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![[Flag of Bierbeek]](../images/b/be-vbrbb.gif)
Municipal flag of Bierbeek - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 29 October 2006
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The municipality of Bierbeek (9,233 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 3,973 ha) is located in the south-west of Leuven. The municipality of Bierbeek is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Bierbeek (2,275 ha), Korbeek-Lo (374 ha) and Lovenjoel (666 ha), as well as of the village of Opvelp (658 ha).
Bierbeek is named after the Molendaalbeek brook (in Dutch, beek), which
has its source in the eponymic hamlet. In Germanic, bir, birre or
borre means "a source" (in Dutch, bron).
In the Prehistoric times, the site of Bierbeek was densely settled, as
proved by several archeological findings. Several Roman sites have
been also localized, such as a rural estate (villa rustica). In 450,
the Bishop of Poitiers sent to Bierbeek a relic from saint Hilarius,
which proves that the area was evangelized quite early. Along with the
neighbouring villages, Bierbeek was part of the County of Brunerode in
879, and was eventually incorporated to the County of Leuven in 1105.
The Barony of Bierbeek was then one of the most powerful baronies in
Brabant. The most famous member of the Bierbeek lineage is Blessed
Walter of Bierbeek, a knight who took part to the Crusades and took
the cloth in 1183 in the Cistercian abbey of Hemmerod; he was beatified
in 1937. The Saint Hilarius church, one of the best preserved
Romanesque churches of Flanders, belonged to the chapter of Bierbeek,
which was transferred to the Saint Nicaise abbey in Reims by the lords
of Bierbeek. Very few remains of the Benedictine priory have been kept
until now.
In 1248, the Barony of Bierbeek lost its independence and was
incorporated into the Duchy of Aarschot. Bierbeek was eventually
transferred to the Arenberg family in 1620.
The hamlets of Blanden and Haasrode seceded from Bierbeek to form
municipalities in 1842 and 1928, respectively. They are today part of
the municipality of Oud-Heverlee.
The most famous building in Bierbeek is the water tower built in 1969
by the Ateliers de Construction de Jambes. The water reservoir is a
sphere of 500 cubic meters in volume and 29 meter in diameter, placed
at a height of 103.6 m, which makes of it the highest point of the
municipality. In 1993, the water tower was restored and the sphere was
painted as the earth.
Korbeek-Lo is named after a murmuring brook (korbeek) or a short (korte) brook and a wood (lo). The oldest written mention of the village dates back to the XIth century. The administrative reform split the village into two parts: the hamlets of De Mol and Ziekelingen were incorporated into the municipality of Leuven, whereas the remaining parts of the village were incorporated into the municipality of Bierbeek.
Lovenjoel means "the Little Leuven" (Lovaniolu). The village was located
on the Roman way Cologne-Boulogne. A Roman cemetary was excavated near
the hamlet of Biest, on the foot of the Pellenberg slope. The patron
saint of Lovenjoel is saint Ermelindis (c. 550-600); a legend says that
her parents lived on the edge of the Bruulbos wood in the hamlet of Ter
Donk. Then the saint moved to Beauvechain, where she made a miracle,
and eventually to Meldert, where her relics are kept in the parish
church in a shrine opened every 50 years. There is still there a
pilgrimage chapel and a fountain. The saint is invoked against fevers,
eye diseases and paralysis. In the Lovenjoel families, the girls were
often named Ermelindis.
The family of Spoelbergh owned the village since 1649. Their domains
were transferred in the early XXth century to the Catholic University
of Leuven, which opened there in 1927 the neuropsychiatric clinic Salve
Mater.
Opvelp got its current name in 1559. Opvelp and the neighbouring hamlet
of Neervelp alrady existed in the VIIIth century. The names of the
villages are related to the river Velpe, which has its source in Opvelp
(Upper Velp) and waters Neervelp (Lower Velp) before flowing into the
Demer.
In the Middle Ages, Opvelp, along with Meldert and Hoegaarden, was an
enclave of the Principality of Liège within the Duchy of Brabant. This
explains several French family and place names.
Opvelp and Neervelp were until 1976 part of the the municipality of
Honsem. Neervelp was then incorporated into Boutersem whereas Opvelp
was incorporated into Bierbeek.
Opvelp is the birth place of the athlet Gaston Roelants (b. 1937),
Olympic champion in 3,000 m steeple-chase in 1964 (8'30"8). During his
long carreer, Roelants won several national titles and hold several
records; in his late years, he specialized in marathon and
cross-country races, winning the São Paulo Corrida and finishing second
in the first Sierre-Zinal race in 1974.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 29 October 2006
The municipal flag of Bierbeek is horizontally divided white-red-white
with three black escutcheons with a yellow lion with red tongue and
claws placed 2 and 1 in the upper and lower stripe, respectively.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag and arms were adopted by the
Municipal Council on 2 June 1987, confirmed by the Executive of
Flanders on 13 October 1987 and published in the Belgian official
gazette on 16 September 1988. The flag is a banner of the former arms
of Bierbeek with three escutcheons of Brabant. The three stripes as
well as the three escutcheons recall the three former municipalities merged
into Bierbeek.
The municipal website gives the official description of the symbols of
Bierbeek:
Flag: Drie even hoge banen van wit, van rood en van wit, met drie
zwarte schildjes beladen met een gele, rood geklauwde en getongde
leeuw, twee boven en een onder.
Arms: Gedeeld 1: in sabel een leeuw van goud, geklauwd en getongd van
keel; 2: in zilver een dwarsbalk van keel (Per pale sable a lion or armed and lampassed gules silver a fess gules).
The arms are based on the seal used by the magistrates of Bierbeek in
the XIV-XVIIIth centuries.
Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 29 October 2006