Hasselt


Hasselt is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium.
As of 1 January 2025, Hasselt had a total population of 90,249. The old town of Hasselt is surrounded by a number of satellite hamlets including Kiewit, Runkst, Banneuxwijk, Godsheide and Rapertingen. Further away are several sub-municipalities which were once within other municipalities, including Guigoven, Kermt, Kortessem, Kuringen, Sint-Lambrechts-Herk, Spalbeek, Stevoort, Stokrooie, Wimmertingen, Vliermaal, Vliermaalroot, and Wintershoven.
Geographically, Hasselt is located between the Campine region, north of the Demer river, and the Hesbaye region, to the south. Both the Demer river and the Albert Canal run through the municipality.
In terms of economic regions, Hasselt is within the transnational Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, connecting neighbouring regions in Wallonia, the Netherlands and Germany.

History

Hasselt was founded in approximately the 7th century on the Helbeek, a tributary of the Demer river. During the Middle Ages it became one of the free cities of the county of Loon. It was first named in a document in 1165. In 1232 Arnold IV, Count of Loon gave the city the same freedoms as those enjoyed in Liège. Hasselt became the biggest city in present-day Limburg thanks to its favourable setting, and the proximity of the count's castle at Herkenrode in Kuringen. In 1366 the county of Loon came under the direct rule of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and remained so until the annexation by France in 1794.
During the First French Empire, the city of Maastricht became the capital of the French Department of the Lower Meuse. This comprised not only the area of the modern province of Limburg in Belgium, but also what is now the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, all of what is now Belgium became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. During this time, it was King William I who re-named the Lower Meuse department after the medieval Duchy of Limburg. This Duchy was in fact named after Limbourg on the Vesdre river, now in the Liège province of Belgium, which had never encompassed Hasselt or Maastricht. Belgium split from the Netherlands in 1830, but the status of Limburg was only resolved nine years later in 1839, with the division of Limburg into Belgian and Dutch parts. Hasselt became the provisional capital of the Belgian province of Limburg. In ecclesiastical terms, Belgian Limburg became an independent entity from the Diocese of Liège only in 1967, and Hasselt became the seat of the new Diocese of Hasselt.
In 1977, Hasselt merged with several surrounding municipalities attaching the current sub-municipalities of Kermt, Kuringen, Sint-Lambrechts-Herk, Stevoort and Wimmertingen.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, many urban renewal projects have taken place in the city, including the construction of the Two Towers neighborhood. From 1 January 2025, the neighboring village of Kortessem will merge into Hasselt, becoming a new sub-municipality.

Etymology

The name Hasselt is derived from the Germanic word Hasaluth which refers to the common hazel.

Town centre

The centre is mostly car-free and contains a number of historical buildings. Among the oldest buildings in the town centre are the St. Quentin's Cathedral and the Refuge of Herkenrode Abbey, the city's oldest civic building. The Grote Markt and the nearby streets are lined with restaurants brasseries, cafes and taverns.
The Demerstraat and the Koning Albertstraat are the most important shopping streets, while the Kapelstraat and Hoogstraat house upscale shops and brands. Another major religious building besides the cathedral is the Virga Jesse Basilica. The churches must cede domination of the skyline of the city to the modern twin towers of the TT-wijk, however. In 2003, the renovation of this complex, now including a shopping mall and a hotel, gave the centre a new boost. In 2004, Hasselt was the first city to receive the title "most sociable city in Flanders".

Demographics

In 1977, the merger of Hasselt with several surrounding municipalities added 22.309 inhabitants at the time to its own population of 40.446 inhabitants. As of 1 October 2024, Hasselt had a total population of 81.708.

Languages

  • Dutch in Hasselt is often spoken with a distinctive Limburgish accent and vocabulary, which should not be confused with the Limburgish language.
  • Limburgish is the overlapping term for the tonal dialects spoken in the Belgian and Dutch provinces of Limburg. The Hasselt dialect is only one of many variants of Limburgish. Limburgish is a language, and not the same as the regional variation of Dutch spoken in Dutch Limburg and Belgian Limburg. Since Limburgish is still the mother tongue of many inhabitants, Limburgish grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation can however have a significant impact on the way locals speak Dutch in public life.
  • French was historically spoken by some of the city population within living memory.

