For those who don't know how this works: On the top of the iceberg, there are facts that everyone knows and the deeper we go, the obscurer and lesser known these become. This can be about history, culture, places or anything else that has to do with Belgium.
EDIT: Please also say where on the iceberg I should put everything. Thank you!
Before Belgium existed, we briefly existed as the United States of Belgium for roughly 11 months in 1790
USB 0.1?
In dutch De Verenigde Nederlandse Staten (in older times Belgisch=Nederlands]
And that "States" were the ancient/archaïc 'states provincial' and their respective representative bodies...
8 founding members -the Members of Flanders [Gent, Bruges, Brugse Vrije, Ypres and the Church] -the states of West-Flanders [not the same as current province of west flanders] -the states of Brabant -Malines -the states of hainault -the states of Namur -Tournai -Gelre
Belgica was indeed often used as the Latin name of the low countries (back when Latin was still a prestigious language).
USB USB USB USB!!!
That Albrecht and Isabella ruled the country as souvereign princes because Philip II had gifted them the province on the condition the'd mary eachother.
They were peacemakers and wanted to reconstruct the country, investing heavily in infrastructure. They were early "enlightened despots", and relatively popular. They ordered the canal Gent-Bruges Ostend to be dug to restore Flanders sea-routes...
You could say this reign created "Belgium" after the devastations of the first decades of the 80 years war.
Yes and we were a confederal republic ! A wet dream of our current prime minister.
I mean if Belgium was genuinely decentralised to provinces and the intermediate regions were abolished it it might actually function in a better more localised, and less divisive manner. But that's hardly what a flemish nationalist PM wants
I mean, kinda hard to keep calling him a "Flemish nationalist" with a straight face when he talks about cosying up to the Netherlands all the time...
Dutch nationalist is probably more accurate yeah. I'm actually reminded of Austrian German nationalists in the 19th century (the highlight isn't mine):
https://preview.redd.it/8ea2k0qlnjcg1.png?width=2130&format=png&auto=webp&s=e4ef420e6004ae31d2b8fea7ed7f2d546ca0179b
Almost 80% of the world's billiard balls are made in Belgium
And up until recently every Magic the gathering card.
Via carta mundi. To give more info.
Still the worldwide leader of cards printing.
I had no clue about this! Wikipedia says they exist since 1765 whut.
where. is the factory?
In Turnhout
No way, HOLLY SHIT ITS TRUE XDDDD. That is hilarious and a fact I will tell my friends
Snooker too
TIL
The creation of Louvain-la-Neuve after the expulsion of the walloons in Leuven, somewhere in the middle
Call it an ethnic cleansing for international appeal
Charleroi voted ugliest city in the world on the top
The abandoned Charleroi Metro stations on the second or third layer
And he's brought back from the dead.
Yeah but that last fact is less known. :p
Lots of abandoned industrial buildings too! I spent 6 hours exploring two abandoned coal and coke powered power plants there.
It's not "The King of Belgium" but "The King of the Belgians"
We have laws that dictates what is mayonaise and what's not
We also have this for chocolate.
In 1989 a young man in Bellegem was killed by an unmanned soviet Mig-23 crashing into his house after the pilot ejected shortly after takeoff in Poland.
Donnie Darko ass death
Of all the ways you could go out. Reconsidering to living life to the fullest, any moment can be your last.
Ok that one is all the way at the bottom
Heldere Hemel - Tom Lanoye!
The human zoo back in 1958
Man bijt hond, oude man met kleine garage
Tis cara trut
Baekeliet
De jonagolden zijn op in den Aldi
"Kzen ni verslaaf, khem het gwn nodig"
"Gij hebt het lef ni om in moanen otto te zitte"
Belgian lady stops her car on train tracks and gets hit by train
Belgian interview gets interrupted by guy crashing is bicycle into the interviewee.
Any others I'm forgetting?
Rendierhoedje, minnen arm, ...
> Man bijt hond
Ik was eens in een gehucht in de Filipijnen aan het babbelen met een local en toen die hoorde dat ik uit België kwam zei die dat Man Bijt Hond daar ooit is komen filmen WTF.
well its a known cult classic if you're an avid cinemaphile
Was onlangs tegen een collega bezig over dat filmpje, half uur later zoek ik iets op op youtube en wat komt er in mijn recommendations terecht? Dat filmpje van die man met zijn kleine garage wel niet zeker?
