Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels
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Neder-Over-Heembeek (; ) is a former municipality of
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, Belgium, that was merged into the
City of Brussels The City of Brussels is the largest List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the ...
in 1921. Nowadays, it is a northern section of that municipality, and a predominantly industrial zone, especially known for the Queen Astrid Military Hospital, which is the National Burns and Poisons Centre.


History


Origins and medieval times

Hembeek was once a small village on the edge of medieval Brussels, and was founded around a small church that became the centre of a parish. Later, a second church was built around a growing hamlet in the north, and the two parishes were separated, that became two villages: Over-Heembeek ("Upper Heembeek") surrounding the Church of St. Nicholas in the northern part, and Neder-Heembeek ("Lower Heembeek") surrounding the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in the southern part of Heembeek. Both parishes came into the possession of
Dieleghem Abbey Dieleghem Abbey () or Dielegem Abbey () is a former abbey located in the Brussels municipality of Jette, Belgium. It was abolished in 1796. History The oldest reference to the abbey dates from 1095, when the Bishop of Cambrai issued a char ...
in 1112 and 1155, respectively.


15th–18th centuries

During the 15th century, the Goudenaken family was the owner of the castle at Lower Heembeek. In 1505, it came into the possession of the famous Busleyden family with the marriage of Adriana van Goudenaken and
Gilles II de Busleyden Gilles II of Busleyden (; ) was a knight, viscount, and a correspondent of Desiderius Erasmus. Biography Gilles II de Busleyden was born in Arlon into an old Luxembourg family from Bauschleyden. His father was Gilles I, and his mother was Jean ...
. They had twelve children. Gilles was the brother of two other famous members of the family:
Hieronymus van Busleyden Hieronymus van Busleyden (Dutch: Jeroen van Busleyden; French: Jérôme de Busleyden) (c.1470 – 27 August 1517) was a patron of learning and a humanist from the Habsburg Netherlands. His name is usually partially Latinized in English, and c ...
and
Frans van Busleyden Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François'' or ''Franciscus''. One cognate of Frans in English is ''Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–16 ...
(aka ''Franciscus Buslidius''). For more than a century, the castle remained in the hands of the Busleyden family. In 1554, after the decease of his mother Adriana, Jan van Busleyden became Lord at Heembeek. But only two years later he died, and his son Gilis inherited Heembeek Castle in 1557. Being a minor, he came under the guardianship of his uncle Willem van Busleyden. Gilis died in Brussels in 1596. With his wife Anna he had six children. Adriaan-Eric Van Busleyden inherited Heembeek Castle, but he died in 1617. His brother Lodewijk had already died in 1615 and the castle was handed to Margareta Van Busleyden. She was married to Jan van Tiras. When Margareta died in 1663, Frans-Robrecht van Tyras became heir of the castle at Lower Heembeek (''sloth van busleyden op de schipvaert''). He died two months later and Jan Frans 't Serclaes, the son of Joanna Van Busleyden became the next owner of ''het casteelke of sloth van Busleyden''. He sold the castle in 1674 to the monks at Dieleghem Abbey. Two years later, they resold the castle to the widow of Jan Bollaert from the well-known merchant family in
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
.


19th century and later

In 1814, the two parishes of Lower and Upper Heembeek were finally merged into one parish when the first municipality did appear in 1813, but instead of taking back the older name Heembeek, the two adjectives were kept to preserve the identity of the two parishes. In 1921, the former
Brabantian Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe Belgium * Province of Brabant, which in 1995 was split up into two provinces and an autonomous region: ** Flemish B ...
municipalities of Haren,
Laken (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is a residential suburb in the north-western part of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. It belongs to the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality of the ...
and Neder-Over-Heembeek were annexed by the City of Brussels, tripling the size of the Belgian capital to its present-day extent. Nowadays, as a part of the City of Brussels, "Heembeek" is frequently used to name various civil and commercial services located in that area (such as transportation stops, or a school), ignoring the historic distinction of parishes.


Jan van Helmont and alchemy

In 1618 or thereabouts, a most curious incident changed the course of scientific history here. In a farm near the church lived the local medic, one Jan van Helmont, a follower of the teachings of
Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. H ...
. His son Mercurius, a close friend, tutor and collaborator of
Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in addition to many ...
, records that one evening, a stranger knocked at the door and was admitted. The two men talked late into the night about alchemy, and on leaving, the stranger left van Helmont with some unusual powder. He immediately mixed it with eight ounces of mercury, sealed in a clay crucible, which was heated over the fire for twenty minutes, and broke the pot, to find eight ounces of gold. There are some suggestions that this visitor may have been a researcher who had had a significant hand in events leading up to the execution of the Counts of
Egmont Egmont may refer to: * Egmont Group, a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark * Egmond family (often spelled "Egmont"), an influential Dutch family, lords of the town of Egmond ** Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–1568), the be ...
and
Horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...
for heresy in 1568. This opened van Helmont's eyes to the possibility of scientific process, and he went on to become one of the founding fathers of modern chemistry. In 1843, the same farm became the residence of Count Gioacchino Pecci, the
Papal Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is a ...
, who showed a more than passing interest in searching the place from top to bottom. Count Pecci became
Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...
in 1878.Het zijpad (2): Preekheren en vrijers bij zomeravond
brusselnieuws.be, 23 August 2012


Gallery

Neder-over-Hembeek,_Eglise_Saint_Nicolas.JPG, Church of St. Nicholas in Upper Heembeek N-O-Heembbek_Bxl_01.JPG, Romanesque tower of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Lower Heembeek Kluis_de_Neder-Heembeek_06.JPG, The "Kluis" and the tower of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Lower Heembeek Kluis_de_Neder-Heembeek_01.JPG, The "Kluis" in Lower Heembeek Kluis_de_Neder-Heembeek_02.JPG, West side of the "Kluis"


Notable residents

*
Bert Anciaux Bert Jozef Herman Vic Anciaux (born 11 September 1959) is a Belgian politician and Vooruit faction leader in the Belgian Senate. He was one of the founders of Spirit (later known as the Flemish Progressives, then the Social Liberal Party, or ...
(born 1959), politician *
Steven Vanackere Steven Vanackere (; born 4 February 1964) is a Belgian politician from Flanders and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V). He held the portfolios of Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Insti ...
(born 1964), politician


See also

*
Neighbourhoods in Brussels There are several neighbourhoods in Brussels, Belgium. Their names and borders are not officially defined, and they might vary occasionally. The districts listed by the Brussels-Capital Region have a statistical purpose, and therefore do not alw ...
*
History of Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital ...
*
Belgium in the long nineteenth century In the history of Belgium, the period from 1789 to 1914, dubbed the "Long nineteenth century, long 19th century" by the historian Eric Hobsbawm, includes the end of Habsburg monarchy, Austrian rule and periods of French First Republic, French ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* Marc Meganck, ''Châteaux et demeures de Bruxelles (II) : Neder-over-Hembeek'' in ''Demeures Historiques et Jardins'' (in French), June 2012, no. 174, p. 2–10.


External links

* {{Neighbourhoods in Brussels Neighbourhoods of Brussels City of Brussels Former municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region Populated places in Belgium 1921 disestablishments in Belgium