Francization of Brussels
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The Francization of Brussels refers to the evolution, over the past two centuries, of this historically Dutch-speaking city into one where French has become the majority language and lingua franca. The main cause of this transition was the rapid, compulsory assimilation of the Flemish population, amplified by immigration from France and Wallonia.
Bilingual French and Dutch street signs in Brussels
Brussels in 1555, still a small city that had not yet grown to fill its walls, the present-day Small Ring
First page of Verlooy's Dissertation on the disregard of the native language in the Netherlands (1788), regarded as the first work dealing with the language problem in Flanders.
Under French rule, the use of Dutch was forbidden in Brussels' Town Hall.
Ixelles
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Ixelles or Elsene is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Brussels' city centre, it is geographically bisected by the City of Brussels. It is also bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, Etterbeek, Forest, Uccle, Saint-Gilles and Watermael-Boitsfort.
Ixelles' Municipal Hall seen from the Place Fernand Cocq/Fernand Cocqplein
La Cambre Abbey, founded in 1201
The Namur Gate and the Chaussée d'Ixelles/Elsensesteenweg, c. 1900
View from the cour d'honneur (main courtyard) of La Cambre Abbey, located in the City of Brussels close to Ixelles