Watermael-Boitsfort

File:Eglise Saint-Clément de Watermael-Boitsfort - 01.JPG, whose tower dates from the 11th century]]

The modern-day municipality of Watermael-Boitsfort was originally two separate settlements located on a plain between the two small rivers of Woluwe and Watermaelbeek to the north of the Sonian Forest.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=327}} The earliest evidence of human activity in the region are the remains of a small fortified neolithic village of the Michelsberg culture, dating to between 3500 and 2500 BC.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=328}}

The earliest mention of the name Watermael (a word suggested to derives from mahlo, the Frankish word "water" and "depression in the land"){{sfn|De Vries|2002|p=114}} is in a document of 914 bequeathing an estate of the name to a French abbey.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=328}} Originally part of the estate of Watermael, Boitfort became separate after a hunting lodge, on a site adjacent to the forest, was given to the Boutsvoord family by the Duchy of Brabant in the 13th century.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=329}} During the Middle Ages, inhabitants of the two settlements farmed and raised cattle and a number of hunting lodges on the edge of the forest were built for members of the nobility.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=330}} The construction of a road to the city of Brussels, to the north, through Boitsfort led to the rapid expansion of both settlements. The population of Watermael rose from 349 inhabitants in 1709 to 826 in 1800.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=330}}

Watermael-Boitsfort was created in 1811 during the period of French rule when the two municipalities were merged.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=330}} Although several industries grew in the area during the 19th century, Watermael-Boitsfort remained largely agrarian and increasingly residential, especially after the municipality was linked to Brussels by railway in 1854.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|pp=331-3}} It soon became a fashionable, bourgeois neighbourhood. Originally Dutch was the dominant language, but French became dominant after 1920.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=333}} During the 1920s, two garden cities (cité-jardins), Le Logis and Floréal, were built. The municipality's population hit an all-time peak of 25,138 inhabitants in 1970.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=332}}

One of Watermael-Boitsfort's first mayors was the liberal Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen, known for his role in the creation of the Free University of Brussels, who held the post between 1825 and 1842.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=332}}

File:Brusel, Vorsterielaan, domy.jpg

Watermael-Boitsfort is one of Brussels' wealthiest municipalities. In 2002, the average per capita income was €30,100; over €600 higher than the average for the Brussels-Capital Region as a whole.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=333}} 16% of its inhabitants were not Belgian citizens; lower than the Brussels average.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=333}}

Since 2000, the municipal government is dominated by the liberal Mouvement Réformateur, regionalist DéFI (formerly FDF), and green Ecolo parties.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=335}} The current bourgmestre (mayor) is Olivier Deleuze of Ecolo.

There are two railway stations located within the municipality, Watermael railway station and Boitsfort railway station, both of which are located on railway line 161.

The International School of Brussels (ISB), founded in 1951, is located in Watermael-Boitsfort.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=340}}

Notable historic buildings in Watermael-Boitsfort include the Church of St. Clement of which parts date to the 11th century.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=339}} The municipality also regroups many former grand country houses, such as:

• Chateau Tournay-Solvay, former house of Alfred Solvay
• Château de Jolimont, residence of among others the painter Jacques d'Arthois{{cite web| url=http://patrimoine.brussels/liens/publications-numeriques/versions-pdf/articles-de-la-revue-bruxelles-patrimoines/numero-14/article-14-2 | access-date=2023-11-09 | language=fr |title=Dossier la Forêt de soignes}}
• Château Bischoffsheim, housing the International School of Brussels
• Château Charle-Albert; former house of Belgian Prime Minister Paul van Zeeland
• Château Morel
• Château des Fougères; now part of a luxury condominium complex

File:Château Bischoffsheim actuellement École Internationale Avenue de la Foresterie 19 Kattenberg 19.jpg|Château Bischoffsheim

File:Château Charle-Albert.jpg|Château Charle-Albert

File:Parc Tournay-Solvay 1200.jpg|Château Tournay-Solvay

File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Immeuble CBR - 01.jpg|CBR Building (Brodzki, Lambrichs, 1970)

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

The {{ill|Boitsfort Hippodrome|fr|Hippodrome de Boitsfort}} was a horse-racing course, built in 1875 but is no longer used as such. Since 1987, the centre of the course has been occupied by the Brussels Golf Club, which has a nine-hole course, and the former horse racing track is used by runners, bikers and dog-walkers. It frequently acts as the starting point and finish line for local 10 km runs. In 2016, the park, rebranded as [https://www.drohme.be/en/ DROHME] with new investors, saw major renovations of the bleachers (la tribune in French) and the jockey-weighing station, which in September 2018 reopened as a [https://www.drohme.be/en/demain/projets/the-weighing-room/ brasserie].

The current city council was elected in the October 2018 elections.{{Cite web|url=http://bru2018.brussels/fr/results/municipalities/6087/index.html|title=Résultats officiels des élections communales 2018|accessdate=17 July 2021|language=French}} The current mayor of Watermael-Boitsfort is {{ill|Olivier Deleuze|fr}}, a member of Ecolo, who is in coalition on the municipal council with the Reformist Movement.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/detail_watermael-boitsfort-grand-bond-en-avant-pour-le-bourgmestre-ecolo-deleuze?id=10045691|title=Watermael-Boitsfort: Olivier Deleuze conclut une alliance avec MR-GM|language=French|date=14 October 2018|accessdate=17 July 2021}}

• Auguste Beernaert (1829–1912), politician and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Prime Minister{{sfn|De Vries|2002|p=114}}
• Omer Coppens (1864–1926), impressionist artistClerbois Sébastien, "Omer Coppens ou le Rêve de l’Art nouveau" (Brussels: Exhibitions Internationales, June 2001)
• Willy Coppens (1892–1986), flying ace of World War I
• Paul Delvaux (1897–1994), artist. Delvaux painted Watermael station on a number of occasions.{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=341}}
• Georges Remi, also known as Hergé (1907–1983), comics writer and artist, creator of The Adventures of Tintin{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=341}}
• Rik Wouters (1882–1916), artist and sculptor{{sfn|Jaumain et al.|2011|p=341}}

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Belgium}}

Watermael-Boitsfort is twinned with:

• {{flagicon|France}} Chantilly, France
• {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Annan, United Kingdom
• {{flagicon|Hungary}} Hegyvidék, Hungary

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite book|ref={{harvid|Jaumain et al.|2011}}|last=Jaumain|first=Serge|display-authors=etal|editor1-last=Jaumain|editor1-first=Serge|title=La Région de Bruxelles-Capitale.|date=2011|publisher=Editions Racine|location=Brussels|isbn=978-2-87386-585-6|pages=327–42|edition=2nd|chapter=Watermael-Boitsfort}}
• {{cite book|last=De Vries|first=André|title=Brussels: A Cultural and Literary Companion|date=2002|publisher=Signal Books|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1-902669-47-2}}

{{portal|Belgium}}

{{commons category}}

• {{in lang|fr|nl}} [http://www.watermael-boitsfort.be Official website] of Watermael-Boitsfort
• {{in lang|fr}} [http://patrimoine.brussels/liens/publications-en-ligne/versions-pdf/a-la-carte/watermael-boitsfort/view Watermael-Boitsfort] at Patrimoine.brussels

{{Geographic location

|Centre = Watermael-Boitsfort

|N = Auderghem

|E = Auderghem

|SE = Overijse (Flemish Brabant)

|S = Hoeilaart (Flemish Brabant)

|SW = Sint-Genesius-Rode (Flemish Brabant)

|W = Brussels
Uccle

|NW = Ixelles

}}

{{Brussels|state2=expanded}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region

Category:Populated places in Belgium