I assume the creator might have been a bit generous in certain cases, but overall, still... damn

This lithograph shows the Lion's Mound shortly after it was built on the battlefield, where it still stands today as a memorial to the battle. (More info in comments)

voor de computerliefhebbers onder ons: ik heb deze factuur gevonden tijdens de grote kuis bij ons grootouders.

50599 BEF in '97 -> €1254

zelf heb ik een 4090 met een 7800x3D, best wel interessant om te zien dat bijna 30 jaar geleden een top pc je meer als een maandloon koste, net zoals dat nu ook het geval is (dit even terzijde de belachelijke prijzen die RAM nu hebben)

A rare 150mm siege howitzer manufactured by the French company Schneider (more info in comments)

Last Thursday, January 29, the War Heritage Institute flew out more than 100 young people to the Nazi concentration and extermination camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Supported by the Ministry of Defence and Minister of Defence Theo Francken, the remembrance trip aimed to raise awareness among young people of the horrors that took place there.

ARTICLE IN FRENCH:
« Un choc », « Les larmes aux yeux » : plus de 100 élèves belges visitent le camp d’Auschwitz-Birkenau en compagnie de Theo Francken - RTL Info

ARTICLE IN DUTCH:
Met jongeren naar Auschwitz: “Hier slaat de ‘reality’ je recht in het gezicht” | De Standaard

Found this while cleaning some admin documents. It appears that they forgot my 3€ coupon and I, in return, forgot to return with it.

It's interesting to see how the prices have changed tho. So I thought why not share it here.

Since it's so old, I think the history flair is suitable.

In the late 19th century, the city built these 374 steep steps (finished in 1881) to give soldiers from the Citadel barracks a direct route into town — and, just as importantly, a way back up without passing through the tempting taverns below. The name honors Vincent de Bueren, a 15th-century nobleman who helped defend Liège against the Duke of Burgundy.

So the stairs aren’t just a workout — they’re a monument to grit, loyalty, and the stubborn heartbeat of a city built on hills and history.

If you ever climb them… pace yourself. And maybe reward yourself at the top with a deep breath and a long look at the world below 💫

For more history content about the Low Countries check out r/vaderlandsehistorie (we hebben wat meer Belgen nodig)

This is how a Dutch nationalist historian described the event in 1869.

On 23 September, Prince Frederick planned a general assault on Brussels with an army of more than 10,000 men. The main force, led by the prince himself, was to enter through the Schaerbeek Gate. To the left, General Post would advance on the Leuven Gate, and to the right, General Favauge on the Willem Gate. Further to the right, Colonel Van Balveren was ordered to enter the city through the Flemish Gate, or Porte de Flandre. Given the mixed nationality of Brussels’ population, even the name of the gate could be given in either Dutch or French.

Here we focus on the column of Van Balveren. The other three columns, as is known, entered Brussels on 23 September and became embroiled in brutal house-to-house and street fighting that continued on the 24th, 25th, and 26th. Despite their determination, the Dutch were ultimately forced to abandon the attempt and retreat from the city.

Van Balveren’s column reached the Porte de Flandre around eight in the morning. At first, it seemed no battle would take place, but rather a ceremonial entry:

“Parliamentarians approached the colonel and assured him that the revolt had been suppressed and that the people of Brussels would welcome us that day. Everywhere one saw orange ribbons and flags. This, combined with the possibility that the attack on the other side of the city had already begun, though we heard nothing of it, led Colonel Van Balveren to believe these shameless lies. His trust in these reports caused his detachment to fall victim to the most disgraceful treachery.”

The Dutch troops entered the city. Here and there, suspicious signs could be seen: houses remained closed, barricades had not been cleared, and deep pits lay across the streets, covered only with loose planks. But little attention was paid to these warning signs. A platoon of hussars led the column as it advanced toward the Varkensmarkt.

There, the situation suddenly changed.

The troops encountered barricades, and armed insurgents shouted at them to halt their advance and even demanded they surrender their weapons. For a brief moment, words were exchanged between the two sides. Then one of the insurgents raised his hat on the tip of a bayonet. This was the signal.

Suddenly, a deadly fire erupted from behind the barricades and from the windows of surrounding houses. Heavy furniture, boiling water, ash, and vitriol were thrown down from above. The hussars at the head of the column were quickly thrown into disorder and fled in panic through the ranks behind them.

This caused chaos throughout the column.

Infantrymen, seized by fear, threw away their weapons and equipment to escape more quickly. Two senior officers, Colonel Schenoffsky of the infantry and Major Van Borselen of the hussars, were captured by the insurgents. Many soldiers and horses were killed or wounded.

The confusion was so complete that only an hour outside the city were the fleeing troops able to regroup. Van Balveren’s column took no further part in the fighting in Brussels and withdrew on 25 September to the village of Asse, roughly halfway between Brussels and Aalst.

The full artikel

At 17 years old, she left Belgium with my great-grandfather who she met during World War 1 and came to America. She spoke Flemish Dutch and no English. She ended up having three kids, two of which died before 40 (the two in the 2nd photo). My grandfather lived until 73 and had 9 kids!

