Blankenberge

This article relates to the Belgian coastal town of Blankenberge. For German towns with the near-homophonous names, see Blankenberg or Blankenburg

Blankenberge
Municipality
Blankenberge beach on a hot summer day
Flag Coat of arms
Blankenberge Location in Belgium
Location of Blankenberge in West Flanders
Coordinates: 51°18′N 03°07′E / 51.300°N 3.117°ECoordinates: 51°18′N 03°07′E / 51.300°N 3.117°E
Country	Belgium
Community	Flemish Community
Region	Flemish Region
Province	West Flanders
Arrondissement	Bruges
Government
• Mayor	Patrick De Klerck (Open VLD)
• Governing party/ies	Open VLD, sp.a, N-VA
Area
• Total	17.41 km^2 (6.72 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2016)[1]
• Total	20,013
• Density	1,100/km^2 (3,000/sq mi)
Postal codes	8370
Area codes	050
Website	www.blankenberge.be

Blankenberge ([ˈblɑŋkəmbɛrɣə]) (West Flemish: Blanknberge) is a town and a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Blankenberge proper and the settlement of Uitkerke.

On 1 December 2014, Blankenberge had a total population of 19,897. The total area of the municipality is 17.41 km², giving a population density of 1,142 inhabitants per km².

Like most other Flemish coastal towns, a main characteristic of this one is that it is a national and to a certain extent international seaside resort.

Apart from the sandy beach, there's a structure unique along the Belgian coast: a 350-m long pier, constructed in 1933.

Famous events

• Carnival Parade
• Two Day Marching event, every first weekend of May^[2]
• Klankenberge
• Flower Parade (Bloemencorso), every last Sunday of August

Famous inhabitants

• Wing Commander Roy George Claringbould Arnold MiD RAF 29198 is buried in the CWG Cemetery Row A Grave 18. On 9 June 1941 Arnold saved the lives of his five-man Wellington crew from IX Squadron (including Flt Lt Dominic Bruce OBE MC AFM KSG MA the 'Medium Sized Man' of Colditz fame) by calmly staying at the controls of the burning plane to hold it steady while they baled out, in the certain knowledge that he would die doing so.^[3][4]
• Pieter Aspe, Belgian writer.
• Adolf Eugen Fick, physician and physiologist, died in Blankenberge in 1901.
• Frans Masereel, Flemish painter and woodcutter born here in 1889.
• Leo Van Paemel, artist born (and later buried) in Blankenberge.
• Rudi Pillen,^[5] Belgian contemporary painter.
• Brian Vandenbussche, Belgian goalkeeper.

Schools

Blankenberge has schools from both school networks in Belgium. The two secondary schools are:

• Sint-Jozef – Sint-Pieter Blankenberge (formerly known as Sint-Pieterscollege – Sint-Jozefshandelsschool, subsidized free school)
• Maerlant-Middenschool • Maerlant Atheneum (GO! Onderwijs van de Vlaamse gemeenschap)

Both schools have numeral different elementary schools organized by the same instances.

Railways

Blankenberge railway station was opened in 1863. Trains operated by NMBS run towards Brussels, and the Kusttram run by De Lijn runs along the Belgian coast of the North Sea.

Gallery

• 

  One of the stairs up to the beach

• 

  Seaside pier

• 

  City view

• 

  Blankenberge in 1641

• 

  Classic tram in 1980s

Twin towns

Blankenberge is twinned with:^[6]

• Chikura, Chiba, Japan

Every year a couple of students from Japan visit Blankenberge and live with families over here. Afterworth students from Blankenberge go and visit Chikura for eight days.^[7] This is organised by vzw 'Tweedaagse Voettocht van Blankenberge'.

References

1. Population per municipality as of 1 January 2016 (XLS; 397 KB)
2. "Two-Day Walk successful in spite of bad weather". International Two Day Walk.
3. Youngs, Kelvin. "Aircrew Remembered Aviation Personal Histories and Databases".
4. Manchester, Reading Room. "Casualty Details".
5. "rudipillen.be". rudipillen.be. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
6. "Embassy of Japan in Belgium - Japan-Belgium Relations". Be.emb-japan.go.jp. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
7. fonzarelli (2010-08-14). "Blankenberge-Online-Persberichten". Blankenberge-online.be. Retrieved 2012-08-03.

External links

• Official website in English (also available in Dutch, French and German)
• Tourist Information Blankenberge
• The Pier Blankenberge