Schaerbeek (in Dutch Schaarbeek , in the past Schaerbeek, meaning “brook out of chisel”) is one of the 19 common bilingual of Belgium located in the Région of Brussels-Capital.

It counted, at July 1st, 2005, 111  574 inhabitants (Schaerbeekois) for a surface of 8,14 km ², is 13  775 habitants/km ². An inhabitant on 85 in Belgium in is thus originating. It is located in the North-East of the agglomeration of Brussels.

Schaerbeek is made up of many districts often very popular and cosmopolitan. It counts some remarkable sites like the Parc Josaphat, the communal hotel built in 1887 by Jules-Jacques Van Ysendijck, the church Sainte-Marie, the Markets, the House of Arts, as well as many houses Art nouveau and Art déco preserved particularly well (example: the House Autrique).

It is bordering on the communes of Brussels-city, Saint-Jose-ten-Noode, Evere, Etterbeek and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. It is the only commune of the town of Brussels not to have armorial bearings. This is why it remains often related with its colors of the flag " White vert".

The commune of the asses

Formerly, Schaerbeekois cultivated cherry, fruit used inter alia in the manufacture of the Kriek (Gueuze with cherry, beer with spontaneous fermentation of the area of Brussels). They had obtained the privilege to carry to back of ass their cherries to the market of Brussels. The Inhabitants of Brussels, the indicator to arrive, gaussaient themselves them while saying: “ Hei! doë Zen die êzels van Schoerebeik! ” (in Flemish dialect of Brussels: “Hold, here are the asses of Schaerbeek! ”). Today still, Schaerbeek is called “the commune of the asses” and its inhabitants did not froissent themselves any more, if one says it with the smile.

Districts

The commune has a garden city interest located in the district Terdelt . It also has a " district of Fleurs" in edge of the Josaphat park, named thus because of its floriferous alignments of cherry trees of Japan, covering the streets of a pink carpet in spring. The city of the flowers owes also its name with the fact that there the horticulture was practiced.

Schaerbeek is composed of very different districts sociologiquement:

  • districts known as middle-class, such as the district of the Flowers or the district Dailly
  • the more popular districts, of which the roadway of Haecht or the Cage with the Bears, as well as the district " carré" near to the station of North, district of prostitution.

In spite of that contrast between the districts is not so large and from one street to another one can cross various cultures.

Principal districts and places :

  • Station of Schaerbeek
  • Station of North
  • Park Josaphat crossed by the brook Schaerbeek
  • Helmet
  • District of the Flowers
  • Place of the Benefactors
  • Place Colonel Bremer
  • Place of the Police officers
  • Place of the Of the Ardennes Hunters
  • Place Dailly
  • Place of Houffalize
  • Place of Jamblinne de Meux
  • Place Lehon
  • Place Liedts
  • Place General Meiser
  • Place of the Fatherland
  • Place of the House
  • Public garden Eugene Plasky
  • Place Pogge
  • Place Princesse Elisabeth
  • Place of the Queen
  • Square François Riga
  • Place Verboeckhoven, better known under popular name Cage with the Bears
  • Square Vergote

On the police level, Schaerbeek is divided into 16 districts, each one equipped with one or two agent (S) of district, distributed between four police stations: 6 districts for police station 1 of the street Rodenbach (chart), 6 for police station 3 of the avenue of Roodebeek (chart), 4 for police station 4 located at Saint-Jose, street of Bériot (chart) and 3 for police station 5, with the public garden Victoria Regina (ex-" IBM" turn;) (chart).

See also List of the streets of Schaerbeek.

Adventure playgrounds

Schaerbeek has ten communal adventure playgrounds:
  • Which occurred of the Gardens
  • Which occurred Foucart
  • Which occurred Huart Hamoir
  • Which occurred Voltaire
  • sporting Complex Terdelt (2 surfaces)
  • Park Josaphat (2 surfaces)
  • Place of the Fatherland
  • Place of the Of the Ardennes Hunters

Buildings

Political life

Arrival of the FDF to the capacity

Bastion of the Liberalism, Schaerbeek was conquered in 1970 by the democratic Front of the French-speaking people (FDF), at the time new founded regionalistic party in 1964, whereas the other Belgian parties were still officially “national”, and pluralist.

Business of the counters of Schaerbeek

Under this French-speaking direction, the commune adopted a provision of the counters of the civil statue with four counters for the French-speaking people, two for the foreigners and for the Dutch-speaking ones (accounting for approximately 12% of the population).

