Belgium culture and traditions. Walloon-Flemish ethnopolitical conflict in Belgium In which country do the Flemings live?
Belgium, which is small in area, is to some extent a paradoxical state. “Sandwiched” between such European giants as France, Germany and Great Britain, it represents, on the one hand, a kind of center of modern Western Europe, and on the other, a transition zone, primarily in the ethnolinguistic sense.
Many people know about the conflict between the inhabitants of the northern part of Belgium, the Flemings, and the southern Walloons, but what its essence is is not so easy to understand. SPA hotel Rodina in Sochi is waiting for everyone who wants to immerse themselves in an atmosphere of comfort and tranquility. Highly qualified and friendly staff will meet you and accompany you throughout your holiday at the highest level, which will allow you to relax as much as possible and have a good rest, forgetting about many worries and problems.
This work makes an attempt to analyze the available information about the problems associated with the confrontation between the two most important ethnic groups, as well as to highlight the individual components of the conflict between them. At the same time, Flemish-Walloon relations are considered not only as a conflict, but also as a possible stimulus for the development of the country.
The work is based on data from the General Directorate of Statistics and Economic Information of Belgium, as well as unique materials from linguistic censuses published on the website dedicated to Stefan Riyaert’s book “Long Live Belgium...?”. Another source of information was the publications of Belgian specialists, mainly sociologists and political scientists. The author repeatedly visited the country of study, which allowed him not only to gain access to books and journals in Belgian libraries, but also to conduct his own field research, which included meetings with experts on this issue and a survey of residents of the kingdom.
Causes of the conflict and features of the state structure and territorial division of the country. What is the reason for the current conflict situation?
The population of Belgium is divided into two large groups: the Flemings, who live in the northern part of the country, and the Walloons, who occupy the south of the kingdom. The population of the Brussels metropolitan area has a mixed ethnic composition. Germans live compactly in the east of the country.
Belgium is a country of federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy. Currently, a constitution adopted on February 7, 1831 is in force on its territory. The last changes were made to it on July 14, 1993 (the parliament approved a package of laws on the creation of a federal state).
A fundamental feature of Belgian federalism is the parallel existing dual system of administrative division. On one side, the country is divided into three districts: Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels metropolitan area. In parallel, it is divided into three linguistic communities: Dutch-speaking (Flemish district and Brussels-Capital District), Francophone (Walloon-Capital District and Brussels-Capital District) and German-speaking (part of the province of Liege). All three languages in the country are official.
Currently, there is an active discussion on the issue of moving the capital of Flanders from Brussels to one of the “truly Flemish” cities. According to a sociological survey conducted by the Tell me more institute in March 2007, 70% of Flemings no longer want Brussels to be the capital of their district and linguistic community. The most likely candidate is Antwerp, the largest city in the northern part of the country. 94% of respondents were in favor of it.
Components of the conflict. Initially, only the language conflict over the almost 200 years of the existence of the Belgian state has spread to almost all spheres of life, as they say, “from geology to ideology.” Let's look at five of its most significant components.
1. Economic component. Economic contradictions that are not the most significant are often brought to the fore. The reason for this component of the conflict should be sought in Belgian history. Wallonia, which developed rapidly during the industrial era (mainly due to the coal and metallurgical industries), lost the “palm” to Flanders in the second half of the 20th century. Now it is the northern part of the country that actively invests in high-tech industries and is a kind of locomotive of the entire Belgian economy.
The gross regional product per capita (as of 2007) of Flanders exceeded the Walloon product by 1.4 times (31,651 and 22,606 € per person, respectively). And inter-district differences reached an even greater magnitude a little more than three times. The most “productive” area besides Brussels is Antwerp (40,243 € per person), and the least productive is Thuen (13,217 € per person, province of Hainaut, Wallonia). The abolition of partial redistribution of income between districts is the main demand put forward by radical Flemish parties.
