Leuven

The earliest mention of Leuven (Loven) dates from 891, when a Viking army was defeated by the Frankish king Arnulf of Carinthia (see: Battle of Leuven). According to a legend, the city's red and white arms depict the blood-stained shores of the river Dyle after this battle, similarly to the flag of Austria.

Situated beside this river, and near to the stronghold of the Dukes of Brabant, Leuven became the most important centre of trade in the duchy between the 11th and 14th centuries. A token of its former importance as a centre of cloth manufacture is shown in that ordinary linen cloth was known, in late-14th-century and 15th-century texts, as lewyn (other spellings: Leuwyn, Levyne, Lewan(e), Lovanium, Louvain).[6]

In the 15th century, a new golden era began with the founding of the predecessor of what is now the largest and oldest university in the Low Countries, the University of Leuven, in 1425.[7] Prestigious buildings like the Town Hall and the Saint Peter's Church (itself designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999) were constructed. The art of painting flourished with painters such as Dirk Bouts, Albrecht Bouts and Jan Rombouts the Elder. The painter Quinten Metsys was born and trained in Leuven.

By the turn of the 16th century, Leuven had become a major European center for art and knowledge with humanists like Erasmus and Hieronymus van Busleyden working there. In 1517 the latter founded the Collegium Trilingue in which the three ancient languages: Latin, Greek and Hebrew were taught. It promoted the critical study of classical literature and the Bible. Thomas More published his Utopia at Dirk Martens printing house in Leuven in 1516. Gemma Frisius laid the foundation for modern triangulation methods and cartography. He further made important contributions to mathematics, geography and astronomy. Gerardus Mercator and John Dee were among his students. Leuven became a leading centre for the fabrication of precision astronomical instruments, such as the planetaria and the terrestrial and celestial globes built by Gaspard van der Heyden and Gualterus Arsenius. Andreas Vesalius completed his medicine studies in Leuven, before moving to Padova and Basel. Religious persecutions of Protestants, followed by greater religious and political turmoil starting in the late 1560s, greatly affected intellectual life in Leuven. Many professors and alumni from Leuven moved abroad. The newly founded University of Leiden in Holland, amongst others, would profit greatly from this brain drain. Despite this the university continued to excel in disciplines like theology with Johannes Molanus and classical studies with Justus Lipsius.

View over Leuven, late 19th century

In the 18th century, the brewery Den Horn (meaning "the horn") flourished. In 1708, Sebastien Artois became the master brewer at Den Horn, and gave his name to the brewery in 1717, now part of AB InBev, whose flagship beer, Stella Artois, is brewed in Leuven and sold in many countries.

Leuven developed considerably during the 19th century. Dozens of squares were created, including the Sint-Jacobsplein, the Volksplaats (today's Ladeuzeplein) and the Statieplein (today's Martelarenplein).[8] From 1835, the streets of the city were lit with gas.[9] The Voer stream was vaulted, the channels occupying the middle of the streets were removed, a number of narrow streets were widened or simply destroyed and a considerable number of sewers were installed. The municipal theatre and the main post office were built, respectively in 1866 and between 1893 and 1895.[10] It was also at this time that the central prison was built.

The ruins of the Catholic University of Leuven's library after it was burned by the German army in 1914

Leuven has several times been besieged or occupied by foreign armies; these include the Battle of Leuven (891), the Siege of Leuven (1635) and the Battle of Leuven (1831). In the 20th century, both world wars inflicted major damage upon the city. Upon Germany's entry into World War I, the town was heavily damaged by rampaging soldiers.[11] In all, about 300 civilians died.[12] The university library was destroyed on 25 August 1914, using petrol and incendiary pastilles.[13][14] 230,000 volumes were lost in the destruction, including Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts, a collection of 750 medieval manuscripts, and more than 1,000 incunabula (books printed before 1501).[14][15] The destruction of the library shocked the world, with the Daily Chronicle describing it as war not only against civilians but also against "posterity to the utmost generation."[16] The burning of the city was done as a reprisal, which at the time was legal under international law, as the Germans alleged that Belgian civilians had taken part in the fighting and killed German troops.[17][18] The library was rebuilt after the war, and much of the collection was replaced. Great Britain (on the initiative of the John Rylands Library in Manchester) and the United States were major providers of material for the replenishment of the collection.[12] The new library building was financed by the National Committee of the United States for the Restoration of the University of Louvain and built to the design of architect Whitney Warren; it was officially opened on 4 July 1928.[19] Richard Harding Davis, a war correspondent for the New York Tribune, was in Leuven and wrote a column titled "The Germans Were Like Men After an Orgy" in which he described the organized civilian murders and vandalism committed by the occupying troops.[20]

