Last modified: 2008-01-19 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Lennik]](../images/b/be-vbrlk.gif)
Municipal flag of Lennik - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 25 June 2005
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The municipality of Lennik (8,729 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 3,080 ha) is located 20 km west of Brussels, in the heart of the region called Pajottenland. The municipality of Lennik is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Sint-Kwintens-Lennik (including Eizeringen), Sint-Martens-Lennik and Gaasbeek.
Pajottenland is a rural area located between the rivers Zenne and Dender and surrounded by the towns of Anderlecht (Brussels-Capital), Asse (Flemish Brabant), Ninove (East Flanders), Geraardsbergen (East Flanders), Enghien (Hainaut) and Halle (Flemish Brabant). Beside parts of these towns, Pajottenland is made of another eight municipalities from Flemish Brabant: Dilbeek, Roosdaal, Gooik, Herne, Galmaarden, Pepingen, Bever, Affligem, Liedekerke, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Ternat and Lennik.
The name of Pajottenland was coined by romantic students from Ghent in the middle of the XIXth century. The origin of the word is not clear;
De Gronckel, who published in 1852 the first map with the name
Pajottenland, wrongly claimed that Pajotten was a deformation of
Patriots.
Pajottenland is known as Bruegel's Land. The painter Pieter Bruegel the
Ancient (1525/1530-1569) settled in Brussels in 1563 and painted
several landscapes and scenes of Pajottenland. A well-known painting by
Bruegel shows a group of roped-up blind people falling down into a
brook, which has been identified as the Pedebeke in the village of
Sint-Anna-Pede. The chapel shown on the painting is still the same.
Bruegel also painted fairs (kermissen), which are still main events in
the local social life.
Pajottenland is the home of the lambik beer. Spontaneous fermentation
of lambik is caused by wild yeasts. Lambik has been brewed since the
Middle Ages. Beer obtained after this natural fermentation is called
young lambik (jonge lambik). Old lambik (oude lambik) is obtained by
mixing young lambiks of different origin and age. Like the British
ales, the lambiks do not have a froth head. The gueuse beer (geuze),
considered as the Champagne of the beers, is obtained by mixing an old
lambik with a very young lambik into a tap, where a second fermentation
takes place. The fruit beers Kriek and Framboise, are obtained in a
similar way, with the addition of bitter cherries (krieks) or
rasperries (framboises).
The Sint-Kwentins-Lennik cyclist rally was run from 1966 to 1981. Its most famous winners were Andre Dierickx (1977) and Fons De Wolf (1979).
Sources:
Ivan Sache, 26 June 2005
The municipal flag of Lennik is white with a red chevron and three
Moor's heads with a red ribbon.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 13 March 1989,
confirmed by the Executive of Flanders on 6 June 1989, as published in
the Belgian official gazette on 8 November 1989.
The flag is a banner of the municipal arms.
According to Servais, the arms of Lennik are those of the former municipality of
Sint-Kwentins-Lennik. They were originally designed in 1699 by
Corneille de Man, lord of Lennik; their precise meaning is not known.
On the greater arms of Lennik, the shield is supported by two lions or
armed and langued gules each holding a square flag; on dexter, a banner
of the arms of Lennik, on sinister a banner quartered first and fourth
argent three mascles argent placed two and one a chief gules second and
third silver a lion sable armed and langued gules.
Three Moor's heads are also shown on the municipal flag of Linkebeel, based on the arms of another member of the Man family.
Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 25 June 2005