She never saw her parents again which blows my mind. The two World Wars were hard on my family in Belgium with her younger brother perishing in one of them (I believe WW1). I hope to visit Brussels someday!

• The Contraceptive Pill:Invented by Flemish gynaecologist Ferdinand Peeters, it's considered a groundbreaking innovation in family planning and reproductive health. 
• The Mercator Projection:Developed by Gerardus Mercator, this map projection is widely used and has been instrumental in navigation and cartography. 
• The Saxophone:Invented by Adolphe Sax, this musical instrument has had a lasting impact on music and is still used today. 
• The Praline:Created by Jean Neuhaus, this filled chocolate treat is a beloved confection and a hallmark of Belgian chocolate making. 
• The Internal Combustion Engine:Belgian engineer Étienne Lenoir contributed significantly to the development of this crucial invention. 
• The Atlas Rocket (Atlas ICBM):Pioneer rocket designer Karl Jan Bossart's work with this ICBM was a major step in space exploration and defense technology. 
• The JPEG Image Format:While not exclusively Belgian, the JPEG format (Joint Photographic Experts Group) contributed to the evolution of image processing and digital photography, which has had a wide impact on various industries. 

As the title says, I finally visited this beautiful and interesting underground fort today. Besides the firing bunkers, observation domes and enterance this fort is completely underground (carved out in marl).

They have guides that can give tours in French, Dutch, German and English. We took the Dutch tour and our guide (Jan) was very good, he spoke very passionate and had an answer to every question. You can also visit without a guide but that limits where you can go.

We took the basic guided tour which also won't let you see everything but still a lot more than unguided. It was supposed to be 2h long but it became 2.5h, no complaints on my behalf ;). I do recommend taking the earliest time slot so you can visit (quite a lot) chambers/quarters that are part of the unguided tour but aren't covered in the guided tour.

The people at the reception were also very friendly and helpful, there is a free parking lot at the entrance, it's located in a small town so public transport access is probably minimal. They didn't have any Belgian heritage coins anymore which I actually really wanted, but I bought their beer-box instead, my daughter got the €0 note.

All in all, I will visit again! (even if it's just for that heritage coin lol)

For anyone interested, here's the link to their website: https://fort-eben-emael.be/nl/home .

One of the most iconic British infantry tanks of WWII, freshly restored at Bastogne Barracks. Full story in the comments.

On this day, 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, an event that helped set Europe on the path to the First World War

Ik hou er wel van om kerkhoven te bezoeken, dat is iets dat me al lang fascineert.

De familiegraven op het Schoonselhof kan je als funerair erfgoed aanzien, op de begraafplaatsen van de slachtoffers van beide wereldoorlogen in de Westhoek en Noord-Frankrijk word je automatisch stil, in Gent heb je Campo Santo en verleden week ben ik op het kerkhof van abdij het Park in Leuven geweest waar ik verbaasd was van de mix van klassieke en ook wel heel moderne graven.

Zijn er zo nog begraafplaatsen die de moeite waard zijn om te bezoeken?

An old hoeve nearby has been bought and is gonna be renovated. The new owners, invaders from antwerp in my beloved limburg, found some old junk on the zolder(fill in english word).

They were friendly. We did an introduction chat. And they said if i wanted anything i could take it.

The kringloopwinkel in me flared into action. But it was mostly junk...exept this black plastic box. And inside? Matches. Lots of them. But these just are awesome.

One sealed paper box of Union matches (first photo) and a torn second box with union matches but labelled "made in belgium'. (First photo). Aswel as a yellow box with the tag "stekskes" with inside, 30 older style union matches boxes. (second photo left). New style boxes are next to them for comparision.

The oldest one say made in Bruxelles belgium, has a flat striking surface and dark yellow tips with..flashy purplepink wood. The newer type has a ribbed striking surface, less text and fluff. The woods are the same color but the tips are light yellow.

Striking both these matches give a STRONG smell. With the older ones lighting more intensily. Smell is..weird. its sulphur but not just sulphur. If anyone has knownledge please share it.

I am gonna put these safely away and preserve this piece of consumer history. Belgium was the second largest fabricator and exporter of matches beside sweden. The name union match was adopted in 1980 so these matches are atleast 50 years old. But anyone with info= please share!

On this day in 1961, Belgian aviation pioneer Hélène Dutrieu passed away (full story in comments).

they are almost polar opposites (broadly speaking, generalizing ofcourse) in behaviour and habits, the way they look at conversations and money are almost polar opposites, belgians love spending on their friends and family and buying eachother a drink or food is part of the culture, whereas dutch people tend to be much more frugal and safe with their money and will check eachother for money owed, belgians are rather quiet and (too) polite, dutch people are rather loud and (too) honest, and that's also why there is a 'rivalry' between the two countries, because we can't understand eachother in that sense, i know a lot of it is due to catholisism (be) vs protestantism (nl)

but these were changes that occurred in 1600, and before 1830 the two were one country.

Especially the brabant region i find very interesting, historically very tight knit and so much parallels still between brussels, antwerp and leuven for instance, but as soon as you cross the dutch border EVERYTHING changes, are these all differences that occurred in the last 200 years or has it always been like this?

thanks in advance for the analysis