In World War II, after the start of the German offensive, Leuven formed part of the British Expeditionary Force's front line and was defended by units of the 3rd Division and Belgian troops. From 14 to 16 May 1940, the German Army Group B assaulted the city with heavy air and artillery support. The British withdrew their forces to the River Senne on the night of 16 May and the town was occupied the next day.[21] The new university library building was set on fire by shelling, on 16 May, and nearly a million books were lost.[22]

Leuven has a large international student population, mainly concentrated around the city centre. The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven; University of Leuven) has two campuses in the city, with a total of more than 45,000 students as of January 2020.[28] It is the oldest Catholic university still in existence in the world, and the largest university in Belgium. There are also a number of hogescholen (universities of applied sciences), such as the UC Leuven-Limburg (UCLL).

The governing coalition of Leuven consists of SP.A (14 out of 47 seats), Groen (10 seats) and CD&V (8 seats), with SP.A providing the mayor with Mohamed Ridouani. The opposition is composed of N-VA (11 seats), open VLD (2 seats), PVDA (1 seat) and Vlaams Belang (1 seat).[29]

• The Town Hall, built between 1439 and 1463 by Sulpitius van Vorst, Jan II Keldermans, and following their death, Matheus de Layens, in a Brabantian late-Gothic style. In the 19th century, 236 statues were added to the exterior, each representing a prominent local scholar, artist or noble from the city's history. The reception hall dates from 1750.
• Arenberg Castle was originally built in 16th century in the Renaissance style and was extensively renovated in the Neogothic style in the 19th century. The duke of Arenberg donated the domain to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 1916. It is open to the public. It has a beautiful green park outside with gardens. Eggs of wild ducks can be seen around the park.
• The Linen-hall, in an early-Gothic style, with baroque addition, is today the University Hall.
• The University Library on the Ladeuzeplein was built by the American architect Whitney Warren. It was a gift from the American people to Leuven after World War I, during which the Germans burned down the original library. The tower houses one of the largest carillons in the world.
• The Oude Markt or Old Market square located in the centre of Leuven features a vibrant social scene, the centre of which displays a life-size statue of 'De Kotmadam', or "The Landlady" resting on a bench.

Fonske was designed by Jef Claerhout.

• Sint-Donatus Park contains remains of the medieval city wall.
• Totem is a statue at the centre of the Ladeuzeplein; it is a work of the Belgian artist Jan Fabre. Featuring a 23-metre-high needle impaling a giant jewelled beetle, the statue towers over the square in front of the university library.
• Fonske is a statue near the centre of town. Its full name is Fons Sapientiae, Latin for "fountain of wisdom". The statue represents a university student who, while reading a book, lets wisdom flow into his head as liquid from a glass. Just like Manneken Pis in Brussels, Fonske is, from time to time, dressed in costumes appropriate for specific occasions.

• St. Peter's Church (1425–1500) was finished by Jan Keldermans and Matheus de Layens. During the Second World War, the church was damaged. During the restoration, a Romanesque crypt from the 11th century was found. In the church itself, there are several paintings from the 15th to 18th centuries (among which, Dirk Bouts' famous painting of the last supper) and the grave of Duke Henry I of Brabant. The 50-metre-high tower – which was meant to be 169 metres high, but was never completed – is home to a carillon. The tower was included in UNESCO's list of Belfries of Belgium and France in 1999.[34]
• Saint-Anthony's Chapel, Pater Damiaanplein, from the 17th to the 20th centuries, contains the tomb of Father Damien, the "leper priest" of Molokai, who was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday 11 October 2009.[35][36] The Catholic Encyclopedia calls him "the Apostle of the Lepers",[37] and elsewhere, he is known as the "leper priest". The Catholic priest's remains were returned in Belgium with great fanfare in 1936, after having been originally buried on the Hawaiian Island of Molokai where he had served the outcast lepers until his death.
• The Church of Saint Michael was built in the typical Jesuit Baroque Style.
• The Saint Quentin's Church incorporates remains of a Romanesque church built in the 13th century.
• The Large Beguinage is one of the world's best remaining examples of its architectural type. It was recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1998.
• Park Abbey, a 42ha Premonstratensian Abbey founded in 1129 and manufacturing site of the Parc Abbey Bible. It is one of the best preserved abbey complexes in the Low Countries[38] and is still inhabited by a small community of Canons regular.[39]
• Keizersberg Abbey, an active Neo-Romanesque Benedictine Abbey founded in 1888.[40] It is situated on the Keizersberg ("Emperor's Mountain") which used to be the location of a 12th-century ducal castle until it was demolished in 1782.
• Vlierbeek Abbey, a former Benedictine abbey founded in 1127.
• Sint-Geertrui Abdij, a former Augustinian abbey founded in 1206.
• Lerkeveld is a Jesuit house, student residence, and headquarters of the Society of Jesus in Belgium.
• The Al Fath mosque was built in 2016 and is used as a mosque where people can pray.[41]
• Al Ihsaan is a government-funded mosque that was found in 1976 and that is still actively used as a place for people to pray. Al Ihsaan also offers Arabic lessons.[42]
• There are several other smaller churches and chapels throughout the town.