Voor mocht iemand er nog aan twijfelen dat we door onze toestellen worden afgeluisterd...
Human zoo is so horrible but I really don't know where it should be set as it is known even by americans
Americans had that stuff themselves. This wasn't only done in Belgium.
Besides, France takes the win on this.
They opened their last African zoo in 1994, and it only closed in 1997.
Literally flew over "actors", confiscated their passports, forced them to sleep in the straw huts at the park when they closed the park at night, and had medical care provided to them by actual vets.
Die gast van 't is cara trut ken ik. Hij is ook zo geïntroduceerd geweest aan mij!
The “wow” meme guy is Eddy Wally
How did I never noticed this
this 👆
De dierentuin van Gent. Toen deze in 1905 gesloten werd, hebben ze de bruine beren gedood door ophanging en opgegeten. Van het vlees van een van de olifanten uit deze dierentuin heeft een Nederlandse slager nog worsten gedraaid.
😱
The proton debit card. It's fairly obscure since it was a belgian thing only and had quite a short life.
& the SIS card!
Yeah it's also iconic.
Belgium invented the structured communication in payments
Kuifje / Tintin climbing that iceberg
https://preview.redd.it/3o8fn8x7ricg1.jpeg?width=2880&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3582da688b2358e3cfae393d181c36d96a70cd69
As a foreigner, I didn’t know TinTin came from BE! Despite being my fav. Character 🙈
Don't forget about the Smurfs!
Somewhere the 1999 coca cola mass hysteria incident ... That one's fairly obscure
Talking about hysteria there's the 1990s UFO hysteria. It's more known I think.
L'armée de l'air a envoyé des F16 en interception, après des détections radar simultanément à des témoignages directs sur le terrain. Des centaines de témoins crédibles, dont des gendarmes, des militaires et des représentants politiques. L'explication de "mass hysteria" est d'après moi le réflexe de personnes pour qui l'inexplicable est trop difficile à supporter.
Hysteria is debatable when there were hundreds of witnesses to the event. Some of them military.
Bro
https://preview.redd.it/j0t3c288akcg1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=9c92704f8b4794c3e5584ed5dce51e9621140267
Interesting, I did not know of it.
Allez, Geert Hoste heeft er toen nog mee gelachen in zijn eindejaarsconference
Kben een beetje zieeek
wait what?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278691502001357
Waar is de tijd, in de nasleep kreeg je overal gratis cola als ‘proeverke’
Iedereen kreeg toen een bon in zijn brievenbus voor een gratis fles cola.
mijn buren niet (hihi)
What happened?
Some kids were feeling ill after drinking coca cola, and supposedly because of the cola. Rumour started spreading that there was something in the cola, that it was poisoned,... So other people started feeling sick, and thought it was because of the cola and so on. Nothing was ever found to be wrong with cola, so it's probably all just mass hysteria.
In the aftermath, if I remember correctly, all the coke bottles and cans had a green clip or cap for a while to show that they were "sAfE aNd DoUbLE cHeCkED".
The Belgium flag is not correct accordingly to the constitution
??
In the constitution the flag is red-yellow-black as opposed to black-yellow-red. It is visually more pleasing to hang it with the black part closest to the pole so that became common but it was never changed in the constitution.
This is the most belgian thing i’ve ever heard, yet i never knew
De Dienst Bijzondere Belastingen is ingelicht en zal met terugwerkende kracht kennistaks komen innen.
Thanks. I wasn't sure and didn't have the time nor the will to search deeper 😂. I stand corrected
Should be horizontal IIRC.
No, it's not defined if it's supposed to be horizontal or vertical, just that it's red yellow and black
Thanks. I wasn't sure and didn't have the time nor the will to search deeper 😂. I stand corrected
St. Bernardus is the same as Westvleteren
Where on the iceberg should I put that?
Near the top, it's pretty well known
Damn I didn't know
IN Belgium, yes, but it the iceberg is to make foreigners aware of this, then I’d put it near the waterline.
But not completely accurate (Westvleteren changed their recipe)
no. check it ;)
Adolphe Sax somewhere on the top
I think it can be just below surface, it isn't that known.
