The official language of Tervuren is Dutch. Local minorities consist primarily of French speakers and nationals of many countries of the European Union, the USA, and Canada. The reason for this diverse mix of nationalities is the presence of expatriate workers and their families working in and around Brussels, usually either for the EU, NATO or for multinational corporations. The British School of Brussels has been located in Tervuren since 1970. Tervuren is also home of the English speaking St. Paul's Church, part of the Anglican Church[2]
For centuries people thought that Tervuren was the same place as "Fura", where Saint Hubert (Hubertus) died in 727 AD. There is, however, no historical proof of this, and recent scholarship locates "Fura" in Voeren/Fourons, between Maastricht and Liège.[3]
A document dating from 1213 AD proves the presence of Henry I, Duke of Brabant, possibly in a wooden fortification. This evolved into Tervuren castle, the residence of the dukes of Brabant in the 14th and 15th centuries. The castle was demolished in 1782 under Joseph II, who also demolished the Château Charles, the short-lived summer retreat of Charles of Lorraine. After 1815, the park of Tervuren was granted to William, the prince of Orange and son of the King of the United Netherlands, who constructed the Pavilion of Tervuren, which burned down in 1879.
Tram 44, which travels between Brussels (Montgomery) and Tervuren (and the Royal Museum for Central Africa) exists because of Leopold II's desire to bring visitors from around the world to his 1897 exhibition of the Congo Free State.
Tervuren Library (Gemeentelijke Openbare Bibliotheek Tervuren - GOBT) is situated at Markt 7. It contains around 43,300 printed documents, and 886 DVDs.
Education
The Gemeentelijke Basisschool Tervuren has a kindergarten and a primary school. The Heilig Hartcollege (HHC) Tervuren has a primary school as well. It also has a grammar school. The Koninklijke Atheneum Tervuren (KAT) is a primary and grammar school.
There is also the GITO, a secondary technical school.
The British School of Brussels has been located in Tervuren since 1970.
There are also several alternative schools including the Kristoffel Steiner School[4] (originally for children 2.5 to 6 years and now introducing primary school education). The Steiner method of teaching is subsidised by the Government and follows the curriculum from the Federation of Steiner Schools in Flanders; Dutch speaking but encompasses and accommodates children from different nationalities.
R. de la Haye, “Lambertus, laatste bisschop van Maastricht; Hubertus, eerste bisschop van Luik: Hun eigentijdse levensbeschrijvingen”, Publications de la Société Historique et Archéologique dans le Limbourg (PSHAL) 143 (2007), 9-66.
arboretum-tervuren.be, Arboretum of Tervuren - This web site lets you discover one of the jewels of the green crown of Brussels: The Geographic Arboretum of Tervuren.
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