The Old University of Leuven used to have 40 constituent colleges and 4 pedagogies, some of which are still being used by KU Leuven. The most notable ones are:

• Holy Ghost College, founded in 1442, currently a residence for theology students and priests at KU Leuven.
• Collegium Trilingue, which promoted the teaching of Hebrew, Greek and Latin. It was founded in 1517 by the humanist Hieronymus Busleyden under impulse of Desiderius Erasmus and served as a model for France's Collège de France.
• Pope's College, a college for theology students of the Old University of Leuven founded by Pope Adrian VI in 1523.
• St Anthony's College, founded in 1607, was located on the Pater Damiaanplein and has been a centre of Irish learning on the European Continent since the early 17th century. The Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe is now located on the premises.

• Most Dukes of Brabant in the 12th and 13th centuries
• Maria of Brabant, queen consort of France (1256–1321)
• Louis Elsevier, book publisher (1540–1617)
• Quentin Matsys, painter (1466–1530)
• Petrus Phalesius the Elder, publisher (c. 1501/05 – c. 1573/74)
• Petrus van der Aa, jurist (1530–1594)
• Valerio Profondavalle, painter (b. 1533)
• Adriaan van Roomen, mathematician (1561–1615)
• Charles de Bériot, violinist (1802–1870)
• Eugène Prévinaire, second governor of the National Bank of Belgium (1805–1877)
• Laurent-Guillaume de Koninck, palaeontologist and chemist (1809–1887)
• Jean Stas, analytical chemist (1813–1891)
• Bernardine Hamaekers opera singer (1836–1912)
• Arthur De Greef, pianist and composer (1862–1940)
• Jean Hissette, ophthalmologist (1888–1965)
• Hortense Clews World War II Resistance worker and Concentration Camp survivor (b. 1926)
• Arthur Berckmans, comics author (b. 1929)
• Mark Eyskens, politician and former Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1933)
• Jan Hoet, curator and art critic (1936–2014)
• Louis Tobback, politician and mayor (b. 1938)
• Emiel Puttemans, middle- and long-distance runner (b. 1947)
• Frank Vandenbroucke, politician (b. 1955)
• Martin Margiela, fashion designer (b. 1957)
• Didier de Radiguès, professional motorsports competitor (b. 1958)
• William Van Dijck, athlete, 1987 World Championships bronze medallist in 3000m steeplechase (b. 1961)
• Thomas Meuwissen, violinmaker (b. 1966)
• Bruno Bosteels, philosopher, known for English translations of Alain Badiou (b. 1967)
• Kim Gevaert, sprint athlete, Olympic gold medalist in 4×100 relay Beijing 2008 (Silver; Gold after Russian disqualification) (b. 1978)
• Jonathan Vandenbroeck, singer-songwriter, better known as Milow (b. 1981)
• Dries Mertens, footballer (b. 1987)
• Selah Sue, musician and songwriter (b. 1989)
• Stienes Longin, racing driver (b. 1991)
• Elise Mertens, tennis (b. 1995)

Leuven is twinned with:

• 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
• Kraków, Poland[43]
• Lüdenscheid, Germany
• Rennes, France
• Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Aside from the aforementioned cities, Leuven has friendly relations with:

• New Delhi, India[44]
• Tainan, Taiwan
• Stellenbosch, South Africa
• Wuxi, People's Republic of China
• Ocaña, Spain "Ocaña".

Leuven has an 'adoptive village'

• Cristian, Romania

• "Louvain", chapter from George Wharton Edwards's 1911 book, Some Old Flemish Towns. (Wikisource)
• Diriken, Pierre. Geogids Leuven, Kortessem, (ISBN 90-752-2450-8).
• Knuth, Rebecca (2006). Burning Books and Leveling Libraries: Extremist Violence and Cultural Destruction. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
• Tuchman, Barbara (1962). The Guns of August. New York: Macmillan.
• Van Even, Edward (1895). Louvain dans le passé et dans le présent (in French), Leuven (ISBN 2-87723-578-5).