2. Social component. The consequences of economic contradictions are social ones. More developed Flanders is noticeably better off than Wallonia in terms of social development indicators, for example, in terms of real income per capita. In the southern part of the country this figure is 15,873 € per person, while in the northern part it is 18,564 € per person. The differences between individual areas are almost 1.5 times (with a maximum in the area of Halle Vilvoorde 21,175 € per person, province of Flemish Brabant, and a minimum in the area of Charleroi 14,443 € per person, province of Hainaut). Another indicator of uneven social development is the average life expectancy. In Flanders it is 78.1 years for men and 83.3 years for women. Whereas in Wallonia it is 75.1 years and 81.6 years respectively. The uneven social development of the north and south fuels xenophobic sentiments in both parts of the country.
3. Language component. Despite the formal equality of the French, Dutch and German languages, there are territorial differences between the areas of their use and those where they are officially recognized. Because of this, sometimes conflict situations arise.
Conclusions. Flemish-Walloon relations represent both a conflict and a stimulus for Belgian development. Existing contradictions are manifested in all spheres of life of the population. These are economic, social, linguistic, cultural, and political conflicts. But none of them are more or less significant. All these components of the conflict are closely intertwined. Its further development is hampered by various factors, including the special “peacekeeping” role of Belgium in the EU, “monarchical federalism”, Brussels as the capital of the country and the de facto EU, and much more.
Currently, on the one hand, separatist sentiments are intensifying, mainly in the northern part of the country: the Flemings are in the lead both in population and in many economic and social indicators. On the other hand, there is increasingly close interaction and interpenetration of different cultures, due to which common Belgian traditions and culture are being formed. Despite active debates and minor contradictions that arise from time to time, Belgium still remains a united country and the situation is unlikely to change in the near future.
(French Flanders). Language - Dutch (for more details, see Dutch language in Belgium). In everyday life, Flemings communicate, depending on the situation and the degree of proficiency of the native speaker of the literary norm, in the Dutch dialects represented in Flanders, in the literary language, or in variants intermediate between the literary language and the dialect.
In terms of language and culture, they are closest to the Dutch.
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Ethnogenesis and history
Ethnically, the Flemings are mainly descendants of the Germanic tribes of the Franks, Batavians, Saxons and Frisians. The Celtic tribes of the Belgae, who lived in this territory before the Frankish invasion and were assimilated by the Franks, also joined the Flemish ethnic group. How the ethnic group was formed in the 17th - 19th centuries. In the Middle Ages, the territory of modern Belgium was divided into scattered principalities: Flanders, Hainaut (Geneau), Brabant, Namur, Limbourg, Luxembourg, Cambrai, Tournai, and the bishopric of Liege. They were partly subordinate to France, partly to Germany.
The history of Belgium is then linked to the history of the Netherlands (see Dutch). These lands passed from the Dukes of Burgundy to the Habsburgs in the 15th century, that is, they became part of the German Empire. Since the emperors of Germany became Spanish kings through a dynastic marriage, the Netherlands (and Flanders among them) were subordinated to Spain. Under Philip II, King of Spain, a fierce struggle of the inhabitants of the Netherlands began against foreign oppression, and the Northern Netherlands achieved freedom by forming the Republic of the United Provinces. The Southern Netherlands (future Belgium) remained a Spanish protectorate. In 1714 they passed to Austria, in the year under the influence of the French Revolution the Brabant Revolution occurred, the region was included in France. After Napoleon it was annexed to the Netherlands.
The official languages in Belgium are Dutch, French and German, but none of them have official status throughout the country. German is spoken almost exclusively in the eastern part of Belgium, which formerly (before the First World War) belonged to Germany. The Brussels-Capital Region, which is surrounded on all sides by the Flemish Region, officially uses French and Dutch. Due to the bilingualism of the country, the names of some settlements and other geographical objects have two options: Mons - Bergen, Namur - Namen, Courtrai - Kortrijk, Louvain - Leuven, Liège - Luik, Gand - Gent, Ostende - Oostende, Anvers - Antwerpen, Audenarde - Oudenaarde, Bruges-Brugge, Malines-Mechelen.
Symbolism
The national symbol of the Flemings is a flag depicting a black lion on a yellow background, with a white border and red claws and tongue. It appeared under Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders from 1162. Under the Dukes of Burgundy it was used in the coat of arms, and during the creation of the United Netherlands it became a symbol of East Flanders. The flag is not a state flag, it is a symbol of Flemish nationalists.