This distribution was however illegal, and in 1976, the government summons the commune of reorganize the counters in manner that they all are accessible to all the inhabitants. The burgomaster and the college refuse to be inclined, and the government delegates a special police chief, the Viscount Ganshof Van der Mersch, charged to carry out the decision of the government (what it nuitamment did accompanied gendarmes after a diurnal attempt which had run up against a wall of militants of the FDF).

Hostile policy with the immigrants

With the wire of time, burgomaster FDF Roger Nols, on the initiative of the setting-up of the advisory Town council of the immigrants in 1973, evolved to xenophobe positions more and more , going until inviting Jean-Marie Le Pen in Schaerbeek in the Années 1980, to prohibit the signs of store in other languages that the French or the Dutch, to prohibit the evening gatherings of more than three people on the public highway, to prohibit the courses of Islamic religion in the elementary schools, to block the inscription from abroad near the municipal authorities…

For this period, most faithful combined of Nols, going until being integrated on list NOLS ( New orientations of freedoms schaerbeekoises ), were PRL Bernard Guillaume and Jean-Marie Charels (former militant of Extrême right-hand side), whereas the FDF ends up excluding it, after one of its elected officials, Georges Verzin, had snap the door of the party to protest against its drift racist and set up a dissenting list, IDS (Initiatives for the development of Schaerbeek). In 1999, whereas it was not any more that one simple communal adviser, Roger Nols passed to the Front National and did not represent in 2000 any more.

End of the nolsism - a policy of appeasing and rebuilding

In 1994, the list Duriau (ex-nolsists) is combined with the FDF (very anti-PRL at the local level, as with Etterbeek and Koekelberg), with Ecolo, the PS and PSC, rejecting into the opposition the PRL still nolsist and the National front. In the course of legislature, Francis Duriau is affiliated with the FDF and one of its aldermen PSC passes to the PRL.

In October 2000, for the first time, the nationals of Member States of the European Union can be registered as voters: only 971 out of 11.498 potential voters achieves this step, they thus weigh little among the 54.262 registered voters. Not less than 11 lists presented themselves to these elections, including 7 complete (47 candidates). Some small incomplete lists were also present.

Over 47 seats, federation PRL-FDF (current MR.) gains the elections with 16 seats, the Liste of the Burgomaster (LB) directed by the outgoing burgomaster Francis Duriau collects only 8 of them. But animosity between the two leaders and competitors at the post of burgomaster leads to a broad coalition rainbow joining together the PRL-FDF-MCC on the one hand, Ecolo (11 seats, including 1 Agalev) and the PS (5 seats), rejecting into the opposition two parties of the outgoing majority, the LB and the PSC (3 seats, current CDH). The Flemish list of extreme-right-hand side Demol (4 elected officials, gathering Vlaams Blok and of the defectors of the FN and the PRL) remains in the opposition.

Bernard Clerfayt is then installed as burgomaster. During the post-electoral negotiations on the distribution of the executive stations (burgomaster, aldermen, president of the CPAS), Ecolo indicates Tamimount Essaïdi (Moroccan parents) like candidate with one of his four mandates, the PS designates Alain Hutchinson, already secretary of Regional state, which will have to be replaced by a alderman making function , Mohamed Lahlali (former Moroccan student), which causes a polemic; as for MR., it installs to him also an immigrant alderman, Knows Köse (parents Turkish).

Bernard Clerfayt (MR. - FDF) covered the scarf mayorale for the mandature 2001-2006, whose essential building sites were going to be the cleansing of public finances, the continuation of the restoration of the old districts and the improvement of safety.

The day before the elections of 2006, the vice-first socialist minister Laurette Onkelinx announces its unloading in the city of the Asses in order to charm the maïorat with MR. Bernard Clerfayt, however credited with a good assessment in difficult circumstances (overdrawn finances, tension in the districts, very vast and heteroclite majority). The electoral campaign schaerbeekoise becomes a national stake, treated by all the great media of the country. Against any waiting, the score gives the List of the burgomaster leaving large winner of the elections with nearly 42% to the voices (against 30% in 2000) for 25% for the Socialist party, led by Laurette Onkelinx (against 11% in 2000). In terms of voice of preferences, Bernard Clerfayt preferably gains an exceptional score of 12.654 votes for 5083 only for the vice-first socialist minister. Although a secret electoral agreement was signed between the PS, the CDH and Ecologist, the leader Ecologiste, the old vice-first minister Isabelle Lasting, chooses to respect the wish of the voter schaerbeekois and to continue his collaboration with the List of the Burgomaster. The current majority (January 2007 - January 2012) is composed of the democratic Front of the French-speaking people (the burgomaster + 3 alderman S), of the Parti reforming liberal (4 aldermen), of Ecolo (2 aldermen + presidency of the public Center of social action), of Groen! (1 alderman). The opposition is made up of the Socialist party, the humanistic democratic Center and the group Demol (Vlaams Belang).

