The story
History
Rural beginnings
As early as the 9th century, Molenbeek was the site of a church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. The parish boundaries of St. John's Church were much greater than today, reaching as far as the river Senne, and from the end of the 12th century, included a chapel dedicated to Saint Catherine. This chapel was split off from the rest of the parish following the construction of Brussels' second city walls and gradually became the current Church of St. Catherine in the Quays or Sainte-Catherine/Sint-Katelijne Quarter of Brussels. The first documented mention of Molenbeek was made on 9 April 1174 in a papal bull by Pope Alexander III listing the property of the chapter of the Collegiate Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula (now Brussels' cathedral), which included St. John's Church, as well as other property. The Brussels Beguinage, founded before 1247 outside the city walls, also depended on Molenbeek.
In the early Middle Ages, Molenbeek was known for its miraculous spring of Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, the mythical founder of Nivelles Abbey, which attracted thousands of pilgrims. According to legend, she visited Molenbeek and offered the land on which the village's first church was built, and allegedly caused this sacred spring to spur out by ramming her abbess's crosier into the ground near the church. Later, the tradition of a special pilgrimage for patients with epilepsy developed around St. John's Church. On St. John's Day (24 June), a dancing procession took place, in which epileptics could be freed from their illness for a year if they crossed a bridge over the Molenbeek brook towards the church without their feet touching the ground. A painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, dating from 1592, illustrates this procession.
Molenbeek was made part of Brussels in the 13th century. As a result, the agricultural village lost a lot of its land to its more powerful neighbour. In addition, St. John's Church was dismantled in 1578 during the Calvinist Republic of Brussels, which lasted from 1577 to 1585, leading to further decline, though it was later rebuilt on the same spot. The town's aspect remained mostly rural until the 18th century.
Industrialisation
At the end of the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution brought prosperity back to Molenbeek through commerce and manufacturing. In 1795, under the French regime, the town regained its status as an independent municipality. Around that time, Molenbeek experienced its first wave of urbanisation with the development of a neighbourhood, known as the Faubourg Saint-Martin, around a number of streets to the immediate west of the City of Brussels, as well as another, the Faubourg de Flandre, a little more to the north.
During the first quarter of the 19th century, several hundred workers were employed in Molenbeek's chemical and textile industries. In total, there were fifty companies in Molenbeek in 1829. The opening of the Brussels–Charleroi Canal in 1832 greatly increased the traffic of coal and thus the mechanisation of industry, which led to the development of foundries, engineering and metalworking companies in the municipality. Attracted by the industrial opportunities, many workers moved in, first from the other Belgian provinces (mainly rural residents from Flanders) and France, then from Southern European, and more recently from Eastern European and African countries.
The growth of the community continued unabated throughout the 19th century, leading to cramped living conditions, especially near the canal. In that period, Molenbeek was dubbed the Little Manchester (French: le petit Manchester, Dutch: het Klein Manchester) or the Belgian Manchester (French: le Manchester belge, Dutch: het Belgisch Manchester), in reference to the Northern English city that led the history of industrialisation. On 5 May 1835, Molenbeek was the departure site of the first passenger train in continental Europe. At the end of the 19th century, part of the industry, namely the port area, was lost by Molenbeek when Brussels annexed and reintegrated the canal area within its new port.
20th century
Until the early 20th century, Molenbeek was a booming suburb which attracted a large working-class population. Remarkable new urban developments and garden cities such as the Cité Diongre were built at the beginning of the century to house the influx of newcomers. The Church of St. John the Baptist was also rebuilt between 1930 and 1932 in Art Deco style to accommodate this growing populace. The industrial decline, however, which had already started before World War I, accelerated after the Great Depression and World War II.
Following the industrial decline after the war, the old districts bordering the City of Brussels began to decrease in population. Much of the original Belgian working-class population, when its financial means allowed it, left the lower Molenbeek for Brussels' newly developing suburbs. In this lower part of the town, new immigrant populations moved in, leading to the present-day urban fabric. The depopulation was not addressed until the 1960s through the construction of new residential areas in the then-rural west of the municipality. In the 1990s, this expansion was halted, leaving some woods and meadows in Molenbeek, such as the semi-natural site of the Scheutbos.
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Where Molenbeek was once a centre of intense industrial activity, concentrated around the canal and the railway, most of those industries have disappeared to make way for large-scale urban renewal following the modernist Athens Charter, such as the L'Écluse Tower along the Boulevard Louis Mettewie/Louis Mettewielaan in the upper town and the Brunfaut Tower near the canal. In addition, clearance work for the extension of the metro in the 1970s and 1980s led to further destruction. In spite of this, Molenbeek has maintained its character to this day. This industrial past is still remembered in the Brussels Museum of Industry and Labour, a museum of social and industrial history built on the site of the former foundry of the Compagnie des Bronzes de Bruxelles.