Household and life
Belgium is a highly developed industrial country. The independent population is employed in industry, trade, services, and agriculture. The main industries are mechanical engineering, metallurgy, and construction. The direction of agriculture is meat and dairy farming, vegetable growing and grain production.
Transport - a dense network of railways, maritime shipping, road transport. The population lives almost entirely in cities; currently, traditional rural houses and estates remain only in ethnographic reserves. Traditional settlement - khutor. Type of house - so-called a house with a long gable, combining housing and utility rooms into one long building. Unlike the Walloon house, the Flemish house is plastered and painted white, yellow or pink. Characteristic decorations of the roof ridge in the form of swan heads.
Traditional clothing is similar to Dutch. For women, this is a shirt and jacket, a dark bodice, several skirts, an apron, a large colored or checkered shawl, a black silk scarf with fringe, and lace caps.
Traditional food: vegetable, cereal dishes, salted fish, mainly herring, chicken soup. On holidays, pies and buns are baked.
Families are more large and patriarchal than those of the Walloons. Adult children usually live with their parents. Medieval guilds and clubs remain in the cities.
Crafts have long been famous for the production of fine linen fabrics, Flemish lace, and metal processing.
Arts and culture
Until the end of the 16th century, the art of the Netherlands and Flanders formed a single whole. The territory that today includes the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, in other words, the Benelux, was called the Old Netherlands and was united. Then, due to the political events described above, the provinces were divided. In the 17th-18th centuries, Flanders began to be called the Southern, Spanish, and later the Austrian Netherlands, and art became Flemish, and even later, with the formation of a new state, Belgium, Belgian.
In the architecture of Flanders from the previous period, all-Dutch, Romanesque and Gothic monuments have been preserved, the town hall and the municipal museum in Brussels on the Grand Place, the Church of St. Bavo in Ghent, the city Tower (Belfort) in Bruges, etc. Flanders was one of the leading centers of ceremonial style
After all, what does Belgium seem like to our person who has never been there? Yes, practically nothing - for example, a tiny piece of land somewhere between France and Holland, a country whose ridiculous size we for some reason are used to measuring ourselves: they say, on the territory of our Russia so many thousands of your Belgians would be freely located! However, as you know, size does not always matter.
Yes, Belgium is small. Not just small, but one of the smallest countries in Europe, but the population density here is one of the densest in the world. According to official data, there are about 350 people per square kilometer in Belgium, which is quite difficult to imagine - how can such a crowd fit into one kilometer, even a square one? In fact, it is not very clear how Belgian experts calculated such a density, because almost all routes around the country pass among vast and deserted fields and meadows, where, apart from picturesque and incredibly well-groomed cows, not a soul is found.
Apparently, because almost all Belgians are city dwellers: something like 3% of the country's 11 million population lives in rural areas. However, despite this, there is not much crowding in the cities - there are, of course, a lot of people on the streets, but it’s mostly vacationers milling about among the attractions. Advanced tourists from all over the world have long appreciated Belgium - a small but amazing country.
More recently (by historical standards) it did not exist at all, at least as an independent, independent state. Once upon a time, the ubiquitous Celts penetrated into these regions, among whom wormed their way into the people who bore the name “Belgi”. And when the Romans got here, they called their new province Belgica. Then the Franks captured the land and introduced Christianity among the local people. Well, then the small people began to change hands every now and then: they were French, Spanish, and Dutch. And only in 1831 Belgium declared its independence from the outside world, acquired its own king, Leopold I, and began to live like all decent countries of that time. And half a century later, having forgotten about her own recent subordinate position, she set up colonies in Africa, which she happily parted with in the 60s of the last century and which are now reminded only by the traditional European number of Africans who broke into the former metropolis, selling here sunglasses and even a real Rolex for 20 euros.