Mark Peeters theory of spaceflight somewhere in the middle
Neutral Moresnet a bit higher
I am even astonished somebody mentions Neutral Moresnet, which was under double regency back then.
(By the way, I am from there)
The fact that fentanyl was discovered for the first time in Belgium by Paul Janssen
shhhh dont say to Trump
De pil, Mercatorprojectie, Pater Damiaan near the top
6 governments somewhere near the bottom
At the top: "déviation" means "good luck" in French.
https://preview.redd.it/2qra2hzu2jcg1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af3341c846cbe66df17efcdcb33702b3ad629ba7
The dreaded orange signs at the very top.
Kemmelberg used to be a top secret Nato bunker
Michel Daerden(pbuh) our pet alcoholic politician
Fat Bart de Wever
Siege of Eben Emael, our undefeatable superbunker, largest in the world, was taken in two days.
The Zenne, brussels used to have a river going through it similar to Paris but it smelled so much we covered it up in the 19th century. you see it underground in the sewer museum
The creator of the big bang theroy, Georges Lemaître, is Belgian!
No, the creator is Chuck Lorre 🙃
Brabo and Antigoon/cutting off the giant’s hand/Antwerp being named after throwing hands/the Brabo throwing the hand statue in Antwerp/hand cookies/cutting off hands as punishment/the general cultural significance of severed hands
as a non-Belgian who has visited for a school trip and learned about all that, that’s just one I think that people not from there may not know about
Belgische kolonie in Santo Tomas (Guatemala)
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Tom%C3%A1s_de_Castilla
Our previous king has a bastard daughter named Delphine. Somewhere near the middle probably
The Kingdom of France is Belgian. Cause Clovis I made his capital in Tournai iirc. Also one if not the oldest Dutch text is from Clovis I. So Dutch might originate in Wallonia
What we did in congo
Besides the obvious also the shady uranium deals for the Manhattan Project and the Lumumba assassination + Katanga dealings and the current Belgian billionaire class involvement
Those shady uranium deals for the Manhattan Project is also one of the reasons we put the Atomium there: to show the world at the Expo 58 that we in Belgium master the science of the atom (so that the Americans can bomb the shit out of people with the weapons you can make with that science).
It's also why our nuclear power plants are so old: we where among to first to have them.
Let's not forget the rubber deals. Dunlop became massive because of the atrocious handling of the natives.
Why we regularly cut off de hand of de Leopold z'n statues.
Top of the iceberg: in recognition of its cultural importance, ‘Fritkot Culture’ was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO World Heritage in Belgium – Flemish, Walloon, and German-speaking communities – between 2014 and 2017.
Zatte René
Wooaaarr zen men pataaaate??
drinkt u soms nie pol?
Nie slaaaaan èh!
At the very bottom: King Albert II killed someone in a traffic accident when he was a young prince.
Oof! The first one I know nothing about! Any sources?
Unfortunately there are no sources as it was apparently swept under the rug by the authorities. But it happened in a small Ardennes town were everybody knows eachother and everything, so it’s a secret everybody knows around here.
komaan, geeft ons meer waalse vrind! welk dorp, welke wagen, welke bocht
dees is den eerste waar ik écht van ga rechtzitten
I have two for the bottom:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brabant_killers#Official_complicity
"A supposed connection between the Brabant killers, Gladio, and the by-then defunct Belgian far-right organisation Westland New Post led by Paul Latinus is mentioned in the 1992 BBC Timewatch documentary series Operation Gladio, directed by Allan Francovich, in which it is suggested that Latinus said that his organisation was sanctioned by the Belgian government."
So a BBC documentary mentioned that it is suggested that a dude said that his organisation was sanctioned by the government.
...that's quite shallow ahah.
Yes, that’s the only one made official. Oh and I also forgot the possible VDB link which makes for a real juicy conspiracy theory where he’d seize power as a fascist dictator with the gendarmes as his stormtroopers. Stranger things have happened!
Roze balletten
There was a Black Swan in Bruges like a decade ago. Its not really important, but I'd like to put it in the iceberg, like in the middle I guess. Not everything has to be dark down there.
Now we have Houdini.
In 1949 138 students occupied the castle Gravensteen in Ghent in protest against the increased prices of beer and new police uniforms. It is now known as ‘slag om het gravensteen’ and is now celebrated/remembered yearly by students in Ghent.