    Religion

Hasselt is the main seat of the Catholic diocese of Hasselt, which covers the entire Belgian province of Limburg. The main church is St. Quentin's Cathedral. Hasselt also consists of about 30 parishes. Next to the Catholic Church, Hasselt houses both a Moroccan and Turkish mosque as both communities are established in the city and the surrounding municipalities.
There was a Jewish community in Hasselt for centuries, but most of their Jews were deported and murdered during the war. The synagogue was destroyed together with its contents, including ceremonial objects and Torah scrolls. The cemetery is now maintained by the local authorities. A Hebrew inscription on a local war monument memorializes the murdered Jews of Hasselt.

Main sights

  • Gothic St. Quentin's Cathedral, seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hasselt
  • Virga Jesse Basilica, late-baroque and early-neoclassical architecture
  • Herkenrode Abbey, Cistercian monastery
  • Beguinage of Hasselt
  • Grote Markt, including the timber-framed house Het Sweert
  • Havermarkt, including the Old Post Office, the Old Courthouse, and the Augustinian Abbey
  • Several buildings in the style of Mosan Renaissance architecture, among them the former Grauwzustersklooster
  • Several buildings in the style of eclectic architecture, among them the Old Post Office and the Old Provincial Government Building
  • Neoclassical Old City Hall
  • Refuge of Herkenrode Abbey, the city's oldest civic building
  • Old Prison, now housing Hasselt University
  • Oud Kerkhof, historic cemetery
  • New City Hall, christened 't Scheep
  • New Courthouse
  • Art Museum Z33 in the Beguinage
  • National Jenever Museum
  • City Museum of Hasselt
  • Fashion Museum in the former Grauwzustersklooster
  • Cultuurcentrum Hasselt
  • Japanese gardens, the largest in Europe
  • Kiewit Nature Park
  • Kiewit Airfield

    Events

  • The Virga Jesse festival, featuring a Procession of the historic wooden statue of infant Jesus with Mary, is celebrated every seven years, it will be in August 2024.
  • The yearly Jenever Festival celebrates the history of Jenever in Hasselt.
  • Hasselt celebrates Carnival, but at a slightly different date than most places.
  • The suburb Kiewit is the location of the yearly Pukkelpop festival, one of Europe's largest alternative music festivals with over a hundred concerts. Rimpelrock, a festival with music for an older audience, is held at the same location one week prior.
  • As in most Belgian cities, there is an annual Kermesse on a date associated with the local church's patron saint - in this case Saint Lambert -, which takes place in September.
  • The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was held in Hasselt.
  • The Grand Prix van Hasselt is a cyclo-cross race held in November which is part of the BPost Bank Trophy.
  • Gaz de France Stars was a WTA Tour tennis tournament held in Hasselt from 2004 to 2006.
  • The European Darts Championship was held in the city's Trixxo Arena three times from 2015-2017.

    Gastronomy

Hasselt brands itself as the "Capital of Taste", owing to its local distilleries of Jenever, the Hasselt Jenever Festival, Hasselt speculaas, and chocolate production.

Hasseltse Jenever (Hasselt gin)

Hasselt is famous for its gin, locally known as Jenever. Even though the spirit is produced across the entire country of Belgium, Hasselt Jenever became famous when the city escaped the 1601 ban on the sale and production of the beverage imposed by Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and Isabella Clara Eugenia, both Archduke and Archduchess of the Habsburg Netherlands, because it belonged to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. Dutch troops stationed in the city from 1675 to 1681 ensured that Hasselt Jenever, more than any other Belgian jenever, carried aromas of herbs and berries.
At the end of the 19th century, dire living conditions among the working population and cheap Jenever prepared from sugar beet molasses led to the annual consumption of 9.5 litres of Jenever per inhabitant of Belgium. Jenever production was the most important industry in Limburg in the 19th century with most distilleries being located in Hasselt. However, increase in excise duty, competition from cheap industrial alcohol, the confiscation of copper stills by the Germans during World War I, and the Vandervelde law against alcohol abuse caused most distilleries in Hasselt to disappear or to be taken over by larger competitors.
By the early 21st century, Hasselt only housed two distilleries : the National Jenever Museum and Stokerij Wissels, which was later bought by the larger Stokerij Fryns, based in Ghent, which resumed Jenever production on the former Wissels grounds under the Fryns name. Today, three Jenever distilleries operate in Hasselt: the National Jenever Museum, Stokerij Fryns, and Stokerij Vanderlinden, founded in 2017.