Two peoples
The famous expression “one country, one people” is not about Belgium. There are two main peoples here: the Walloons and the Flemings. The former speak French (or rather, in dialects, but they can also speak classical French), the latter speak Dutch (that is, of course, in its dialects, but, if necessary, they can also speak correct Dutch). In principle, each Belgian village has its own way of communication, its own words and its own dialect, so that often a slight misunderstanding can occur between neighbors. The Walloons and Flemings live nearby (where would they go in such a territory!), but there is no trace of great love between them. And there is a rather strong antipathy, which is prevented from bursting out violently only by the European habit of tolerance. However, hostility is quietly expressed by all and sundry: for example, in Flanders people pointedly do not speak French, and in Wallonia - Flemish. Only Brussels, the capital populated by representatives of both nations, chirps cheerfully in both languages. However, 30 kilometers from this advanced city, nothing at all reminds of the existence of a competing language, and even the road signs on it are not duplicated.
The reason for such a cool attitude towards each other lies in the depths of centuries. Once upon a time, the French-speaking Walloons were the main ones on the territory of Belgium - they had both power and wealth, so the Flemings considered themselves unhappy and offended. Out of resentment, they worked so hard that they ended up experiencing an economic boom while the relaxed Walloons experienced an economic recession. Meanwhile, the Flemings, delighted with the state of their finances, began to diligently multiply, so that now there were slightly more of them in Belgium than the Walloons, and besides, many Flemish residents managed to reach high government positions... In general, now the Walloons had to take offense . Things got to the point that in the small peaceful country in the 60s of the 20th century, various riots began to occur, because each people sincerely believed that they were being subjected to severe discrimination on the basis of nationality. The situation had to be resolved by separating the conflicting parties into different corners: the country was divided into two parts, each of which received personal ministries of education, culture and economy, speaking exclusively in the titular language. Now Belgium consists of three autonomous parts: the French-speaking Wallonia, which prefers Flemish Flanders, and Brussels, in which everything is mixed up so that it is not possible to attribute it to one of the factions. Besides, it would be bad to give the capital into someone else's hands - the other people will immediately become indignant, so let Brussels be no one's.
In the midst of all this chaos, the Germans also wormed their way in. True, there are few of them, about 1% of the population, but this does not mean anything: German is considered an official language in Belgium no less than French or Flemish. And although the Germans themselves are part of Wallonia, they also have some independence. And at least they don’t complain about any discrimination. Or maybe they complain - just very quietly.
Capital for the weekend
Brussels is the perfect destination for a romantic weekend getaway: it's not just beautiful, it's gorgeous. At the same time, the city is small enough (you can get around it on foot) and at the same time large enough not to be examined three times a day. However, if you study Brussels carefully, then, I’m afraid, even a week is not enough.
The heart of the Belgian capital is located in the same place as all other European cities - on the main square, which is simply called Grand Place, that is, Great Square. By the way, it's not that big. Yes, on our Red Street we could accommodate about six of these Big Ones, no less! But again, it's not about size. The Brussels residents themselves claim that their Great Square is the most beautiful in the world. I don’t know what the unit for measuring the degree of beauty of squares is (as for the most beautiful in the world, I would be careful not to say), but the fact that the Grand Place is one of the most beautiful in the world is absolutely certain. However, all people on earth have probably seen it at least once: after all, it is here that every August a giant carpet of multi-colored begonias is laid out, which is certainly reported to the world on TV. And it's worth it: an ancient square with an amazing floral blanket - what could be more worthy of a TV report?
And the most important thing on the Great Square is the tall town hall, topped with a giant weather vane in the form of the Archangel Michael defeating the dragon. Although the town hall is beautiful, it looks a little strange, because its tower does not stick out from the middle of the building’s facade, which would be logical, but somewhat to the side. There is even a legend that the architect, when he saw what nonsense he had come up with, climbed onto that very tower and jumped down from it - he seemed so upset. However, serious people claim that nothing like that happened, and the tower grew in the wrong place simply because the town hall was built in three stages, and somehow it turned out that one wing turned out to be slightly longer than the second. But the architect did not jump anywhere at all, he lived quietly until a very old age, continuing to build various other towers.
The Town Hall still functions successfully as a public building. From time to time the burgomaster comes out of its doors - not for some solemn purpose, but just to take a walk, show himself, look at people. They say it is impossible not to recognize him: firstly, because he appears to people, wearing all his regalia of a mayor, and secondly, because few people still have such a big belly (the burgomaster seems to have an unusually strong love for beer, and as a result It was from this deep feeling that he eventually became a man of outstanding physique). And so he goes out onto the main square, a mug of beer in his hand, a ribbon over his shoulder, looking friendly, and enters into conversations with passers-by in order to find out if people are happy with everything, if anyone has any complaints. Not just the burgomaster, but some kind of Harun al-Rashid. What’s most offensive is that I personally haven’t seen anything like this. True, when the locals found out that in their large square I had never met the burgomaster, they were all very surprised: they said, how could I not have met him, he was there all the time.
