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Drogenbos (Municipality, Province of Flemish Brabant, Belgium)

Municipal flag of Drogenbos - Image by Ivan Sache, 26 October 2001

Presentation of Drogenbos
Municipal flag of Drogenbos

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Presentation of Drogenbos

The municipality of Drogenbos (4,822 inhabitants on 1 July 2007; 249 ha, the municipal territory being an elongated stripe of 4,000 m North-South x 150-000 m West-East)) is bordering the Region of Brussels Capital in the south-west; Dutch is the official language of the municipality but there are "linguistic facilities" for the French speakers.

Drogenbos, known since the XIth century, was one of the 23 villages forming the Bailiwick of Sint-Genesius-Rode; the municipality was formed in 1798. In 1886, Drogenbos had 609 inhabitants; several industries were set up at the end of the XIXth century along the river Senne, the Brussels-Charleroi canal and the railway.

The Felix De Boeck Museum, inaugurated in 1996, shows some 300 paintings by the founder of the abstract art in Belgium. De Boeck (1898-1995), born in Drogenbos, hardly left his birth town during his life, working in his parents' farm. His painting "The Christ on the Cross" (1960) is shown in the St. Nicholas church, built in Gothic Brabantian style around 1350 by Jan Van Lier. On 9 March 1998, the Belgian post administration released a stamp (face value, 17 BEF) showing a self-portrait by De Boeck kept in the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent.

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 17 June 2007

Municipal flag of Drogenbos

The municipal flag of Drogenbos is horizontally divided red-yellow-red-yellow-red.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 24 April 1986, confirmed by the Executive of Flanders on 13 October 1987 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 16 September 1988.
The colours are taken from the municipal arms, which are the arms of the Arenberg family.

According to Servais, the arms "Gules three cinquefoils or 2 and 1" were granted to Drogenbos by Municipal Decree on 1 February 1947. The Dukes of Arenberg owned Drogenbos from 1691 to 1798. The Gelre Armorial shows "Or three cinquefoils gules" for Eberhard III of Marck, lord of Arenberg (Here v. Aerberch, #20, folio 27r) and his "usual colours" as "Gules three cinquefoils or".

The Arenberg (aka Aremberg) family emerged in the castle of Aremberg, seat of the County of Arenberg, located in the German Eifel, near Cologne. The oldest known lord of Arenberg is Heinrich ("Heinrich II. de Arberg", 1166/67-1197). In 1299, the last heiress of the first house of Arenberg, Mechthilde (Mathilda) married Count Engelbert II of Marck. The aforementioned Eberhard III ruled the house from 1480 to 1496. In 1541, Count Robert III of Marck-Arenberg died withouth heir and in 1547 his sister Margarethe married Count Johann of Ligne. In 1576, Count Karl of Arenberg (1568-1616) was made Prince of Arenberg by Emperor Maximilian II. In 1644, Philipp-Franz of Arenberg (1640-1674) was made Duke of Arenberg by Kaiser Ferdinand III. On 8 May 1826, King of Hanovre Georges IV set up the Duchy of Arenberg-Meppen for Duke Prosper-Ludwig of Arenberg. On 16 July 1953, King of the Belgians Baudouin I granted the title of Prince (for Belgium) to Eberhard-Engelbert-Anton of Arenberg; the Prince was granted arms including the historical shield of Arenberg.
The website of the Arenberg Foundation lists the titles and arms of the lineage, and shows maps of the Arenberg possessions in the Low Countries, including Drogenbos and Wallers, today in the north of France, where is located the infamous Aremberg Gap (trouée d'Aremberg), a hotspot in the Paris-Roubaix cyclist race, named after the former Arenberg colliery.

Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 17 June 2007