Woluwe-Saint-Lambert ( French, ) or Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the

Brussels-Capital Region 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 common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

(French–Dutch). In French, it is often spelt ''Woluwé-Saint-Lambert'' (with an acute accent on the first ''e'') to reflect the Frenchified pronunciation of what was originally a Dutch place name, but the official spelling is without an accent. The

Woluwe The Woluwe (; ) is a stream that flows through several municipalities in the south-east and east of Brussels, Belgium, and is a right tributary of the Senne in Vilvoorde. The Kleine (little) Maalbeek is a tributary of the Woluwe in Kraainem. M ...

stream, from which it takes its name, flows through the municipality. , the municipality had a population of 58,541 inhabitants. The total area is , which gives a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of . It is a prosperous residential area, with a mixture of flats and detached, semi-detached, and terraced houses, often compared to

Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...

, another affluent Brussels municipality, as well as the 14th or 17th arrondissement in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The neighbouring municipality of

Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Woluwe-Saint-Pierre ( French, ) or Sint-Pieters-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by Etterbeek, Auderghem and Woluwe-Saint-Lambe ...

also lies within the Brussels-Capital Region, while the former municipality of

Sint-Stevens-Woluwe Sint-Stevens-Woluwe (; , ) is a town in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant and is part of Zaventem municipality. The town is located near the Brussels-Capital Region. See also * Woluwe River, the river flowing through the town. * Woluwe-S ...

(Woluwe-Saint-Etienne in French) has been merged with three other municipalities (Zaventem,

Nossegem Nossegem is a town located near Brussels, the capital of Belgium. It is part of Zaventem municipality, in the Flemish Brabant province. In 2005, the Nossegem Curve was opened, which connects Brussels Airport with the railway in the direction of L ...

and

Sterrebeek Sterrebeek is a town in the municipality (gemeente) of Zaventem, and a suburb on the east-northeast side of Brussels. Brussels American School (the United States Department of Defense Education Activity school) is located in Sterrebeek. The of ...

) to form the municipality of

Zaventem Zaventem () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is located in the Dijleland area, one of the three large recreational areas which together form the '' Groene Gordel'' ("Green Belt") around th ...

, which is in the province of

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also ...

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

Geography

Woluwe hosts the medical faculties of the

Université catholique de Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

(UCLouvain) and its hospital, the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc on the

UCLouvain Brussels Woluwe UCLouvain Bruxelles Woluwe, also known as Louvain-en-Woluwe or Alma, is a campus of the University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium. The campus, built in the 1970s following the Leuven crisis, houses the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry, Pharmac ...

campus, as well as several shopping areas, notably the / and the

Woluwe Shopping Center The Woluwe (; ) is a stream that flows through several municipalities in the south-east and east of Brussels, Belgium, and is a right tributary of the Senne in Vilvoorde. The Kleine (little) Maalbeek is a tributary of the Woluwe in Kraainem. M ...

. Some of the municipality's major roads are named after prominent 20th-century Belgian statesmen, such as the prestigious Avenue de Broqueville/De Broquevillelaan and the Avenue Paul Hymans/Paul Hymanslaan. Line 1 (formerly line 1B) of the

Brussels Metro The Brussels Metro ( ; ) is a rapid transit system serving a large part of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It consists of four conventional metro lines and three '' premetro'' lines. The metro-grade lines are M1, M2, M5, and M6 wi ...

runs under these roads.

History

Medieval origins

Several archaeological finds on the territory of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert show traces of human activity during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. The first historical mention of the village, however, dates from the 11th century, when some of the forested land near the

stream was cleared for farming. A church was built and dedicated to

Saint Lambert Lambert of Maastricht, commonly referred to as Saint Lambert (; Middle Dutch: ''Sint-Lambrecht''; ; 636 – c. 705), was the bishop of Maastricht-Liège (Tongeren) from about 670 until his death. Lambert denounced Pepin's liaison with his mis ...

