Hasselt Location of Hasselt in Limburg Hasselt Location in Belgium Sovereign state Belgium Region  Flemish Region Community Flemish Community Province  Limburg Arrondissement Hasselt Coordinates 50°55′48″N 05°20′15″E / 50.93°N 5.3375°E / 50.93; 5.3375Coordinates: 50°55′48″N 05°20′15″E / 50.93°N 5.3375°E / 50.93; 5.3375 Area 102.24 km² Population – Males – Females – Density 73,067 (1 January 2010) 48.95% 51.05% 715 inhab./km² Age distribution 0–19 years 20–64 years 65+ years (01/01/2006) 19.16% 62.45% 18.39% Foreigners 4.02% (01/07/2005) Unemployment rate 9.90% (1 January 2006) Mean annual income €14,549/pers. (2003) Mayor Hilde Claes (SP.A) Governing party/ies Pro Hasselt (SP.A, Groen!), CD&V/N-VA, VLD Postal codes 3500, 3501, 3510, 3511, 3512 Area codes 011 Website www.hasselt.be

Albert Canal near Hasselt

Hasselt City Hall

Hasselt (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦɑsəlt]) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital of the Flemish province of Limburg (equivalent to the medieval County of Loon or Looz). The Hasselt municipality includes the original city of Hasselt, plus the old communes of Sint-Lambrechts-Herk, Wimmertingen, Kermt, Spalbeek, Kuringen, Stokrooie, Stevoort and Runkst, as well as the hamlets and parishes of Kiewit, Godsheide and Rapertingen.

On 31 December 2007 Hasselt had a total population of 71 520 (34 951 men and 36 569 women). Hasselt is located on the Demer river and is also connected to the Albert Canal. Hasselt is located in between the Campine and Hesbaye regions (Dutch Kempen and Haspengouw), to the north and south respectively. It is also in the middle of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion.

History

Hasselt on the Ferraris map (around 1775)

Map of the town in 1813.

Hasselt was founded in approximately the 7th century on the Helbeek, a small tributary of the Demer river. The name Hasselt came from Hasaluth, which means hazel wood. During the Middle Ages, it became one of the bigger towns of the county of Loon, which had borders approximately the same as the current province of Limburg. Hasselt was first named in a document in 1165 and shortly thereafter received the much sought-after city charter. In 1232 this status was officially confirmed by count Arnold IV. Even though the city of Borgloon was the original official capital of Loon, Hasselt was to become the biggest city thanks to its favourable setting and to the proximity of the count’s castle and the Herkenrode Abbey in Kuringen. In 1366 the county of Loon became part of the Bishopric of Liège and remained so until the annexation by France in 1794.

During the period of French over-rule, Maastricht became the capital of the area that was then called the Department of the Lower Meuse, within the First French Empire. After the defeat of Napoleon and the union of this area along with other parts of what would become Belgium with the Netherlands, the name Limburg was adopted. King William wanted to keep the name of the old Duchy of Limburg alive although it had been centred in Limbourg, outside the modern Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg, and had never encompassed Hasselt. Even when Belgium gained its independence from the Netherlands in 1830, and the province of Limburg was definitively split between the Netherlands and Belgium in 1839, this name was retained and the name Loon disappeared. In 1830 Hasselt became the provisional capital of the Belgian province of Limburg. When Maastricht stayed Dutch in 1839, it became the permanent seat of its provincial government within the Netherlands, also called Limburg. In 1967, Belgian Limburg was detached from the Diocese of Liège and Hasselt became the seat of the Diocese of Hasselt.

Transport

Hasselt is at the junction of important traffic arteries from several directions. The most important traffic arteries being the E313 Antwerp-Liège and the E314 Brussels-Aachen European motorway routes. Hasselt itself is enclosed by 2 ring roads. The outer ring road serves to keep traffic out of the city centre and main residential areas. The inner ring road, the so-called "Green Boulevard", serves to keep traffic out of the commercial centre, which is almost entirely a pedestrian area. There are also important traffic arteries to Tongeren, Sint-Truiden, Maastricht, Genk, Diest and Eindhoven.

The city lies within approximately an hour's drive from the airports of Brussels, Liège, Maastricht-Aachen, Antwerp, Cologne-Bonn, Düsseldorf and Charleroi. Within a three hour radius, the major hubs of Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Paris can be reached. Private aircraft can land in Hasselt itself, on the airfield of Kiewit.

The town has a major train station, but train links are currently neither high speed, nor covering all directions. High speed train stations are closest in Liège and Leuven. Most critically, since the second world war, Hasselt lacks any direct train route linking it to the Ruhr valley area of Germany, nor Maastricht, despite the importance and geographical closeness of these areas.

Public transport

Hasselt railway station. All the city's local zero-fare buses, as well as regional buses and trains depart from here.

Hasselt made Public transport by bus zero-fare from 1 July 1997 and bus use was said to be as much as "13 times higher" by 2006. Hasselt was the first city in the world that had entirely zero-fare bus services on the whole of its territory. The transport network here is mainly by bus.

Bus

All buses leave from the station. The town lines (called H-lijn) have been free for everyone including tourists since Tuesday 1 July 1997. Other bus lines are free for the inhabitants of Hasselt while travelling in the territory of Hasselt.

The local H-lijn buses on the town lines carry an H on their number on the electronic destination sign above the windshield.

The regional transport services, or so-called Red lines, are free for residents of Hasselt, who can travel without fare as long as they show their identity card to the driver of the bus. Red regional route bus stops are marked with signs indicating the beginning or end of the Hasselt bus network.

