d'Obbrussella in 1122. It is believed that the village has existed since the beginning of the twelfth or the second half of the eleventh century. In the thirteenth century, like the entire region, it experienced an economic and demographic upswing, in the course of which the parish church became independent of the Forest / Vorst Abbey and Opbrussel received city rights, a so-called franchise . The date of the award is unknown, but in 1222 the oppidum Saint Gilles had its own city council ( échevinage ), presided over by a villicus , a ducal officer as mayor ( maire ). Later on, Saint Gilles received other higher-level administrative rights than chef-mairie and was directly subordinate to the Ammanie of Brussels. At the end of the thirteenth century, however, the gradual integration into the franchsie of Brussels began, the belt of the neighboring municipalities dependent on Brussels, also known as Cuve / Kuype . With a document from the Duke of Brabant Johann II dated February 14, 1296, Opbrussel was integrated into this Cuve / Kuype and lost its independence.

With the construction of the second city wall around Brussels at the end of the fourteenth century, Saint Gilles lost large parts of the original municipality that were now within the Brussels city wall. Originally the area between the Leprosorium Saint Pierre, where the University Hospital Saint Pierre is located today, the city gate Porte de Hal / Hallepoort and up to the chapel church belonging to Brussels, i.e. the Marollen district , belonged to Saint Gilles and was located in front of the gates of the first city wall .

The first village center was in the area of ​​today's Saint Gilles Church, the residents lived mainly from growing vegetables for the nearby Brussels market, grain growing and viticulture were also strongly represented. Saint Gilles was one of the main suppliers of Brussels sprouts , which were grown in the Brussels area, and perhaps even in Saint Gilles. That is why the residents were once contemptuously referred to as kuulkappers , "Kohlschneider".

In a census in 1525 41 houses were found, between 1712 and 1717 the parish priest of Saint Gilles counted 90 houses and 520 inhabitants. Only towards the end of the eighteenth century did the population increase and in 1806 there were 1212 inhabitants. The church of Saint Gilles was demolished in 1578 by the arming of the city walls and the apron security, and just above the Barrière , the square of the road toll, the Fort de Monterey was built between 1672 and 1675, named after the Spanish general Juan Domingo de Zuñiga y Fonseca , the Count of Monterey and then provincial governor of the Spanish Netherlands . The fort and all fortifications were not razed by Emperor Joseph II until the late eighteenth century . In the following years, Saint Gilles grew especially in front of the Porte de Hal and along the two now paved streets to Uccle / Ukkel and to Forest / Vorst , which originated from the La barrière square .

After Saint Gilles regained its independence with the dissolution of the Cuve / Kuype by resolution of the welfare committee of the first French republic on August 31, 1795 , only minor border changes have been made to this day and the western border with Anderlecht still follows the twisted one at that time Course of the Senne . In Brussels, Saint Gilles lost smaller areas in 1824 with the creation of the inner city ring , the boulevards , and in 1864 with the development of the Avenue Luise / Louiselaan, inaugurated in 1877, as a connection between Brussels and the Forêt de Soignes / Zoniënwoud .

Industrialization began in the eighteenth century, especially in the lower areas near the Senne. The Côte d'Or chocolatier was originally located in Saint Gilles, but mainly the metalworking industry with foundries and mechanical engineering, as well as weaving and cloth industries.

The market at Parvuis Aint Gilles on the church forecourt was founded in 1865 , and in 1870 the market at the south station, the Marché du Midi , which takes place on Sundays today and is the largest market in the Brussels capital region.

While Saint Gilles had only 859 inhabitants in 1786, it rose significantly from the 1830s and exploded from the 1860s, reaching a maximum in the 1920s with over 60,000 inhabitants. Since the beginning of industrialization, Saint Gilles has been an immigration community for migrants, initially from rural regions, and between the world wars mainly from Central and Eastern Europe. After the Second World War, there was then massive immigration from the Mediterranean countries and, after the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, again from Central Eastern Europe. In 1955, the proportion of non-Belgian residents was 48% and then fell, mainly due to naturalizations and the fact that children born in Belgium are automatically given Belgian nationality. In 2003 the share was 43%.