In general, I had no luck with the burgomaster. Although, on the other hand, why do I need a burgomaster? What complaints might I have? That is, in fact, I have a lot of them, but all of them are by no means for the city. Brussels, in my opinion, is absolutely impeccable.
Pissing dude
Directly opposite the town hall stands probably the most amazing building in the square - everything is so openwork, apparently terribly ancient. In fact, this is like a Gothic building - the youngest on the Grand Place: it was built only about 100 years ago. And they did it so well that since then the name “House of the King” has stuck to the elaborate house. Well, I mean, it’s so beautiful that even a king wouldn’t hesitate to live in it. True, the crowned lady has never lived here and does not live now. Currently, the Museum of the City of Brussels is located here, although Brussels itself is like a museum.
But those wonderful houses that stand around are real, ancient, guild houses. The guilds in Brussels were rich, and they tried to build their houses in such a way that other guilds would immediately die of envy. As a result, if we wanted, we could spend hours studying these buildings almost under a microscope - the guilds of the past spared no time, no money, no imagination on them. Here, for example, is the House of Bakers, equipped with six figures, probably allegorical. But now this does not matter much, however, one of the statues certainly symbolizes bread: the bakers still built. The Archers' House is decorated with a golden phoenix, the Shipbuilders' House has a façade that represents the stern of a sailing ship, for some reason a statue of St. Nicholas is attached to the Haberdashers' House, and in the Brewers' House (there is a museum of probably the most interesting Belgian product) beer is still brewed today, although already for the purpose of entertaining tourists.
And there is also the Swan House, named after the rather large bird looking out at the world from the façade. Once upon a time there was a butchers' guild here (strange - did they really consider beautiful swans as an object of the meat industry?), and then Karl Marx lived here for some time. In order not to go far, the classic liked to dine at a restaurant located in the same house. And so everything went on wonderfully for him until the authorities came to their senses and asked Marx to leave somewhere. He left, but the restaurant is still there, so anyone can try something Belgian there and feel like the author of Capital.
But from the balcony of the quite nice Star House, the city prosecutor once watched the execution of sentences, so this was not a very cheerful place. Moreover, not far from here, a certain national hero was once killed, who, as the guides rather vaguely report, fought for the rights of his native city. What exactly he stood for remains unclear, but apparently the townspeople desperately needed these rights. And if so, then the grateful memory of the fallen hero is still knocking on the hearts of Brussels residents: on the wall of the building in his honor there is a bas-relief representing that same fallen hero and his faithful dog, as if alive. If you touch the last one, you will be happy. As a result, the dog is polished to an unearthly shine, and the hero himself, to some extent, too: true, there are no exact signs about him, but just in case, people stroke him too.
As you know, the symbol of Brussels is the famous peeing boy. And it is he who turns out to be the only local disappointment: the boy is scandalously small, and besides, he is surrounded by bars (to steal such a small thing is like nothing to do, and besides, if everyone grabs hold of him, he will eventually shine like the dog of a fallen hero).
On the grill hangs a schedule informing all interested parties when and what exactly this brat will be wearing: the pissing boy has outfits like dirt, and the most beautiful of them (about a thousand pieces) are kept in the museum of the city of Brussels.
Peter in the bushes
The good thing about the old center of Brussels is that no matter where you go, you are sure to stumble upon something wonderful. A couple of steps from the peeing boy - and here you are, the Notre-Dame de la Chapelle church: not only is it the oldest in Brussels, since it was erected in the 11th century, but Pieter Bruegel the Elder himself is buried in it, who once lived nearby. The tiny Petit Sablon park is surrounded by a fence, on the pillars of which there are small bronze figurines - medieval artisans, presented to us in 48 varieties. The only thing that stands out somewhat from the overall picture of the nice small town is the Palace of Justice - a building so gigantic that it is even absurd and contrary to common sense. Indeed, why does a small law-abiding country need a building whose size surpasses the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Cathedral? They say that the architect took ancient Egyptian temples as a model for the palace. It can be seen.