Non-residents of Hasselt pay the usual area tariff, except for children under 12 who have zero-fare travel. "Blue" regional lines incur a fare in the normal way. On combinations of local and regional services passengers pay the usual area tariff for the complete route. Regional lines 45, 36 and 20a are free for travel from Hasselt to the university campus in Diepenbeek, for everyone who studies or works there and has a student card, course participant card or staff card of the institutions on the university campus.

History of zero-fare transport in Hasselt

The plan for a new, attractive bus network in Hasselt was influenced by Flemish transport minister Eddy Baldewijns, who created an integrated transport policy framework in the middle of 1996 in which public transport was allocated a primary role. The city of Hasselt was one of the first cities to subscribe to the plan. Mayor Steve Stevaert proposed to give absolute primacy on the city's Green Boulevard to public transport. The mobility policy in Hasselt developed into an example of cooperation between the bus line, the Flemish government and the city of Hasselt, under the motto "the city guarantees the right of mobility for everyone".

Following the introduction of the new zero-fare policy, the usage of public transport immediately increased by 800-900% and has remained high, being currently more than 10-fold compared to the time of the old policy . The city's official website records passenger growth as follows:

A Belgian website describes Hasselt identity cards as becoming "like gold in value", because of free bus travel.

Rail

Hasselt railway station is near the city centre, outside the Binnenring. The station is an IC station, which means that there are several connections each day with important Belgian cities.

Light rail

In February 2007 a plan was launched for the construction of a light rail connection between Hasselt and Maastricht to open in 2012. This plan is called the Spartacusplan (more details available in Dutch).

The centre

The centre is mostly car-free and contains a number of historical buildings. Among the oldest buildings in the town centre are the St. Quentin's Cathedral (11th to 18th C.) and the "Herkenrode Abbey refuge house" (1542). The "Grote Markt" (large central market square) and the nearby streets are lined with pubs, restaurants and taverns.

The Demerstraat and the Koning Albertstraat are the most important shopping streets. In the Kapelstraat and the Hoogstraat are expensive shops with the most famous brands. Another major religious building, besides the cathedral, is the Virga Jesse Basilica. Both have to cede domination of the skyline of the city to the twin towers of the "TT-wijk", however; the renovation of this complex (now including a shopping mall and a hotel) in 2003 gave the centre a new boost. In 2004, Hasselt was the first Flemish city to receive the title "most sociable city of Flanders", and has since claimed the title of "Capital of Taste"; likewise, Hasselt is also considered an exemplary city regarding pedestrian facilities in the centre.

Monuments, parks and public fields

• The abbey of Herkenrode in Kuringen
• The Airfield of Kiewit
• The different historical buildings and museums in the city
• The Japanese garden
• The Kapermolenpark
• The National Bank of architect Henri Van Dievoet.
• The nature field Kiewit
• The Refugehuis of the abbey of Herkenrode
• The St. Quentin's Cathedral [1],[2],[3],[4]
• The town park, to the cultural centre
• The Virga Jesse Basilica [5],[6]

Museums

• National jenever museum
• Urban Fashion museum

Famous inhabitants

Hendrik van Veldeke

• Francis Rombouts, Mayor of New York City from 1679 to 1680, when it was New Amsterdam (1631–1691)
• Adrien de Gerlache, officer of the Belgian Navy and leader of two Belgian Antarctic Expeditions (1866–1934)
• Axelle Red, singer-songwriter (b. 1968)
• Hendrik van Veldeke, first writer from the Low Countries known by name (c. 1140-c. 1190)
• Steve Stevaert, politician (b. 1954)
• Willy Claes, politician and former Secretary General of NATO (b. 1938)

Events

• Many events take place in the Ethias Arena, the largest arena in Belgium.
• Kiewit is the location of the yearly Pukkelpop (Pimplepop) festival, one of Europe's largest alternative music festivals with over a hundred concerts, at the end of August. Rimpelrock (Wrinklerock), a festival with music for an older audience, is held at the same location. The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was held in Hasselt.
• As with most towns in Belgium and the surrounding countries, there is an annual Kermesse, on a date associated with the local church's patron saint, in this case Saint Lambert, which takes place in September.
• The Virga Jesse festival, featuring a procession of a very old wooden statue of infant Jesus with Mary, is celebrated every seven years, most recently in August 2010.
• Hasselt celebrates Carnival, but at a slightly different date than most places.

Twin and partner cities

•  Germany: Detmold
•  Japan: Itami, Hyogo
•  Netherlands: Sittard
•  United States: Mountain View, California

See also

• Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005
• Speculaas
• DV Hasselt

Municipalities in the Province of Limburg, Flanders, Belgium Hasselt As · Beringen · Diepenbeek · Genk · Gingelom · Halen · Ham · Hasselt · Herk-de-Stad · Heusden-Zolder · Leopoldsburg · Lummen · Nieuwerkerken · Opglabbeek · Sint-Truiden · Tessenderlo · Zonhoven · Zutendaal Maaseik Bocholt · Bree · Dilsen-Stokkem · Hamont-Achel · Hechtel-Eksel · Houthalen-Helchteren · Kinrooi · Lommel · Maaseik · Meeuwen-Gruitrode · Neerpelt · Overpelt · Peer Tongeren Alken · Bilzen · Borgloon · Heers · Herstappe · Hoeselt · Kortessem · Lanaken · Maasmechelen · Riemst · Tongeren · Voeren · Wellen