Aalst, Belgium

Church of the beguinage, Aalst.

Aalst on the Ferraris map (around 1775).

The first historical records on Aalst date from the 9th century, when it was described as the villa Alost, a dependency of the Abbey of Lobbes. During the Middle Ages, a town and port grew at this strategic point, where the road from Bruges to Cologne crossed the Dender. While it was within the Holy Roman Empire it was considered the capital of the province of Flanders.[2] In 1046, Aalst was transferred to the Countship of Imperial Flanders, and absorbed a portion of Brabant, and in 1173 it was united with the remainder of the Flanders province.[2] Its frontier position on the border of the Holy Roman Empire allowed the town to keep a certain degree of independence. Its relation with Brabant has been preserved in the city's white and red coat of arms, the colours of Lotharingia.

Construction of the town hall began in the middle of the 12th century,[3] making it the oldest surviving town hall in Belgium.[4] Several manuscripts from this period still survive in the town archives.[3] During the Hundred Years War the town of Aalst allied themselves with Louis de Male against Philip van Artevelde and sent troops in the victorious Battle of Roosebeke.[5] The town hall, and the city itself, were almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1360. The town was soon rebuilt and a new belfry in gothic style was built in the 15th century. This was a time of great prosperity for the city, dominated by the powerful weavers' guild. It is also at that time that Dirk Martens, a local citizen, became the Southern Netherlands’ first printer, founding a printing shop in 1473[6] that published books by various authors including Christopher Columbus; Martens would later become a professor at the Old University of Leuven,[3] and he was laid to rest in the Church of St. Marten.[7]

Aalst suffered considerably under the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648). It was later taken by the French Marshal Turenne in the War of Devolution of 1667, then occupied by France until 1706, when it became independent once more following the Battle of Ramillies,[2] along with Southern Flanders in general. The textile-based economy flourished under the French. In the 18th century, the Austrians controlled the region.[8] 1830 saw Belgium gain independence and Aalst became part of the country, this ended a long period, starting in 1056, of foreign control, by such as the Spanish, German, French, and the Dutch.[4] The 19th century was marked by social crises engendered by the Industrial Revolution, with Father Adolf Daens and his Christene Volkspartij emerging as the local defender of workers' rights. This was in response to Rerum novarum, which established worker rights. However Daens felt this did not do enough. Eventually, he was made to pay for his "splinter movement".[9] In the Pre-World War II years, the fascist movement in the Low Countries gained momentum, with the collaborationist Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond (Flemish National Union) putting down roots in the region. Aalst, along with Brussels and Antwerp were the strongest subscribers to this line of thought.[10] The 20th century was marked by bombardment[2] and occupation by the Germans during both world wars.[3]

The textile industry is still vibrant in Aalst,[11] in part because of the French occupation. Aalst produces not only the textiles themselves, clothing and footwear, but manufactures many of the needed machines. The more rural regions are noted for their production of hops, which are sold to the old breweries there. They also have a large active cut flower business in the region.[8]

Aalst is known for its carnival festivities, celebrated every year before Lent. During this celebration, the former town hall belfry is the site of the traditional "throwing of the onions".[11] A Prince Carnival is elected, who is allowed to "rule" the city for three days. A big parade crosses the city on Sunday, with about 70 groups of costumed volunteers and parade cars. Carnival Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday (by tradition, the day before Ash Wednesday), is known as the day of the 'Voil Jeannetten' (literally: "the Dirty Jennies"), i.e., men dressed as women. The festivities traditionally end with the "Burning of the Doll", happening on Tuesday evening. In recent years the carnival has been accused of anti-Semitism due to the repeated us of derogatory imagery of Jews.[12][13]

The Belgian TV police drama, 13 Geboden (13 Commandments) was filmed in Aalst.

