Watermael-Boitsfort

Watermael-Boitsfort Watermael-Boitsfort (French) Watermaal-Bosvoorde (Dutch)
Municipality
The town hall
Flag Coat of arms
Watermael-Boitsfort Location in Belgium
Watermael-Boitsfort municipality in the Brussels-Capital Region
Coordinates: 50°48′N 04°25′E / 50.800°N 4.417°ECoordinates: 50°48′N 04°25′E / 50.800°N 4.417°E
Country	Belgium
Community	Flemish Community French Community
Region	Brussels
Arrondissement	Brussels
Area
• Total	12.93 km^2 (4.99 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2013)[1]
• Total	24,303
• Density	1,900/km^2 (4,900/sq mi)
Postal codes	1170
Area codes	02
Website	www.watermael-boitsfort.be

Watermael-Boitsfort (French) or Watermaal-Bosvoorde (Dutch)^{[lower-alpha 1]} is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium.

On 1 January 2006 the municipality had a total population of 24,056. Its total area is 12.93 km² which gives it a population density of 1,860 inhabitants per km². It is the lowest population density of the 19 communities in the Brussels-Capital Region.

Watermael-Boitsfort is in the south of the capital and borders the communes of Uccle, Auderghem and Ixelles as well as the province of Flemish Brabant. The Sonian Forest (Forêt de Soignes or Zoniënwoud) covers almost 60% of the municipality.

History

The earliest mention of Watermael is in a charter from 914.^[2] Until the beginning of the 19th century, Watermael and Boitsfort were two separate hamlets.

Sights

Le Logis

• The Forêt de Soignes (Dutch: Zoniënwoud)
• The "garden cities" (Cité-jardin) of Le Logis and Floréal, examples of the garden city movement in Belgium.

Sport

Boitsfort is home to Boitsfort RC one of Belgium's most successful Rugby Union teams. It is also home to football team Royal Racing Club de Boitsfort.

The Hippodrome of Boitsfort was a horse race course, built in 1875 but no longer in use. Since 1987, the centre of the course has been occupied by the Brussels Golf Club, which has a 9 hole course.

Education

The International School of Brussels (ISB) is located in Watermael-Boitsfort.

Notable inhabitants

• Willy Coppens, fighter ace of World War I (1892–1986).
• Antoine Depage, surgeon (1862–1925).
• Rik Wouters, artist (1882–1916), lived on rue de la Sapinière from 1907 to 1914. The municipality has given his name to the square Place Rik Wouters (in French) or Rik Wouters plein (Dutch).
• Hergé, creator of The Adventures of Tintin, lived at 17 avenue Delleur from 1939 to 1953. Number 6 avenue Delleur was the model for Professor Tarragon's house in The Seven Crystal Balls.
• Another influential comics artist, André Franquin, creator of Gaston and Marsupilami, lived on rue des Marcassins (1957-1980), and later avenue van Becelaere (1980-1997).
• Paul Delvaux, painter (1897–1994) lived on avenue des Campanules, and painted many scenes in the area, notably Watermael railway station
• Michel Roger Lafosse, false claimant to the Scottish throne, was born in the municipality in 1958, but was never a resident.

Twin cities

The municipality is twinned with:

• : Chantilly
• : Annan
• : Hegyvidék

See also

• Barbu de Watermael

Citations

1. French: [wɑteʁmɑl bwɑˈfɔʁ] or Dutch: [ˈwaːtərˌmaːl ˈbɔsˌfoːrdə]. In archaic Dutch, "Bosvoorde" is rendered "Boschvoorde".

References

1. Population per municipality on 1 January 2013 (XLS; 607.5 KB)
2. Commune website

External links

• (French) (Dutch) Watermael-Boitsfort official Website
• www.BE-1170.be collaborative site for the citizens of Watermaal-Bosvoorde BE-1170 Watermael-Boitsfort