But from the hill on which the justice monster stands, there is an excellent view of the entire city. It is from here that you can admire the famous Atomium - there is no point in going closer to this supermodel of the iron crystal lattice: for some reason, works of this kind look much more attractive from afar than up close. And what they really are.
Just a few more steps - and here you have the royal palace, cute, but nothing special. But next to it there is Varand Park, pleasant because in its lush bushes hides a lovingly made monument to our Peter I - the Tsar visited Brussels and, it seems, had fun so magnificently that local residents are still impressed.
Little Brussels is filled to capacity with museums. And they, in turn, are filled to capacity with all sorts of treasures. This especially applies to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, whose halls are literally bursting with Memling, David, various Brueghels, Jordaens, Rubens and other art figures, the possession of at least one painting of which can make any self-respecting museum happy.
For sophisticated connoisseurs of Art Nouveau, Brussels is a real feast of the spirit and heaven on earth. In fact, there are separate tours of Art Nouveau buildings, and rightly so: there is a lot of Art Nouveau here, and a detailed examination of a series of fancy buildings with their intricate grilles, railings and staircases takes up so much time that you don’t have enough energy for anything else.
Chukchi of Europe
However, Brussels is very kind to those who are exhausted in the process of exploring the city. There are so many cafes, so many restaurants, so many delicious things – it’s crazy!
The most important Belgian food is French fries, mussels cooked in five million different ways, and for dessert - corrugations (those special waffles with ice cream, whipped cream, fruit and whatever you want). Those who do not want to be distracted for a second from the process of exploring the beauties of Brussels can buy a bag of potatoes or the same waffle. For them, on almost every corner there is a cart from which they sell boiled escargot snails: three euros for ten pieces. Lunch is not lunch, but quite a full-fledged snack. Of course, local food doesn’t stop there. The main thing here is the Belgian version of Ukrainian lard and borscht or English fish and chips. Their French neighbors laugh at the Belgians for such culinary preferences and call them frites (in honor of French fries), but the latter do not care, especially since their kitchen is full of dishes much more sophisticated than modest mussels. Take eel cooked with herbs - this is not food, but a song or even a poem!
In general, Belgium for some reason became the main object of ridicule for the French, so the jokes that we tell about the Chukchi, in the French version, tell about the Belgians. What is not entirely clear: in fact, few of us (except Abramovich) have ever seen a living Chukchi, so we can invent anything about him. But the French know the Belgians very well, and I personally don’t see anything particularly funny or absurd in these people.
Perhaps the French laugh at the Belgians out of envy, because the latter do not know how to make beer. Wine - yes; Belgian wine doesn’t hold a candle to its French counterpart. But Belgian beer is such that even those who, in principle, cannot stand the intoxicating drink are ready to drink it.
Beer rivers, chocolate banks
Nobody probably knows how many varieties of beer there are in Belgium. There are definitely more than 400 varieties (according to other sources, 500 in total), so if you set out to try them all, you need to devote a very large part of your life to it.
The Belgians say that they have such amazing beer mainly because some wonderful bacteria lives exclusively in their country. Moreover, it lives only on old tiled roofs, from where it constantly falls into the semi-finished beer product waiting for it. The poor little bacteria in the beer drowns, of course, but its death promotes the natural fermentation process. Well, what happens next to the foamy drink depends only on the imagination of the producers.
Beer in Belgium is so different that it’s even strange how all these different drinks can be called by one word. Well, what can dense, dark, strong Trappist monastery varieties, hitting the head harder than champagne, have in common with a light cherry, strawberry or even banana drink that looks so innocent that it’s appropriate to offer it even to babies (in fact, to do so, of course not necessary)? There is nothing in common between them, except for the name of their generic name - “beer”. Well, and also the fact that even though they are so different, both are beautiful and unique in their own way. In general, Belgium is a country where it is appropriate to go on a beer tour. Moreover, what’s nice is that during such a trip you won’t even have to move much, because most of the best beers can be tasted without leaving the main city square of Brussels, in one of the dozens of cafes and restaurants surrounding the perimeter of the town hall.