, the 7th-century

bishop of Maastricht The Roman Catholic Diocese of Maastricht (Latin Traiectum ad Mosam) was a Roman Catholic jurisdiction in parts of present Netherlands (including the see Maastricht) and Belgium, which has been nominally revived as a Latin titular bishopric. Histo ...

who was martyred in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

. At the end of the 12th century, the rights to the parish of Saint Lambert were given to the canons of the

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

of St. Michael and Gudula in

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 ...

. Various charitable organisations and hospitals then started acquiring land in this area. Throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, Woluwe was part of the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries. The Duchy comprised part of the Bu ...

, governed under the usual

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

arrangement of those times. Among the Dukes'

vassals A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...

were some powerful local lords and landowners. Some of Woluwe's territory also belonged to the powerful

Forest Abbey Forest Abbey () or Vorst Abbey () was a Benedictine abbey located in the Brussels municipality of Forest, Belgium. It was founded in 1105 and existed for nearly 700 years, until its partial destruction by fire in 1764. It was abolished in 1796 ...

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

and

Park Abbey Park Abbey (; also Parc Abbey) is a Premonstratensian abbey in Belgium, at Heverlee just south of Leuven, in Flemish Brabant. The ''Annales Parchenses'' were written here in the 12th century. History The abbey was founded in 1129 by Godfrey I ...

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

16th century to present

Up until recently, the village was mostly rural, focusing mainly on agriculture. Starting in the 16th century, affluent nobles and clergymen from Brussels built

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

x in Woluwe, some of which are still visible today. True urbanisation, however, started only around 1900. Well-to-do neighbourhoods, which included some of the novel architectural styles of the ''

Belle Époque The Belle Époque () or La Belle Époque () was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the Fr ...

'' such as

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

then

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

, straddled the newly built Boulevard Brand Whitlock/Brand Whitlocklaan. The population of the municipality increased very quickly at this time, rising from 1,649 inhabitants in 1880 to 8,883 inhabitants 30 years later. By 1960, there were 36,960 people in the municipality, and since 1970 the population has been stable at around 47,000. Nowadays, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert is still a mostly residential area, attracting rich and poor inhabitants from neighbouring Brussels.

Sights

* The surroundings of the

stream have been laid out as park areas, such as Woluwe Park (in neighbouring Woluwe-Saint-Pierre) and

Malou Park Malou Park (; ) is an urban park in the Woluwe-Saint-Lambert municipality of Brussels, Belgium. It is in the valley of the Woluwe stream, to the south-east of the Woluwe Shopping Center. It is the municipality's oldest and biggest park. Histor ...

. Older historical buildings, such as the Lindekemale Mill (now a restaurant), the Hof ter Musschen farm (now a seminar centre), and the 16th-century Slot Castle (now a chain restaurant), also tend to be found near the river. * The Church of St. Lambert has a 12th-century Romanesque tower. * The Marie la Misérable Chapel (14th century). * The municipality's

Municipal Hall, built in the 1930s, is located above

Tomberg metro station Tomberg is a Brussels Metro station on the eastern branch of line 1. It is located in the municipality of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, in the eastern part of Brussels, Belgium; one of the entrances of the station is directly beneath the Municipal Ha ...

. * The Wolubilis cultural village and theatre, located at / 1 (formerly / 251), were inaugurated in 2006. * The neoclassical

Château Malou The Château Malou (French language, French) or Maloukasteel (Dutch language, Dutch) is a Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building in the municipality of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert in Brussels, Belgium. The château is situated in the middle ...

, built in 1776. File:Moulin Lindekemale (DSCF3284).jpg, Lindekemale Mill File:2741woluweStLambertWindmill.jpg, Windmill near the ''Hof ter Musschen'' farm File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Kapelleveld - 14.jpg, Kapelleveld garden city File:Wolubilis 02.JPG, Wolubilis

Shopping

Woluwe-Saint-Lambert has many shopping streets around Tomberg and Gribaumont metro stations. Around Roodebeek station is one of Brussels' largest shopping centres: the Woluwe Shopping Center. The shopping centre opened in 1968 and has two floors and a surface area of around . The Woluwe Shopping Center serves most of eastern Brussels.

