Harelbeke

Harelbeke
Municipality
Flag Coat of arms
Harelbeke Location in Belgium
Location of Harelbeke in West-Flanders
Coordinates: 50°51′N 03°18′E / 50.850°N 3.300°ECoordinates: 50°51′N 03°18′E / 50.850°N 3.300°E
Country	Belgium
Community	Flemish Community
Region	Flemish Region
Province	West Flanders
Arrondissement	Kortrijk
Government
• Mayor	Alain Top (sp.a-Groen)
• Governing party/ies	sp.a-Groen, N-VA, Open Vld
Area
• Total	29.14 km^2 (11.25 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2016)[1]
• Total	27,536
• Density	940/km^2 (2,400/sq mi)
Postal codes	8530, 8531
Area codes	056
Website	www.harelbeke.be

Harelbeke (West Flemish: Oarlbeke) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Harelbeke proper and the towns of Bavikhove and Hulste. On January 1, 2006, Harelbeke had a total population of 26,172. The total area is 29.14 km² which gives a population density of 898 inhabitants per km². Inhabitants consider their hometown to be a "Weireldstad", which also led to a monthly "Harelbekedag" amongst the students of Harelbeke who are studying in Ghent

Famous natives

• Andreas Pevernage (1542/1543 – 1591), composer of the late Renaissance
• Jacobus Vaet (1529-1567), Renaissance composer, possibly born in Harelbeke
• Armand Coeck (1941 - ), avant-garde composer
• Jan Bucquoy (1945 - ), anarchist and film-maker (Camping Cosmos)
• Peter Benoit, composer
• Wim Opbrouck, actor and singer

Harelbeke New British Cemetery

This cemetery is located just outside the downtown of Harelbeke and was designed by Willian Harrison Cowlishaw^[2] and contains the graves of 1126 Commonwealth soldiers who died during WWI (1055 from the UK, 26 from Canada, 7 from Australia, 4 from South Africa and 3 from Newfoundland). In addition 10 British soldiers who died during WWII are buried here.

Events

Harelbeke has, since 1958, been the start and finish place of the E3 Harelbeke, a semi classic cycling race held the week before the Tour of Flanders.

• 
  Roundabout in Bavikhove decorated with artwork referring to (and sponsored by) the local Bavik Brewery

Twin towns

• Kinheim, Germany (1997)
• Eenhana, Namibia (2007)

References

1. Population per municipality as of 1 January 2016 (XLS; 397 KB)
2. webpage describing the cemetery with special remarks on some Austrialian soldiers who have been buried here (in Dutch)

External links

• Official website - Available only in Dutch
• all about the town of Hulste - Available only in Dutch