In one of these cafes I came across a beer with chocolate flavor. If you think of it as a beer, then it's quite strange, but if you think of it as some kind of chocolate drink, then it's quite a thing. However, in Brussels you shouldn’t limit yourself to chocolate substitutes. After all, Belgium is also a country of chocolate, as evidenced by the myriads of chocolate shops that look more like museums. Here they are ready to sculpt literally everything from chocolate - from a model of the town hall to a manneken pee, both life-size and five times larger. And a couple of years ago they made a chocolate dinosaur weighing four and a half tons! The only pity is that nothing chocolate lasts forever. They will certainly eat the dinosaur, the boy pissing, and the town hall...
When we talk about “German punctuality”, “English politeness” or “Dutch prudence”, everyone knows what we mean. For the Belgians it is impossible to come up with such a comprehensive definition. Key to Belgian identity (or, as many believe, to its absence) lies in the line dividing the country down the middle and separating Dutch-speaking Flanders from French-speaking Wallonia. This line reflects the age-old division of Europe: the linguistic and cultural barrier between the Germanic north and the Latin south.
In Belgium, this division is not history or a chapter from a textbook, but a reality of everyday life. The border runs through fields and lakes, through linguistic communities and politics, through government principles and the practical need for cooperation. This dividing line seems to be waiting only for the right push on the social “Richter scale” to tear the country in two. Rumors of the collapse of Belgium have appeared before, and each time they have turned out to be a clear exaggeration. At a decisive moment in 1830, both communities chose to live together in one country rather than leave their fate to their neighbors. History has taught the Belgians that they will end badly if they don't stick together
Traditions
In Belgium, family and tradition still play a huge role, and although tradition shows pride in one's Flemish or Walloon roots, this pride rarely translates into hostility towards members of the other
communities. Belgians get along much better with each other than foreigners - and sometimes even they themselves - think.
However, there is a myth about the “boring” of Belgians. This idea is partly explained by the fact that the Belgians' neighbors are the more numerous "extravagant" French, Germans, Dutch and British; all of them are not shy about self-promotion. The obvious reluctance of the Belgians to praise themselves goes back to the past: as soon as one of these or more distant neighbors glanced at Belgium, they immediately felt the desire to annex it to themselves - they liked the country so much.
Numerous contradictions
Belgian culture is based on contradictions and nurtured by diversity. This society deeply respects traditions, but at the same time strives to be ahead - for example, in creating a new Europe. The government bureaucracy is so strong that any Soviet “apparatchik” would envy it, and there are so many laws that no one knows what to do with them. Therefore, people have learned to bypass officials, ignore laws and do not allow their personal freedom to be infringed.
This is a country where people eat and drink all day, but still make sure that work (or at least most of it) was done. Here, politeness is necessarily hidden behind formality, and capitalist values coexist peacefully with medieval ones - sometimes in the same person.
The Belgians are not lazy about earning money to support their lifestyle.
Don’t try to understand this - even the Belgians themselves cannot do this. They just live like that.
Collection of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Brussels
In the museum, the viewer encounters the works of another remarkable Dutch painter of the 15th century - Dirk Bouts. Dirk Bouts was strongly influenced by Rogier van der Weyden. He was originally from Haarlem and settled in Louvain in the late 40s, where, as a city painter, he worked until his death in 1475. For Louvain, he completed his most famous works, in particular paintings for the city hall, which now adorn the halls of the Brussels Museum. They catch your eye immediately, standing out due to their large size, dramatic plot, and remarkable craftsmanship. Their theme is dedicated to matters of justice.
“The Fall of Icarus,” one of the artist’s remarkable paintings, is imbued with deep philosophical content. From a high mountain, Bruegel opens up a distant perspective of mountains, land and the wide expanse of the sea. A peasant plows, cutting through the elastic layers of earth with a plow. The shepherd looks up dreamily, surrounded by his flock. Transparent air, gentle blue sky, green trees - everything conveys the freshness of a spring day.
