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Last modified: 2007-12-22 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Koekelberg]](../images/b/be-bxlkk.gif)
Municipal flag of Koekelberg - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 2 June 2005
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The municipality of Koekelberg (18,541 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 114 hectares, therefore one of the most crowded Belgian municipalities) is one of the 19 municipalities forming the region of Brussels-Capital. The region is officially bilingual, but the town has the same name in French and Dutch.
Koekelberg is located in the outer crown of Brussels suburbs. The
municipality is watered by the Paruck, which joins the Maelbeek near
the Black Ponds and flows into the Senne. Until 1869, the Paruck was
the border between Koekelberg, then a borough of Berchem-Saint-Agathe /
Sint-Agatha-Berchem, and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean /Sint-Jans-Molenbeek. In the Middle Ages, a small fortified castle was built on the confluency
of the Paruck and the Maelbeek, and a small town developed in the
neighborhood. The lords "de Coeckelberge" are mentioned in 1220.
There are several possible origins for the name of Koekelberg; the most
widely accepted etymology refers to the Dutch words koek, "a lump of
earth", and berg, "a hil"l, Koekelberg being a roundish hill.
The population of Brussels dramatically increased in the Middle Ages
and food supply was even more difficult; the neighbouring rural areas
were demanded more and more wheat, vegetables, milk, butter, cheese,
and the Magistrate (administration) of Brussels tried to increase its
jurisdiction. However, the lords of Koekelberg defended their
independence and never joined the "Cuve of Brussels", a kind of
precursor of the region of Brussels-Capital. The village of Jette
shipped its products to Brussels via the road of Dieleghem (chaussée de
Dieleghem, today chaussée de Jette), which joined the main road of the
region, the road to Ghent (chaussée de Gand), in Koekelberg. When the abbey of Dieleghem-Jette was powerful and wealthy (XVII-XVIIIth
century), the traffic through Koekelberg increased and the town
developed along the road of Dieleghem. After the suppression of the
abbey by the French Revolutionaries, Koekelberg became destitute.
In the beginning of the XIXth century, industrialization started in
Molenbeek. The plots were watered by the arms of the Senne and often
flooded, and therefore not suitable for high rank urbanization. Workers
settled there on all the available land. The newcomers moved to the
lower part of the neighbouring, then rural, village of Koekelberg. In
1842, Koekelberg officially seceded from Berchem.
The upper part of Koekelberg, a plateau dominating Brussels, was
urbanized later and attracted the upper classs; mansions, family houses
and apartment buildings were built in a much less crowded environment
than in the lower town.
Koekelberg is mostly known for its basilica, the fifth biggest church
in the world (length, 141 m; width, 107 m; height, 100 m), surrounded
by Parc Elisabeth. The building of the basilica and the park were
decided by King of the Belgians Léopold II. The full name of the church
is Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Bruxelles (Basilica of the Sacred Heart
of Bruxelles), and it was inspired by the basilica of the same name
built in Paris from 1876 to 1912. It is mostly known as the basilica of
Koekelberg. King Léopold I (1790-1865, King in 1831) probably planned
to build a royal residence on the plateau of Koekelberg, but the laying
out of the site has to be credited to his son Léopold II (1835-1909,
king in 1865). Originally, Leopold wanted to design a solemn alley
heading to a pantheon of the Belgians; the only remains of the project
are the streets named avenue des Gloires nationales and avenue du
Panthéon. The Catholic bourgeoisie rejected the project as not
religious; it is said that Léopold decided to build a national basilica
even bigger than the Sacré-Cœur in Paris after having visited the
French building site in 1902. At that time, Art Nouveau triumphed in
Brussels, represented by the architect Victor Horta (1861-1947), but
the king commissioned the more consensual architect Pierre Langerockque
and asked him to build a neogothic basilica. The cost of the building
was very high and the ministers did not enjoy the project; Léopold
planned to fund the project partially with his own money (at that time,
the Independent State of Congo was his private colony). The king
inaugurated the building site on 12 October 1905.
After the First World War, Léopold II's project was continued by King
Albert I (1875-1934, King in 1909), but with significant modifications;
the size of the basilica was decreased and a public subscription was
launched. The new plan of the church was drafted by Albert Van Huffel,
who kept a conventional neobyzantine design but included some elements
from the German movements Bauhaus and Deutscher Werkbund. The architect
promoted the use of reinforced concrete to decrease the costs.
Unfortunately, the 1930s economical crisis and the Second World War
delayed the building of the basilica. The consecration of the church
was made on 14 October 1951 but the building was achieved only in 1970.
Like the Sacré-Cœur in Paris, the basilica of Koekelberg was often
mocked as an example of "pastrycook's architecture", which could have
been dedicated to St. Honoré, the pastrycooks' patron saint; it was
even nicknamed the Koekelique of Basilberg.
Since 15 November is Albert and Léopold's Day, King Baudouin proclaimed in 1951 the 15 November as the King's Day. Every year on that day, a Te Deum was sung in the basilica, in the presence of the royal family, except the King and the Queen, and of the high authorities of the kingdom. Since 2002, the ceremony takes place in the cathedral of Brussels.
In December 2004, the famous football coach Raymond Goethals was buried in the basilica of Koekelberg. Among the coffin carriers were Basile Boli, former captain of Olympique de Marseille, and Robbie Rensenbrink, former captain of RSC Anderlecht. The Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and the cyclist Eddy Merckx attended the ceremony, among hundreds of people. Goethals won the Champions' League with Marseilles in 1993 (1-0 against Milan AC, goal by Basile Boli) and was highly estimated in Marseilles; he was nicknamed there Raymond-la-Science or Le Vieux Belge.
Sources:
Ivan Sache, 2 June 2005
The municipal flag of Koekelberg is vertically divided green-white.
![[Old flag of Koekelberg]](../images/b/be-bxlk1.gif)
Old municipal flag of Koekelberg (1841-1984) - no longer used - Image by Ivan Sache, 2 June 2005
According to Armoiries communales en Belgique. Communes wallonnes, bruxelloises et germanophones, the flag used from 1841 to 1984 was vertically divided green-pink.
![[Former flag of Koekelberg]](../images/b/be-bxlk2.gif)
Former municipal flag of Koekelberg (1995-?) - no longer used - Image by Pascal Vagnat, 2 June 2005
The current flag appeared in 1984 and was replaced in 1995 by a flag with a forked green field, alluding to the letter K for Koekelberg. However, the municipality recently resumed the use of the simple vertically divided green-white flag.
Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 2 June 2005
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