Merode is a railway and metro station in Brussels, Belgium. It lies in the municipality of Etterbeek, near the border between Etterbeek, the City of Brussels and Schaerbeek. The metro end is under the Porte de Tervueren/Tervuursepoort, which is the start of the Avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan, a major thoroughfare, while the mainline railway station end is under the Square Princesse Jean de Mérode/Prinses Jean de Mérodeplein. The two stations are connected by a long underground concourse punctuated by ticket barriers. The area is named in honour of the Princess Jean de Mérode.
The first section of this line was built in the late 1960s between Schuman and De Brouckère, but was served by trams. The first metro was brought into service on 20 September 1976, and the existing underground section was extended up to Tomberg on former line 1B, and up to Beaulieu on former line 1A. Line 1A was further expanded eastwards, to Demey in 1977 and to Herrmann-Debroux in 1985. The line was also expanded westwards, to Sainte-Catherine/Sint-Katelijne in 1977, to Beekkant in 1981, to Bockstael in 1982, to Heysel/Heizel in 1985 and to Roi Baudouin in 1998.
The first section of this line was built in the late 1960s between Schuman and De Brouckère, but was served by trams. The first metro was brought into service on 20 September 1976, and the existing underground section was extended up to Tomberg on former line 1B, and up to Beaulieu on former line 1A. Line 1B was later expanded westwards, to Sainte-Catherine/Sint-Katelijne in 1977, to Beekkant in 1981, to Saint-Guidon/Sint-Guido in 1982, to Veeweyde/Veeweide in 1985, to Bizet in 1992 and finally to Erasme in 2003. The line was also expanded eastwards, to Alma in 1982 and to Stockel in 1988.
Georges Prosper Remi (French:[ʒɔʁʒpʁɔspɛʁʁəmi]; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (/ɛərˈʒeɪ/air-ZHAY; French:[ɛʁʒe]), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials RG, was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating The Adventures of Tintin, the series of comic albums that are considered one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. He was also responsible for two other well-known series, Quick & Flupke (1930–1940) and The Adventures of Jo, Zette and Jocko (1936–1957). His works were executed in his distinctive ligne claire drawing style.
Born to a lower-middle-class family in Etterbeek, Brussels, Hergé began his career by contributing illustrations to Scouting magazines, developing his first comic series, The Adventures of Totor, for Le Boy-Scout Belge in 1926. Working for the conservative Catholic newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle, he created The Adventures of Tintin in 1929 on the advice of its editor Norbert Wallez. Revolving around the actions of boy reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy, the series' early instalments – Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, Tintin in the Congo, and Tintin in America – were designed as conservative propaganda for children. Domestically successful, after serialisation the stories were published in book form, with Hergé continuing the series and also developing both the Quick & Flupke and Jo, Zette and Jocko series for Le Vingtième Siècle. Influenced by his friend Zhang Chongren, from 1934 Hergé placed far greater emphasis on conducting background research for his stories, resulting in increased realism from The Blue Lotus onward. Following the German occupation of Belgium in 1940, Le Vingtième Siècle was closed, but Hergé continued his series in Le Soir, a popular newspaper controlled by the Nazi administration.
The name Maalbeek, meaning "mill brook", comes from the Dutch words beek (meaning "brook") and maal (meaning "to mill"). Molenbeek has a similar derivation. The stream was vaulted in 1872, at which time there were 58 ponds along it. Nowadays, only six are left: the ponds of La Cambre Abbey; of Ixelles (two); of Leopold Park; of Marie-Louise Square; and of Josaphat Park.
The Leopold Quarter (French: Quartier Léopold, pronounced[kaʁtjeleɔpɔl(d)]; Dutch: Leopoldswijk, pronounced[ˈleːjoːpɔltsˌʋɛik]) is a quarter of Brussels, Belgium. The term is sometimes confused with the European Quarter, as the area has come to be dominated by the institutions of the European Union (EU) and related organisations, although the two terms are not in fact the same, with the Leopold Quarter being a smaller more specific district of the municipalities of the City of Brussels, Etterbeek, Ixelles and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode.
The Leopold Quarter traditionally encompassed the area immediately south of the Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road), between the Namur Gate and the Leuven Gate. Nowadays, it lies roughly between the ring road, Leopold Park, the Rue Joseph II/Jozef II-Straat, and the Rue du Trône/Troonstraat. The district was created in 1837, soon after Belgian independence, as a prestigious residential area for the elite of the new Belgian capital, and was named after King Leopold I. It remained the most prestigious residential address in the capital until the early 20th century when many of its former residents began to relocate to the city's newly developing suburbs. Starting at that time, but accelerating rapidly only after the 1950s, it increasingly became a business/institutional area and is now dominated by the EU's facilities.
Despite large roads slicing through and the increasing traffic, the municipality has an environmental advantage, and it has been able to preserve a relatively important part of its natural and historic legacy: the creeks, Rouge Cloître Abbey and its art centre, the Priory of Val-Duchesse, the Château of Trois-Fontaines, the Château Saint-Anne, and St. Anne's Chapel.
As of 1 January 2022, the municipality had a population of 42,216 inhabitants. The total area is 8.94 km (3.45 sq mi), which gives a population density of 4,722/km (12,230/sq mi). It is mostly a well-to-do residential area, which includes the wide, park-lined, Avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan, and the numerous embassies located near the Square Maréchal Montgomery/Maarschalk Montgomeryplein. Of the three streams that once crossed the municipality, only the Woluwe, a tributary of the Senne, can still largely be seen today.
Schaerbeek has a multicultural identity stemming from its diverse population. As of 1 January 2022, the municipality had a population of 130,690 inhabitants. The total area is 7.9 km (3.1 sq mi), which gives a population density of 16,540/km (42,800/sq mi), twice the average of Brussels.
As of 1 January 2023, the municipality had a population of 88,521 inhabitants. The total area is 6.41 km (2.47 sq mi), which gives a population density of 13,807/km (35,760/sq mi). In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the region, and is particularly noted for its communities of European and Congolese immigrants.