The Belgian historical drama Thieves of the Wood is set in and around Aalst.[19]

• The 15th-century Belfry of Aalst next to the town hall[2] contains a 52-bell carillon, the oldest in Belgium.[3][11] Together with the adjacent Aldermen's House, it was classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1999 (part of Belfries of Belgium and France).
• The famous "unfinished" St. Martin's Collegiate Church, in Gothic style, dates back to 1480. It contains a painting by Rubens, Saint Roch beseeching Christ to terminate the Plague at Aalst, and it also has a tabernacle (dated 1605), which features sculptures made by Hiëronymus Duquesnoy the Elder, whose most famous creation is Manneken Pis. This church was damaged in 1914.[2]
• The statue of Dirk Martens (1450–1534),[2] first printer in the Netherlands.[11]
• The old breweries that grow their own hops.[2]
• The Town square has a gallery with a second statue of Martens along with Charles V.[7]

• 
  Belfry of Aalst
• 
  Saint Martin's Church
• 
  Terlinden castle

• Dirk Martens (c. 1446 – 1534), the first book printer in the Southern Netherlands

Johannes Wierix – Portrait of Pieter Coecke van Aelst

• Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502–1550), painter, sculptor and architect
• Adolf Daens (1839–1907), priest and politician
• Valerius De Saedeleer (1867–1941), painter
• Pieter De Bruyne (1931-1987), designer and interior architect
• Franz Cumont (1868–1947), archeologist, historian, and philologist
• Louis D'Haeseleer (1911–1988), politician
• Louis Paul Boon (1912–1979), writer and journalist
• Herman Le Compte (1929–2008), physician, gerontologist
• Mark De Bie (born 1939), television writer
• Luc Van den Bossche (born 1947), socialist politician
• Wilfried Wesemael (born 1950), cyclist
• Luc Luycx (born 1958), designer of the common side of the euro coins
• Gonda Van Steen (born 1964), classical scholar
• Bert Kruismans, (born 1966), stand-up comedian
• Patrick Van Goethem (born 1969), countertenor
• Geert De Vlieger (born 1971), football goalkeeper
• Sabine Appelmans (born 1972), tennis player
• Dimitri Verhulst (born 1972), writer and poet
• Peter Van Der Heyden (born 1976), Belgian and international footballer
• Remco Evenepoel (born 2000), professional cyclist

• Aalst railway station
• Erembodegem railway station

Aalst has several professional teams:

• The basketball club Okapi Aalstar
• The football club Eendracht Aalst who play in the second division.
• The volleyball club VK Aalst, which was founded in the 1960s, playing in the first division.
• The MotoGP team Repsol Honda are based in Aalst, Belgium.

• Worcester, South Africa
• Oss, Netherlands
• Gabrovo, Bulgaria[20]

• Anon (2014). "From Then til Now". www.brabantia.com. Archived from the original on August 2, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
• Anon (2014a). "Twin Towns". Gabrovo Municipality. Archived from the original on August 2, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
• Blanjean, Lucienne (1997). "Aalst". In Johnston, Bernard (ed.). Collier's Encyclopedia. I: A to Ameland (1st ed.). New York, NY: P. F. Collier.
• Canby, Courtlandt (1984). "Aalst". In Carruth, Gorton (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Historic Places. I: A-L. New York, NY: Fact on File Publications. ISBN 0-87196-126-1.
• Clough, Shepard B. (1946) [1945]. "IX: The Flemish Movement". In Goris, Jan-Albert (ed.). Belgium. The United Nations. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ASIN B001VSF64A.
• Cohen, Saul B., ed. (1998). "Aalst". The Columbia Gazetteer of the World. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11040-5.
• Cook, Bernard A. (2004). Belgium: A History. Studies in Modern European History. 50. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-8204-5824-4.
• Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Aalst". Encyclopædia Britannica. I: A-Ak - Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
• Munro, David, ed. (1995). "Aalst (Alost)". The Oxford Dictionary of the World. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866184-3.
• Ogrizek, DoreÌ (1961) [1950]. Belgium and Luxembourg. The World in Color. ASIN B0007H5COK.
• Young, Margaret Walsh; Stetler, Susan L., eds. (1987). "Belgium". Aalst. Cities of the World. 3: Europe and the Mediterranean Middle East (3rd ed.). Detroit, MI: Gale Research Company. ISBN 0-8103-2541-1.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aalst, Belgium.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Aalst.

• Official website - Only available in Dutch