Historically, Ambiorix and de Stomme van Portici should be in there somewhere, probably fairly high
So many people who don’t understand the assignment here. It’s doesn’t need to be just history, culture, places,… It needs to be facts about those things and the more those facts are known, the higher they go up on the iceberg.
Wasn't the saxophone invented by mr. Sax in Belgium?
They should put about how Adolphe Sax had about 6 near death incidents
The german speaking community ... I wonder where it is placed.
hoe de guldensporenslag gewoon moderne propaganda is!
Houte-Si-Plou is a real place. I think a lot of people use the expression without knowing it.
and it means "listen if it's raining" in walloon
Something with waffles at the very top.
I'm kinda tired of explaining to foreigners that no, we don't eat waffles every other day.
"the Unkillable soldier" Adrian Carton de Wiart
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Carton_de_Wiart
Bende van nijvel, Abu Jahjah hezobolah, Verhofstadt verkoop van België, Vandenbroucke geld verbrand, Dutroux…. Kan zo doorgaan.
Sven Pichal schandaal ergens in de monsterlijke dieptes en man met de kleine garage ergens net onder water
Wereldrecord van land die het langst zonder regering heeft gezeten? 2010-2011
At the bottom of the Iceberg: Feit of fabel: zit er al 45 jaar een lijk in een betonpijler van het viaduct van Vilvoorde?
Scheepslift , Oostkantons, baarle hertog , Steve steverts , Vlaams blok, vastgoed vennootschappen en btw, augustus, frank vandebroek, ...
charleroi unused metro
To add: Augusta affaire
Bende van Nijvel
Roze Baletten
Lange hamburger
Socialisten haten romas
Martinos
Schaar Steen Papier
Tine haar Russische connecties
Twinkhunter92 aan de MDMA
Mandhond & Bert
Samson speelt zich af in het vagevuur
Waar brouwt m'n Cara pils?
Clarebout patatten maffia
Oogproblemen bij refs
De protput & SAmmy TANge
West-Vlaamse inteelt
De Koningskwestie
Franse assimilatie van Wallonië
Vassalstaat van Frankrijk
Curryworst speciaal met welke ketchup?
't is blad, steen, schaar dat weet iedereen.
Schaar steen papier is hollands voor mij, verbaasd dat nog belgen zijn die dat gebruiken
bende van Nijvel en de roze baletten all the waaaay
Top: beer chocolate waffles fries pedophiles
We do have a lot of the latter.... But why...
De ramp van Godsheide 1941, is very well known locally but not sure about the rest of the country
Probably near the bottom since usually very dark subjects tend to be near the bottom anyways
Daar hedde gij het lef ni veur! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1jZEyU_eO1s
"Belgian fries" somewhere in there around the middle
Albert I and battle of Liege near the top and Albert I's death in a hiking accident and the theories around it in the middle also the Battle of Halen
The sport cricket played mostly in England, Sri lanka and India originated in flanders and was played by farmers. After some English men visited and played it here they recreated the game with their own rules where it became big and went international.
It's faster to go from Bergen to Doornik than to go from Tournai to Mons.
https://preview.redd.it/nka382i72kcg1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=91cf4aa47d250ea9e157b743c90650bdd99e1e59
Neuhaus inventing the praline. This is well known I think, so should be above water level at least.
We have the only church with a statue of Lucifer. And it's the 2nd one as the first one was deemed too beautiful so they asked the brother of the original sculptor to make another one and he made it even more beautiful than the first one
other people probably will already have mentioned it buyt the whole Dutroux case deserves to be featured here:
-a OCMW/leefloner that owned 10 houses in Belgium and a total worth of 6 million francs he also received public assistance of $1,200 a month
-already raped 3 girls in Slovakia before
-There were countless hairs found in the dungeon where the two girls were held. Judge Langlois refused to have them tested for DNA evidence
-At least seven members of law enforcement were arrested on suspicion of having ties to Marc Dutroux.
-more than 20 potential witnesses in the case have died in mysterious circumstances.
We already had an "Epstein" here in Belgium.
In 2001, the New York Times wrote an article about violence in Charleroi.
Groot en lang
Child abuse in church
this is more a global thing
In no particular order:
Belgian UFO wave.
Wafelijzerpolitiek.
