EVERE/EVERE

   The commune of Evere in the Brussels Capital Region was cited in texts at the beginning of the 12th century as Everna or Everne. Never a part of the cuve of Brussels, it constituted the fief-dom of numerous lords, the first one known being Henri de Boutersem, cited in a document of 1298. The Walckiers family owned the area from 1772 to the end of the ancien régime. It became a commune in 1795.

   Evere remained an agricultural suburb until 1900, its farms notable for producing turnips and radishes. In the mid-19th century, its farmers were among the first to cultivate witloof (chicory).The borough totaled about 3,800 inhabitants in 1900. Growth proved rapid following construction of a military airfield by the German army in 1915. The field was named the Ternooiveld because a son of King Philip II attended a tournament on the site in 1549. It was used by the Belgian army and by Sabena, the national civil air carrier, after 1919. Flights to the Belgian Congo departed from here beginning in 1925 and, in 1927, 200,000 spectators watched the arrival of Charles Lindbergh in his Spirit of Saint Louis. The Germans again used the airfield during World War II. It was abandoned in 1950 (see ZAVENTEM).

   The population of Evere attained 14,000 on the eve of World War II. Suburbanization had begun in the interwar years with, for example, construction in 1922 of a "garden" city here following plans of architect J. J. Eggerickx (1884-1963). Following the war, new avenues bordered by apartment complexes and homes as well as new industrial zones were created under a development program promoted by the burgomaster, Frans Guillaume (in office, 1948-1963). The census figures of 1947 showed that Evere was the only one of the 19 communes in the metropolitan area where Dutch-speakers outnumbered French-speakers.