The collection of 17th-century Flemish paintings makes up a significant part of the museum. Among her masterpieces, first of all, it is necessary to name Jordanes’ “Allegory of Fertility”, a huge canvas that already from a distance attracts attention with its colorfulness and festive mood. The painting was made by Jordans together with Frans Snyders, who painted a luxurious still life of fruits and fruits. The allegorical composition features mythological characters - satyrs, who are usually depicted as humans, but with goat legs and horns on their heads. One of the satyrs holds a cornucopia, he is helped by a young guy who is squatting and trying in vain to make the sad nymph laugh, in whom it is easy to recognize a young peasant woman.
David is a famous artist of France, the head of revolutionary classicism, whose historical paintings played a huge role in awakening the civic consciousness of his contemporaries in the years preceding the French bourgeois revolution. Most of the artist’s pre-revolutionary paintings were based on subjects from the history of Ancient Greece and Rome, but revolutionary reality forced David to turn to modernity and find in it a hero worthy of being an ideal.
Something is wrong in the Belgian kingdom. Four months after parliamentary elections, the country remains without a federal government. And no one knows how long she will stay in this state.
Political parties in Flanders and Wallonia cannot agree on the future of Belgium's government. In conditions where there is no agreement, or rather even a desire to find common ground, the formation of a government coalition is not possible at the moment.
The New Flemish Alliance party, which won the parliamentary elections, led by Bart De Wever, advocating the complete autonomy of Flanders, does not intend to make concessions to the Francophones in any, even the most minor, issues. Francophone political forces, and above all the Socialist Party, which received the largest number of votes in the French-speaking part of the country, for their part cannot afford to agree to the demands of the Flemings, since this will automatically be evidence of their political weakness.
One of the most critical moments was the discussion of the issue of revising the law on regional financing. The Flemings insist on obtaining full tax autonomy for themselves, which will free them from significant payments to the federal budget. Naturally, Francophones do not agree with this formulation of the issue, since they will immediately lose large-scale injections into their social system from the federal budget. In a situation where Wallonia is already going through far from the best economic times, such a reduction in funding and subsidies could have the most negative consequences for the residents of the region.
By all indications, the inter-party negotiation process has reached a dead end. The representative of the Flemish Christian Democrats, the party previously in power, Eric Van Rompuy, brother of European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, described the current state of affairs in Belgium pessimistically: "Belgium is in a coma. The patient is clinically dead."
The Belgian royal court, traditionally serving as the main consolidating force, today no longer has the necessary leverage to force the Flemings and Walloons to agree on anything. The negotiation process, which lasted almost four months in search of consensus and determination of further paths for the development of Belgian statehood, did not bring any positive results. The political parties claiming to form a government coalition, and there are only seven of them, could not agree on anything. The efforts of both Bart De Wever and the leader of the Francophone Socialists Elio Di Rupo, each of whom King Albert II alternately appointed responsible for forming the government, were in vain.
And since the beginning of this week, by order of King Albert II, the leader of the New Flemish Alliance, Bart De Wever, has once again taken the place of the central political figure in the country. However, now his special mission is only to determine the degree of readiness of political parties to continue coalition negotiations. There is no longer talk of forming a government in the short term.
Yves Leterme, who resigned at the very beginning of the political crisis and still heads the interim government, noted back in 2006, when he was Prime Minister of Flanders, that there were too critical differences between Francophones and Dutchphones in Belgium. Then he was seriously criticized for saying that “the Flemings and Walloons are united only by the king, the football team and certain types of beer.” But, as the current political situation shows, Yves Leterme was not far from the truth. The Flemings and Walloons themselves constantly emphasize that they do not live together, but next to each other.
Against the backdrop of a protracted political crisis, voices in support of the division of Belgium along linguistic lines are beginning to be heard more and more clearly. In addition to the separatist-minded Flemings defending their right to be completely independent, among Francophones there is a growing belief in the need to prepare for the division of the country, as the prospects of agreeing with the Flemings on future cohabitation become more vague.
At the beginning of the week, Socialist leader Elio Di Rupo, who had previously advocated maintaining the unity of Belgium, casually mentioned the possibility of dividing Belgium into two independent states: Flanders on the one hand and Belgium on the other, which would include the Brussels region and Wallonia. And such a scenario no longer looks too surreal.