Zaventem

History

The earliest history of Zaventem goes back to the Neolithic and the Roman era. From burial remains it has become clear that the area also was inhabited during the times of the Frankish Empire and the Merovingian dynasty. Zaventem was part of the County of Ukkel and the County of Leuven successively before it was added to the Duchy of Brabant. Around the tenth century, Zaventem was owned by the Abbey of Nivelles. The village center arose at the crossing of two important roads between Vilvoorde and Tervuren, and between Brussels and Erps, with the church at the center of this growing village. The parish was established before the ninth century but the church, which was named after the patron saint Saint Martin, came to be owned by the Abbey of Nivelles at the end of the ninth century. In 1147 the right of ownership was transferred to the Diocese of Cambrai. The parish remained dependent on this diocese until 1559 after which the Archdiocese of Mechelen took it over.

Lords of Saventhem

From 1112 to 1122, the vassal of Lambertus de Craynhem, the Lord of Saventhem, was called Ricardus de Saventen. It has been thought that de Saventen was a local noble family that coexisted with the noble family of the de Craynhem overlords. At that time, Forest Abbey and the Abbey of Kortenberg were important landowners. The feudal heerlijkheid of Zaventem then came to be owned by the knight Hendrik van der Meeren only after it was owned by another noble family. In 1381, he was officially recognised as the Lord of Saventhem and his family continued to own it until 1605. They possessed a castle close to the parish church but this was broken down during the second half of the 1920s.

In 1605, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Brabant, Ferdinand van Boisschot (1560–1649) became the Lord of Zaventem, and when he was made a baron in 1621, Zaventem became a barony which subsequently expanded with the villages Nossegem, Sterrebeek and Sint-Stevens-Woluwe. The de Boisschot family remained the proprietor until the French Revolution.

Originally, there was a large forest northwest of Zaventem called Saventerlo where the Dukes of Brabant used to go hunting. The area was largely deforested in the 17th century. Nevertheless, Zaventem remained predominantly agricultural during the most part of the nineteenth century but its industrial activities go at least back to the 13th century. During this time, various water mills were installed on the Woluwe River that were later converted to paper mills. Initially, the river had many bends along its path in Zaventem which made the supply of energy from the water power rather difficult. In 1208, Godfrey, Duke of Brabant gave orders to alter and elevate the pathway of the Woluwe River so that the watermills would be supplied with a sufficient amount of water. This greatly benefited the paper industry later on in the 18th and 19th century.

From the 18th century however, Zaventem gradually changes from an agricultural community to an industrial community. Especially the construction of the road between Leuven and Brussels from 1705 to 1710, contributed to this evolution. From 1850, the development of steam engines even intensified the process of industrialisation, having a negative effect on agricultural activities. Gradually, the large leasehold estates of farmland were replaced in the 19th century by houses of labourers. In 1866, the railway track between Brussels and Leuven, as a sign of the industrial era, was inaugurated splitting Zaventem into two parts. In addition to the paper industry, industrial activity also started to revolve around the tanning of leather in the late 19th century. At the start of the 20th century, the car manufacturer Excelsior, that would become world-renowned later on, produced some of its cars in a factory in Zaventem. All these industrial initiatives prompted the building of various small castles and grand villas in the municipality for the executive directors of the companies such as the Feldheim Villa of the wealthy eponymous family that was involved in the tanning industry. After World War II, however, many of the factories were forced to close, unable to keep up with foreign competition.

With the building of Brussels Airport at the occasion of Brussels World's Fair in 1958, the features of Zaventem's landscape have been altered drastically. The location used to be the place of the large Saventerlo Forest. Nevertheless, the airport gave a tremendous boost to local employment that benefited Zaventem greatly. Added to that the strong growth of semi-industrial companies during the 1960s and 1970s Zaventem became an important economic hub.

2016 Brussels bombings

During the 2016 Brussels bombings, two explosions took place in Brussels Airport, Zaventem, 22 March 2016 at 07:58 local time. One near the American Airlines and Brussels Airlines check-in desks and one next to a Starbucks coffee shop. A third bomb was found in the airport and was detonated by a controlled explosion. The airport was to remain closed until 24 March but was extended till 28 March. Flights bound to Brussels Airport were either canceled or diverted to nearby airports such as Brussels South Charleroi Airport, Ostend–Bruges International Airport, and Schiphol. At 09:11 CET an explosion took place at Maelbeek/Maalbeek metro station. ISIL claimed responsibility for the attacks as an act of revenge against Belgium for participation in the ongoing Military intervention against ISIL.

De Veste Museum of Local History

The museum exhibits objects that are mainly loaned from a society for local history. They are primarily old objects that were used in the past, such as weighing instruments, threshing and transport material, archival pieces regarding local societies, municipal governments and economic activities. In addition, there are artefacts that were used for farming purposes and folkloric instruments of craftsmen and other professions. Furthermore, there are also artefacts relating to the monarchy, the church life, the world wars and historiographical accounts and flags of Zaventem. Outside large agricultural instruments are exhibited like ploughs, and harvesting machines to grub up chicory. The building of the museum was erected in 1957 as a storage place in the architectural style of a 17th-century house to refer to the houses that used to be in the area during that century. In 1977, the building was fully restored and converted into the local history museum.