Split of the Catholic University of Leuven

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Flemish students strike in Leuven , the crowd was beaten up in front of the prison, January 1968

The split in the Catholic University of Leuven took place between November 1967 and June 1968. It was part of the Flemish-Walloon language dispute and led to the division into the Dutch- speaking Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) and the French-speaking Université catholique de Louvain (UCL). Further consequences were the overthrow of the government of Paul Vanden Boeynants and finally the reorganization of Belgium into three federal communities . In Dutch this conflict is known as Leuven Vlaams ("Flemish Lion") or Walen buiten ("Wallonen out"), in French it is known as Affaire de Louvain ("Lion Affair").

history

The Flemish Movement experienced a significant boom after World War II , especially in the 1960s. Since the middle of the 19th century it has been claiming to represent the Dutch- speaking Flemish population as a separate "ethnic group" within Belgium and is increasingly pursuing the goal of abandoning the state's multilingualism in favor of regional monolingualism. As part of the language legislation in Belgium , this goal was established by the Gilson Act of November 8, 1962. As a result of this law, which for the first time stipulated language borders within Belgium, the French and Dutch sections in Leuven were now autonomous , but the Flamingants still wanted the university to be formally split up.

On November 5, 1967, about 30,000 Flemings demanded monolingualism at the university during a march in Antwerp and then repeated their demands in Leuven . Numerous French-speaking Belgians felt shocked by the protest banners with the Flemish inscriptions "Walloons out" and "Flemish Lion". In response, French-speaking students marched in a procession to the Walloon village of Houte-Si-Plou, where the symbolic establishment of a "University of Houte-Si-Plou" took place.

The government of Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants and the Catholic Church tried unsuccessfully to persuade both sides to reach a compromise. The negotiations finally failed after Emil-Jozef De Smedt , Bishop of Bruges , spoke out in favor of the division of the university in a speech on February 2, whereupon Prime Minister Vanden Boeynants had to submit his resignation to King Baudouin on February 6 .

Gaston Eyskens , the newly elected Prime Minister, announced on June 24, 1968 in a government statement that the French section would be leaving Leuven. A plan was approved for their relocation to the planned city Louvain-la-Neuve or Neu-Löwen, which is to be built .

consequences

View of the planned city Louvain-la-Neuve

In autumn 1968, the division into the Dutch-speaking KUL and the French-speaking UCL was officially recorded with a new set of regulations. Construction of the planned town of Louvain-la-Neuve began in 1971. Immediately after the start of construction, UCL moved in and has its headquarters there to this day. As a result of the division of the university, the 1970s were characterized by the division of the library holdings. Books with an even signature number came into the possession of the UCL, those with an odd number remained the property of the KUL. Magazines, series and works in several volumes had a single signature and therefore stayed together.

The crisis in Leuven also led to a nationwide rapid rise in existing regionalist parties, such as the Volksunie in Flanders and the Front démocratique des francophones .

The formation of the three language communities was laid down in Article 2 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Belgium in 1970 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Université de Houte-si-Plou, espace de réflexion démocratique (French)
  2. ↑ History of the KU Leuven (English)
  3. ^ Constitution of Belgium

literature

  • Willy Jonckheere, Herman Todts: Leuven Vlaams. Splitsingsgeschiedenis van de Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Leuven, 1979. ISBN 9061523052 .
  • Albert D'Haenens: L'Université catholique de Louvain: Vie et mémoire d'une institution. Brussels, Presses universitaires de Louvain / La Renaissance du Livre, 1992. ISBN 2-8041-1552-6 .
  • Christian Laporte: L'affaire de Louvain: 1960–1968. Brussels, De Boeck Université, 1999. ISBN 978-2-8041-3005-3 .