Louvain-la-Neuve* is an unusual place. It exists only because of the shocking and violent protests against French speaking students and staff at the University of Leuven that broke out in 1968. Belgium is a complex place when it comes to language and identity. That complexity goes back to the very beginning, when Belgium was founded in 1830 with borders containing Dutch (Flanders), French (Wallonia) and German speakers.
Before 1830, Belgium was part of the Netherlands and ruled by Dutch King William I. He wanted one country united by one language: Dutch. The Belgian ruling elite spoke French and believed French culture superior. The war for Belgian independence was fought to liberate the country from the Dutch and the Dutch language. That ignored the fact that half the country already spoke Dutch.
Flemish culture was seen as inferior, but even then the worst might have been avoided. Lighting the blue touch paper as the new country was founded, French became the official language, used in government, the army, and law courts. Over half of the new Belgians were Dutch speakers, now ruled over by a French speaking minority. It sowed seeds of division that still exists today.
It has bequeathed to modern day Belgium three regions, three language communities, six governments and a whole lot of dysfunction and angst. More than a century of Flemish grievance and a growing sense of Flemish ‘national’ identity came to a head in 1962 when language areas were created. Invisible language borders that had always existed were formalised. The Brabant region was split between Dutch and French.
Leuven and its 600 year old university sat little more than 10km on the Flemish side of the linguistic border in Brabant. For a while it continued to teach in French and Dutch, and accept students from Wallonia, but as the 1960s progressed a more radicalised opposition to this started to appear. In 1968 violent protests broke out, with Flemish nationalist students demanding, ‘Walen buiten’ (Walloons out).
The university had been granted a exemption to the regional language laws, but that now came to a violent end. Students and staff were thrown out of the university and were forced to relocate to the newly built Catholic University of Louvain. The old university had witnessed trouble the year before and plans had already been made to establish a French speaking university in Wallonia.
The university was built from scratch and around it a whole new town grew up. Sadly, it was the 1970s. Louvain-la-Neuve got a whole load of 1970s architecture that was the polar opposite for the graceful medieval buildings found in Leuven. You see architecture like this elsewhere in Belgium, just not on this scale. It really does leave an impression. It is also easy to get disoriented in the maze of buildings.
Louvain-la-Neuve has a Grande Place but it is nothing like the one in Leuven. The medieval Stadhuis and nearby Saint Peter’s Church replaced by the 1970s Faculty of Theology, a cinema and several university buildings. So why visit Louvain-la-Neuve, you might ask? Simple. This is where you’ll find the museum dedicated to Belgium’s most revered and best known comic strip character: Tintin.
The boy adventurer and protagonist of the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin is probably Belgium’s most famous export. Despite some discomforting ideas on race and colonialism – not untypical of the time – Tintin and his companions are some of the most beloved comic book characters. The museum is dedicated to their creator, cartoonist Georges Remi (better known as Hergé), though.
It’s an fascinating, modern and relatively new museum, which a large collection of Hergé’s drawings and sketches. The highlight has to be the photo booth that takes your picture and places you in a Tintin adventure. This though is not the only reason to visit Louvain-la-Neuve. The Musée L, covering a wide range of science and art, is worth a visit and is housed in one of the most iconic 1970s buildings.
Plus, there are 20,000 students at the university which basically means Louvain-la-Neuve is one big campus. It has energy to spare, if you can get past the 1970s architecture.
* Louvain is French for Leuven
Tonerre de Brest! I didn’t know there was an Hergé museum in Louvain. (All the more reason to visit. One day… So many places to see still. So little time.)
All well I hope?
All well thanks Brian, we’ve been having a few elections to keep this very disappointing summer lively!
Not mention Narcissus’ surprise election in France… 🙄
A truly surprising result! Europe on a knife edge seems to be the general vibe these days.
The accumulation of black swans (see Taieb) tells me we are on the eve of major changes… Most of them probably not too good. I can only hope that Europe will gather its spirits… (Though not too sure about that…)
A temporary reprieve at best I would say. Much depends upon what happens in the US, and that just turned even more crazy than before.
It has. I have to get mentally used to the idea that the Crook will be in for another 4 years. 🙄
There’s a reason I never spoke French to anyone and stuck to English when living in Brussels. I figured at least that way I wouldn’t offend anyone.
It’s a minefield, and one that after the last elections might get more difficult to navigate.
What fun.