Burgomasters of Schaerbeek

Political personalities

Cultural places

  • Arts center of Schaerbeek: 91-93 rue de Locht (direction: Chantal Of the Countryside)
  • House of Arts Gaston Williot: 147 Roadway of Haecht (responsible: Jean-pol. Lozet)
  • the six public libraries schaerbeekoises: two libraries pivots (Romain Rolant in Evere and Helmet with Schaerbeek), three subsidiary companies (Thousand and One pages, Thomas Owen and Vermeulen with Schaerbeek) and a library deposit (Dailly with Schaerbeek) (leading Librarian: Stephan Dessicy)

Museums

  • Museum of beer: 33-35 avenue Louis Bertrand
  • Museum of the Earthenware Clock (Clockarium): 163 boulevard Reyers
  • Autrique House: 1 {{Re}} house of Victor Horta in Brussels: 266 Roadway of Haecht

Theaters

  • the Balsamine (the site): 1 rue Félix Marchal (direction: Christian Machiels)
  • Northern Theater Ocean: 63-65 rue Vandeweyer (direction: Isabelle Pusher)
  • Markets of Schaerbeek (the site): 22b Royal street Sainte-Marie (direction: Fabienne Verstraeten)
  • Theater 140 (the site): 140 avenue Plasky (direction: OJ Dekmine)
  • Magic Land Theater (the site): 8-14 rue d'Hoogvorst (direction: Patrick Chaboud)
  • theatrical Space Scarabaeus: 19-27 rue Creuse (direction: Irene Chalkia)

Cultural personalities schaerbeekoises

In Schaerbeek, you can often fall on houses decorated with a gold plate and if you approach some; you will be able to read here was born and deceased ..... more known under the name of ....... Schaerbeek is and was a commune of personalities and artists…

Here are some:

  • Frank Andriat (1958-), writer

  • Beek Oscar, group of musicians
  • Jacques Brel (1929-1978), singer
  • Roger Camille, alias Kiko (1936-2006), author of cartoons
  • Joseph Cardijn, (1882-1967), cardinal, founder of JOC in 1924
  • Joseph Coosemans (1828-1904), painter
  • Challenge-J, DJ which contributed, in the Années 1990, with the first album of Hip-hop Belgian French-speaking person ( BRC : Brussels Rap Convention)
  • Gaston Dupray (1886-1976), movie actor born in Schaerbeek
  • Georges Eekhoud (1854-1927)
  • Henri Evenepoel (1872-1899), painter
  • Michel de Ghelderode (1898-1962), author, playwright and communal employee with Schaerbeek of 1923 to 1946
  • Irene Hamoir (1906-1994), writer
  • Frans Hemelsoet (1875-1947), architect of art nouveau
  • Henri Jacobs (1864-1935), architect of art nouveau
  • Hubert Krains (1862-1934), writer
  • Clement Laloy (born in 1975), director and author of theater
  • Gustave Libeau (1877-1957), actor, born in Schaerbeek
  • Marcel Mariën (1920-1993), writer and editor of surrealist the
  • Maurane (1960-), singer
  • Thomas Owen (1904-2002), author of fantastic
  • Pitcho (1974-), rappor, slamor, playwright, it created the Skinfama in 2004, a famous musical school in Brussels
  • Rival (1976-), rappor, the Souterrain Production in 1992; its album Of the street to the scene remains traditional Belgian hip hop and precursor of the Belgian new school
  • Privat Livemont (1861-1936), painter and poster artist of art nouveau
  • Jean Roba (1930-2006), author of cartoons, creator of Boule and Bill
  • François Schuiten (1956-), author of cartoons
  • Louis Scutenaire (1905-1987), surrealist writer
  • Leon Smet (1908-1989), artist of variety (father of Johnny Halliday)
  • Roger Somville (1923-), painter
  • Christophe Soumillon (1981-), jockey
  • Gustave Strauven (1878-1919), architect of art nouveau
  • Georges Vandevoorde (1875-1964), sculptor
  • Jacques Van Herp (1923-2004), author of science fiction and fantastic
  • Eugene Verboeckhoven (1798-1881), painter

Twinnings

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