Rare flag ratio, ours is almost a square.
Urbex destinations, Belgium is known for it. Doel, but also plenty of places in the Ardennes or even in some cities.
The word spa coming from Spa. Consequently, the thermal baths of Spa having just reopened as a hotel (no, the ones at the top of the funicular aren't the historical ones) and even though it's forgotten about today, it used to be a big destination for the rich and famous.
Big Bang theory's origin being linked to Lemaître, a Belgian priest.
Verzuiling.
Eben-Emael, but also many other abandoned military infrastructure things.
Popular monarch, as in, it's not King of Belgium, but King of the Belgians.
I'll add more if I think of any.
The Flemish Wallionian border is a remnant of an old roman road called Chaussée Brunehaut
Near the bottom: the ragebaiting guy who rides a bycicle in Brussels with the controversial side of an event
Something something Bende Van Nijvel
Bende van Nijvel, Marc Dutroux
Festivalman.
Union miniere, en hoe Israël dankzij ons atoomwapens heeft
The 2020-2021 government
Vandenbroucke’s Money Burning
Bende van Nijvel
Patrick Hamers
Zatte René, Hier Nen Euro, Who Took My Badjas?
https://preview.redd.it/mvlcq88fbjcg1.png?width=254&format=png&auto=webp&s=dacbce2db8ff071ec261fe6de3446071afd68dbf
Love your username op ahahahah
Milieubox
Colruyt
Le coup de grisou du Bois du Cazier à Marcinelle, du 8 août 1956.
I know that it is famous, but only for the locals and the old generation
The kidnapping of VDB
The crosses in the Hautes-Fagnes
The Brabant killers
The Free Republic of Outremeuse
Yves Leterme singing the Marseillaise instead of our anthem
"Et un gros kiss"
The Charleroi metro lines that were built but never used
....
Laten we deze persoon bekender maken: Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart. Heb 'm zelf pas leren kennen. Dank u Reddit
Apart from Congo, we also had Rwanda and Burundi as colonies
-Still to this day the belgian national flag is unconstititional.
-The King of Belgium is still legally allowed to mobilise the military in "Belgian-Congo" to protect the country's citizens in the event of war.
-The dutch royal family are by law prohibited to run for any governing position in Belgium.
Fc de kampioenen
Belgians are among the best Freedom Launchers™ manufacturers in the world with FN, like the SCAR or the P90
Isn't the saxophone invented in Belgium?
When a “no overtaking” sign (F1) is in effect, a motorcycle may not overtake a car, while a car is permitted to overtake a motorcycle.
Sadly, many people that I've told this who have a driver's license, don't know this. So probably at the bottom of the ice berg.
The Belgian revolution is suspected by historians of being funded by France, in order to re-establish the power of the french elite. The people shouting during the play 'La muette de Portici' were likely being paid to riot.
I would put it halfway, little closer to the waterline?
Also related to the Belgian Revolution: the mob destroyed the house of the State Secretary of Justice. Deep down the ice berg.
Ab Inbev
2 year long period of no government somewhere in the middle
During WW1, the capital of belgium was displaced in France, in a town name Saint-adresse, close to Le Havre where the government flee to escape the german invasion.
Hormone maffia and the murder of Karel van Noppe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Dutroux
I would say Marc Dutroux somewhere at the top. If you don't know he was a man who kidnapped and raped young girls and hid them in his cellar in his house in Wallonia. A few girls died but i thin two survived. It was a whole scandal becaus the "rijkswacht" and the "gemmentepolitie" would puposefully not tell the other crucial information because of the police war. This probably caused the death of more girls. After this there where protests and they did a reform. And then Dutroux escaped from the ijkswacht and it was clear they needed way better reforms. the police was turned into two seperate things the "federale politie" and the "lokale politie" instead of the previous three that would not stop fighting with eachother.
Athene from World of Warcraft.
Iykyk.
Ps: pretty deep down the list, there's some shady stuff there.
€50 is €50
The fact that the company who made Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios) is Belgian, headquarters in Gent.
we still have a law, as a residue to the codex napoleon the ary is allowed to confiscate your animals to help them out moving gear and equipment. this rule was from a time your cow or horse where forced to drag a canon or wagon out of the mud.
now it might be used for your chihuahua go fetch a lost drone i guess ?