Hoegaarden
title: "Hoegaarden" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["hoegaarden", "municipalities-of-flemish-brabant"] topic_path: "general/hoegaarden" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoegaarden" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox Belgium municipality"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Hoegaarden |
| picture | Hoegaarden gemeenteplein.jpg |
| picture-legend | Town square of Hoegaarden |
| map | Hoegaarden Flemish-Brabant Belgium Map.svg |
| map-legend | Location of Hoegaarden in Flemish Brabant |
| arms | Blason Hoegaarden.svg |
| flag | Flag of Hoegaarden Belgium.svg |
| arrondissement | Leuven |
| nis | 24008 |
| mayor | Jean-Pierre Taverniers (CD&V) |
| majority | CD&V |
| postal-codes | 3320, 3321 |
| telephone-area | 016 |
| web | Official website |
| coordinates | |
| :: |
::callout[type=note] the municipality ::
|name = Hoegaarden |picture = Hoegaarden gemeenteplein.jpg |picture-legend = Town square of Hoegaarden |map = Hoegaarden Flemish-Brabant Belgium Map.svg |map-legend = Location of Hoegaarden in Flemish Brabant |arms = Blason Hoegaarden.svg |flag = Flag of Hoegaarden Belgium.svg |arrondissement = Leuven |nis = 24008 |pyramid-date = |0-19= |20-64= |65= |foreigners= |foreigners-date = |mayor = Jean-Pierre Taverniers (CD&V) |majority = CD&V |postal-codes = 3320, 3321 |telephone-area = 016 |web = Official website |coordinates = Hoegaarden () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Hoegaarden proper, Meldert and Outgaarden. On January 1, 2006, Hoegaarden had a total population of 6,225. The total area is 33.93 km² which gives a population density of 183 inhabitants per km2.
History
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Hoegaarden,_kerk_foto1_2011-09-25_11.43.JPG" caption="The Gorgonius church"] ::
The current village was founded in 981 by the last ruler of the county of Brunengeruz. Countess Alpaïdis (Alpeide) later gave her county and castle (today the site of St-Gorgoniuskerk) to the Prince-Bishop of Liège. As an enclave of the Liège prince bishopric the village had tax advantages over the villages in the surrounding Duchy of Brabant, leading to the growth of the brewing industry. This tax advantage was lost after the French Revolution once the Prince-Bishopric of Liège was abolished. The industry had withered to nothing by 1955, but Pierre Celis later re-launched the town's now iconic white beer which has since gone on to become a global brand. In December 2005, it was decided to close the Hoegaarden Brewery and move the production of the beers to the Jupille brewery in southern Belgium. However, the beer could not be brewed there with the right characteristics, and so was cancelled.
Famous inhabitants
- Pierre Celis, founder of the breweries Hoegaarden and Celis
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Hoegaarden is twinned with:
- AUT Altmünster, Austria
References
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::