Last modified: 2007-11-03 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Bornem]](../images/b/be-vanbn.gif)
Municipal flag of Bornem - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 10 June 2007
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The municipality of Bornem (20,235 inhabitants on 1 July 2007; 4,576 ha) is located 20 km south-west of Antwerp, on the right bank of the river Scheldt that forms here the border between the provinces of Antwerp and East Flanders. Together with the municipalities of Puurs and Sint-Amands, Bornem forms the region of Klein Brabant (Little Brabant). The municipality of Bornem is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Bornem, Hingene, Mariekerke and Weert.
Bornem, as its name implies, it a village of Frankish origin, appeared
as the center of a feudal domain in the IXth century on a strategic
site near the confluency of the Scheldt with the Rupel and the Durme.
In 910, the domain of Bornem, together with Mechelen, was granted by
King Charles the Simple to the church of Liège, which transferred it later to the Count of Flanders. In 1057, Duke Boudewijn V obtained from the Court of Cologne the definitive transfer of Bornem. Originally, the
domain included the parish of Bornem and its dependencies Havekesdunc
(Nattenhaasdonk) and Hinken (Hingene). In the Xth century, the domain
of Dendermonde was split and Mariekerke was incorporated to the
domain of Bornem. The earliest known lord of Bornem is Lambrecht, who
was also appointed lord of Ghent in 1007. From 1088 onwards, Wenemaar, a Templar Knight, boosted the development of the domain. The chart he
signed in 1100 granted municipal rights and allowed the local canons'
chapter to upgrade to an abbey. He was succeeded by Knights Seger I
and Seger II, who also lived in Bornem and are buried in the Romanesque
crypt of the church of Bornem. Remains of Seger II's tombstone have
been found in 1978. The domain of Bornem was sold in 1250 by Hugo II to
Countess of Flanders Margaretha of Constantinople.
After the destructions caused by the Wars of Religion, Bornem was
purchased in 1586 by Pedro Coloma, one of the richest Spanish nobles of
that time, who had came to the Low Countries with the army commanded by
Alexander Farnese. Coloma is considered as a benefactor of Bornem and
its region; he rebuilt the ruined castle of Bornem and planned a new
link between the Scheldt and the Old Scheldt via the Sas (lock) built
in 1592. The Sas is the oldest hydraulic structure in Flanders. Coloma
also improved the irrigation system and reclaimed abandoned arable
fields. He died in 1621 and was buried in the Romanesque crypt of the
convent located on the Dilftheide (today the Kloosterstraat). Coloma
was succeeded by his son Alexander, Farnese's godchild, and his
grandson Jan Frans, who was made Count of Bornem by King Philip IV of
Spain in 1658. The domain was later transfered to the families
Corswarem, de Marbais and de Lannoy. In 1780, Aldegonde de Lannoy
married Baudry de Marnix and Bornem was transfered to the Marnix
family.
After the French Revolution, Karel de Marnix, eight Count of Bornem,
fled to the Netherlands with his mother. The castle and the domain of
Bornem were confiscated and sold in 1799 in Antwerp. Karel de Marnix
purchased a part of the domain, came back to the castle in 1802 and was
Mayor of Bornem until his death in 1832. Until 1904, the Marnix were
Mayors of Bornem for 86 years, in three periods separated by a total of
12 years. On 24 April 1881, the Marnix family was allowed to add "de
Sainte Aldegonde" to its name, in order to emphasize its link with the
famous Philippe de Marnix, lord of Sainte-Aldegonde (today part of the
municipality of Morlanwelz). The castle was
rebuilt around 1890 in neo-gothic style by the architect Hendrik
Beyaert (1822-1894). John de Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde is currently
the 14th Count of Bornem.
Hingene, as said above, was mentioned in 1100 as Hinken, together with Hevekesdunc (Nattenhaasdonk), as early possessions of the domain of Bornem. Hevekesdunc was then more important than Hinken, but was so often damaged by floodings that its inhabitants preferred to move on to higher places. In 1825, a huge flood caused the end of Havekesdunc; a better place was selected in Wintam, a fishers' hamlet located on the Rupel, to rebuild the church. A document from 1674 says that Hingene was a "subsidiary" of Natteenhaasdonk, but the inhabitants of Hingen never trusted it.
Mariekerke, a fishers' village, was granted in 1228 rights by Count of Bornem Hugo II. The village was then bigger than today and spread along the Scheldt between Branst and Weert. The village church was burnt in 1914 for strategic purpose and rebuilt in 1925. Mariekerke is the birth village of Jan Hammenecker (1878-1932). Appointed priest in Westrode, Hammenecker wrote several poems and a few saint's lifes.
Weert, known in 1242 as Werde, was in 1100 listed as a hamlet of Moerzeke, located on a paeninsula between the Durme and the Scheldt; until 1241, it belonged to the lords of Coudenborch, from Temse. The village was later sold to the St. Bavo abbey in Ghent, that kept it until the French Revolution.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 27 May 2007
The municipal flag of Bornem is vertically divided blue-white-blue
(3:5:3) with a blue tower in the white stripe.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 21 April 1981, confirmed by Royal Decree on 30 November 1981
and published in the Belgian official gazette on 13 January 1982.
The colours are the main colours of the municipal arms, red excluded,
whereas the tower is shown on the first quarter of the arms, which is
the old coat of arms of Bornem (with a change in the field colour).
Servais shows the old arms of Bornem, granted by Royal Decree on 27 February 1940, as
"Or a fess gules a tower azure overall". These arms appear on images
from the XVIIth century and a municipal seal from the early XVIIIth
century. The red fess is of unclear origin, maybe taken from a medieval
local banner or from the arms of the Counts of Béthune.
Van evers en heiligen: Wapens en vlaggen van gemeenten in de provincie Antwerpen [pbd98] shows the new
arms of Bornem as "Quarterly I. argent a fess gules a tower azure
overall; II. azure a fish argent per pale flanked by two fleurs-de-lis
or; III. azure a lion argent three pales gules; IV. gules a chief argent
three merlettes of the first". The first quarter shows the old arms of Bornem, whose field colour was changed to match the fourth quarter,
which shows the old arms of Hingene. The second quarter shows the old
arms of Mariekerke, and the third
quarter shows the lion of Weert. J. Melkenbeeck (Heraldiek
der gemeenten van Klein-Brabant) says that the arms of Marierkerke were granted by Royal Decree on 25 May 1956, as was the municipal seal on 21 September 1937, after an historical seal dated 1543.
Pascal Vagnat, Jan Mertens & Ivan Sache, 27 May 2007