During the time under King Leopold II , the large streets and residential areas were laid out according to the plans of his urban developer Victor Besme. The Saint Gilles church was rebuilt between 1866 and 1878, the parish hall in 1864. In Saint Gilles there are also some buildings built by Victor Horta in the Art Nouveau style. Between 1898 and 1901 he himself built his home in Saint Gilles and his studio next door. These two buildings were converted into a museum in 1969. After the entire municipal area was largely built up and developed at the beginning of the twentieth century, only two major development projects have followed since the Second World War. On the one hand, the south train station ( Gare du Midi / Zuidstation ) was restored and significantly expanded for Thalys and Eurostar (for direct connections to London) and the urban environment was redesigned. Between 1977 and 1992, the Premetro line between Südbahnhof and Altitude 100 was built using the cut- and- cover method, and the roads affected were newly laid out.

politics

Mayor Paul-Henri Spaak , 1953–1957

The first mayor of Saint Gilles known by name was mentioned in 1815. Count Cornet de Ways-Ruart was also Mayor of Forest / Vorst. The list of mayors has been handed down in full from 1825. Until the Second World War, Sait Gilles was ruled by the Liberals (today: Mouvement Réformateur , MR), who had a stronghold there in the otherwise mostly Catholic Belgium. The progressive liberals split off from the liberals and twice appointed the mayor. Since the turn of the 20th century, the socialists were also represented in the municipal council and from 1895 mostly as junior partners in power. Saint Gilles was a stronghold in the struggle for women's suffrage , which was particularly demanded by the socialists and their then Parti ouvrier belge (today: Parti socialiste , PS), but also by the liberals. On August 10, 1890, there was a demonstration for this suffrage universel with over 80,000 participants who committed themselves in the Serment du Parc de Saint Gilles (Pact of the Park of Saint Gilles) to fight for women's suffrage without ceasing, but only afterwards the First World War was enforced. The first "universal" community elections were held in 1921.

After the Second World War, the dominance of the socialists began, who won 14 of the 29 seats in the first post-war elections and, with Louis Coenen, appointed the mayor of the community. In many cases, and most recently in 1988, the socialists even achieved an absolute majority, while the liberals had not exceeded 25% since the Second World War, but for most of the time they formed a coalition with the socialists as junior partners. The Catholic and later Christian Social Party (today Center Démocrate Humaniste , cdH) has suffered continuous decline since the Second World War and has not exceeded 10% since 1976. The Francophone party, formerly FDF , today Défi , came to 25% when it first appeared in 1970, then even to 30% in 1976, but since then a considerable loss of importance has been observed. The Greens ( Ecolo ) have been represented on the local council since 1982.

The first socialist mayor, Louis Coenen, has only been followed by other socialists up to the present day. He was replaced in 1953 by Paul-Henri Spaak , who, however, had to resign in 1957 because he became Secretary General of NATO . It was followed by Jacques Frank (1957–1973), Jacques Vranckx (1973–1980) and Corneille Barca (1980–1985). Charles Picqué has been the mayor of the Brussels-Capital Region from 1985 to the present.He also became the first Prime Minister of the Brussels-Capital Region in 1989 and remained so until 1999 and from 2004 to 2013.

Sports

Among the clubs of Saint Gilles, the Union Saint-Gillois should be emphasized, which was eleven times Belgian football champion and had its heyday between 1904 and 1935 and still today sets the record of 60 undefeated games in a row (1934-1935). It is now called Royale Union Saint-Gilloise and plays in the second Belgian division, but still has numerous supporters as a workers' and milieu club. By 1970 there was also an athletics department, which included Gaston Reiff , who won gold in the 5,000-meter run at the 1948 London Olympics.

sons and daughters of the town

• Berthe Art (1857–1934), painter
• André Cluysenaar (1872–1939), painter
• Walter Sauer (1889–1927), painter and graphic artist
• Georges Kaeckenbeeck (1892–1973), lawyer and UN politician
• Jacques Ledure (1893–1948), racing car driver
• Charles Verlinden (1907–1996), historian and medievalist
• Willem Pauwels (1910–2005), artist
• Marcel Broodthaers (1924–1976), artist
• Jules Wabbes (1919–1974), industrial designer

literature

• Marc Libert, Jean Puissant, Paulo Charruadas, Jean-Jacques Heirwegh, Christian Vandermotten: Saint-Gilles in: Serge Jaumain (ed.): La Region de Bruxelles. 2nd Edition. 2011, Editions Racine Brussels, ISBN 978-2-87386-585-6

Web links

Commons : Saint-Gilles  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the municipality of Saint-Gilles / Sint-Gillis (Dutch, French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Presentation. In: thalys.com. Thalys International / THI Factory, accessed June 11, 2017 .