Transport

Woluwe-Saint-Lambert is served by the following stations on line 1 of the

: Joséphine-Charlotte, Gribaumont, Tomberg, Roodebeek, Vandervelde,

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'', an upcoming film by Sally Potter * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' ( ...

and Crainhem/Kraainem. Despite not having any rail connections, the E40 Motorway, as well as many bus routes, run through the municipality. Since 2018, tram 94 has been extended from Trammuseum to Roodebeek and has been renamed as tram 8.

Education

In 1974, following the

crisis, the

(UCLouvain) moved its faculties of the Sector of Medical Sciences to the municipality, creating Brussels' second largest campus, UCLouvain Bruxelles Woluwe, with more than 14,000 students. It also founded a new hospital on site, the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc. The site includes a number of other educational institutions, like the Haute école Léonard de Vinci or the

École pratique des hautes études commerciales The École pratique des hautes études commerciales (EPHEC) is a university college in Belgium that brings together a college, a continuing education school, and a school of social promotion. EPHEC offers short-term training programs (bachelor's ...

(EPHEC). Schools include: * European School of Brussels II * Don Bosco Middle School * Athenée Royale de Woluwe-Saint-Lambert

Famous inhabitants

Jules Malou Jules Edouard Xavier Malou (, 19 October 1810 – 11 July 1886) was a Belgian statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Belgium from 1874 to 1878 and again from June to October 1884. Career Malou was born in Ypres. He was a civil servant in ...

(1810–1886),

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

and

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

* Tarec Saffiedine (born 1986),

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...

* Georges Remi, also known as

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé ( ; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of T ...

(1907–1983),

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

author, creator of ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' ( ) is a series of 24 comic albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. By 2007, a c ...

'' Born in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert: * Prince Amedeo, Princess Maria Laura and Prince Joachim, born at the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc in 1986, 1988 and 1991, respectively. ** ''Rem: Princess Luisa Maria, and Princess Laetitia Maria were born in the

Clinique Saint-Jean The Clinique Saint-Jean ( French) or Kliniek Sint-Jan (Dutch), meaning "Saint John Clinic", and historically known as the Saint-Jean-op-de-Poel hospital, is a private non-profit general hospital in central Brussels, Belgium. Founded in 1195, it is ...

in Brussels in 1995, and 2003, respectively''. *

Princess Louise Princess Louise may refer to: People * Louise of Denmark (disambiguation), various princesses * Louise of Prussia (disambiguation), various princesses * Louise of Saxe-Meiningen (disambiguation), various princesses * Princess Louise of Schleswig-H ...

and twins Prince Nicolas and Prince Aymeric, born at the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc in 2004 and 2005, respectively. *

Vincent Debaty Vincent Debaty (; born 2 October 1981) is a Belgian born French rugby union footballer. He has played for France and in the Top 14 for ASM Clermont Auvergne with whom he won two Top 14 Championships in 2010 & 2017. In February 2017 it was anno ...

(born 1981), French

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer * Twins

Jonathan Borlée Jonathan Borlée (; born 22 February 1988) is a former Belgian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family. He qualified for the finals of the 400 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was a semi-finalist ...

and

Kevin Borlée Kevin Borlée (; born 22 February 1988) is a Belgian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family. Borlée won bronze at the 2011 World Championships in the 400 m. He qualified for the finals of the 400 me ...

, and their older sister

Olivia Borlée Olivia Borlée (born 10 April 1986 in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert) is a retired Belgian sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres. Her personal best time in the 200 is 22.98 seconds, achieved in July 2006 in Brussels. She has a personal best of 11.39 ...

, athletes

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Woluwe-Saint-Lambert is twinned with: *

Meudon Meudon () is a French Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, on the left bank of the Seine. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of P ...

, France * Mbazi, Rwanda

References

External links

Official site of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert municipality
(only in French or Dutch)
Wolubilis cultural centre
(only in French or Dutch)
Hof ter Musschen
(only in French or Dutch)
Woluwe Shopping Centre

University of Louvain - Woluwe
{{Authority control Municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region Populated places in Belgium