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A little history
The fossil remains found during works in the course of the XIXe century, show the presence of the man in the Maelbeek valley at the end of the Paleolithic. The origin of Etterbeek would date back to the Nervii. They established a refuge camp in the Maelbeek valley, before starting the battle against Julius Caesar's Roman legions in 57 before J.C.

The Franks settled in Belgium from the end of IVe to the end of the Ve century. The first cottages of Etterbeek appeared around the Vlle century. At that time, the land belonged to the Landen family which generated the Carolingians' dynasty through Pepin. His daughter who became Sainte Gertrude withdrew to the abbey of Nivelles and Etterbeek became a property of it.
The existence of Etterbeek is officially noted for the first time in a document of 1127 and was spelt "letrebecca" and thereafter indifferently "latrebache", "Itrebeek", "Jetterbeke", etc... which meant "fast stream". The spelling "Etterbeek" appeared in 1138.

In 1489, the village was devastated by Albert of Saxony's troops at war against the States of Flanders.
In 1580, the Iconoclasts devasted it again.
In the XVIIe century, Etterbeek formed a seigniory whose functions of mayor were fulfilled by the mayor of Rhodos and justice was dispensed by the Watermael College of aldermen.
In 1673, Charles II of Spain set up Etterbeek in barony to the profit of his lord Don Diego-Henriquez of Castro, whose last descendant sold it in 1767 to Pierre Cludts; thus became it an independent barony with its own mayor and aldermen.

Etterbeek - the building of the Municipal authorities

After its annexation to France which marked the fall of the Old Regime, Etterbeek became a commune in the canton of Woluwe-Saint-Etienne, district of Brussels and department of Dyle.
In less than a century, Etterbeek which was a rural village became a built suburb of Brussels thanks to a lot of ponds draining works and the layout of many streets in the XIXth century.The huge building boost continued from the very start of the XXe century thanks to a modern urbanization.

Relations with the army
The first contacts between Etterbeek and the army date from 1840 when General Chazal, War Minister, asked a training ground for the Brussels garrison and obtained the current site of the Cinquantenaire park in exchange of the Leopold park.
The second quarrel date from the years 1870 - 1880, when the construction of the barracks started, by sacrificing a part of the Soignes Forest which joined the Chasse where a relay was.

Characters
Among the celebrities of Etterbeek, let us quote: Adrien de Gerlache, Constantin Meunier, Paul Cauchie, Jean Absil, Jo Heyne et Georges Rémi known as Hergé.

Curiosities
Etterbeek has got a great number of statues and many monuments belonging to the cultural heritage, it also has some houses and strange or classified buildings.

Twinnings
Etterbeek created priviliged bonds by establishing twinnings charters with Fontenay-sous-Bois in France, Forte-dei-Marmi in Italy and Beauport in Canada.

Data
Total surface: 315 Ha. 51a. 63ca.
Built surface: 187 Ha. 55a. 97ca.
Population: approximately 40.000 inhabitants.

On April 06, 2010, the Commander of the 5 Gp CIS addressed to the Burgomaster of Etterbeek a request for suspension of the sponsorship established in 1966 between the commune of Etterbeek and the 5th Battalion TTr.