21st century
In some areas of Molenbeek, the ensuing poverty left its mark on the urban landscape and scarred the social life of the community, leading to rising crime rates and pervading cultural intolerance. Various local revitalisation programmes are currently under way, aiming at relieving the municipality's most impoverished districts. Currently, the local economy is renewing itself, but it is "dominated" by the administrative sector. Alongside large companies such as KBC Bank and the distribution company Delhaize, there are administrations such as that of the Ministry of the French Community and numerous businesses.
Attempts at revitalising the municipality have, however, not always been successful. In June 2011, the multinational company BBDO, citing over 150 attacks on their staff by locals, posted an open letter to then-mayor Philippe Moureaux, announcing its withdrawal from the municipality. As a result, serious questions were raised about governance, security and the administration of Moureaux. Following a general decrease in crime, the company finally decided to remain in Molenbeek.
Islamic terrorism
According to Le Monde, the assassins who killed anti-Taliban commander Ahmed Shah Massoud both came from Molenbeek. Hassan el-Haski, one of the 2004 Madrid terror bombers, came from Molenbeek. The perpetrator of the Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting, Mehdi Nemmouche, lived in Molenbeek for a time. Ayoub El Khazzani, the perpetrator of the 2015 Thalys train attack, stayed with his sister in Molenbeek. French police believe the weapons used in the Porte de Vincennes siege two days after the Charlie Hebdo shooting were sourced from Molenbeek. The bombers of the November 2015 Paris attacks were also traced to Molenbeek; during the Molenbeek capture of Salah Abdeslam, an accomplice of the Paris bombers, protesters "threw stones and bottles at police and press during the arrest", stated the then-Interior Minister of Belgium, Jan Jambon. Oussama Zariouh, the bomber of Brussels Central Station in June 2017, lived in Molenbeek.
At least four of the terrorists in the November 2015 Paris attacks—the brothers Brahim and Salah Abdeslam, alleged accomplice Mohamed Abrini, and the alleged mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud—grew up and lived in Molenbeek. According to former French President François Hollande, that was also where they organised the attacks. On 18 March 2016, Salah Abdeslam, a suspected accomplice in those attacks, was captured in two anti-terrorist raids in Molenbeek that killed another suspect and injured two others.
Since several of the attackers in the Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks had connections to the area, Belgian police started door-to-door checks in which a quarter of Molenbeek's inhabitants were investigated, a total of 22,668. This operation resulted in that of the 1,600 organisations investigated, 102 were found to be involved with crime and a further 52 were involved with terrorism. 72 individuals were found to have a terrorist connection and were subject to future surveillance.
Historical centre
The historical centre of Molenbeek, sometimes referred to as Old Molenbeek, is the municipality's central district. It is bounded by the Brussels–Charleroi Canal to the east and by the Boulevard Léopold II/Leopold II-laan to the north, with the Chaussée de Gand/Gentsesteenweg as its central artery. It grew up around the medieval village core, located on the site of the present-day Parvis Saint Jean-Baptiste/Sint-Jan-Baptistvoorplein. During the Industrial Revolution, it was a centre of intense industrial activity, concentrated around the canal, and is currently in a fragile social and economic situation due to the decline of its economy and the poor quality of some of its housing. Landmarks from this period include the Brussels Museum of Industry and Labour, a former foundry, and the Gosset factory with its Art Deco/modernist architecture, several former breweries converted into hotels (Hôtel Belvue) or event venues (Brussels Event Brewery), as well as many private lofts. The Municipal Hall of Molenbeek is located on the Place Communale/Gemeenteplein ("Municipal Square"), in the heart of this district.
Historical population
Historically, the population of Molenbeek was quite low. The municipality counted 690 inhabitants in 1707 and fewer than 2,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 19th century. However, following the Industrial Revolution, the population underwent a remarkable growth, peaking at 72,783 in 1910. From then, it began to decrease slightly during the first half of the 20th century to a low of 63,528 in 1961, before increasing again rapidly in recent years.
As of 1 January 2024, the population was 98,365. The area is 6.02 km2 (2.32 sq mi), making the density 16,352/km2 (42,350/sq mi). The population is relatively young—the average age is 35 years—with nearly 29% under 18 years old, and fewer than 12% over 65. This population, while already impoverished and overcrowded, further increased by 24.5% between 2005 and 2015.
Sources: INS: 1806 to 1981 = census; 1990 and later = population on 1 January
From Wikipedia’s article on Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4