Description
Avenue Louise or Louizalaan is a major thoroughfare in Brussels. It runs southeast from Place Louise to the Bois de la Cambre, covering a distance of 2.7km.Avenue Louise is one of the most prestigious and expensive streets in Brussels.HistoryThe construction of Avenue Louise was commissioned in 1847 as a monumental avenue bordered by chestnut trees that would allow easy access to the popular recreational area of the Bois de la Cambre. It was also to be the first Haussmann-esque artery of the city. The name was chosen in honor of King Leopold II's eldest daughter, Princess Louise.However, fierce resistance to the project was put up by the town of Ixelles - then, as now, a separate commune (local authority) from the City of Brussels - through whose territory the avenue was to run. After years of fruitless negotiations, Brussels finally annexed the narrow band of land needed for the avenue plus the Bois de la Cambre itself in 1864. That decision accounts for the unusual shape of today's City of Brussels and for Ixelles being split in two separate parts.Gestapo headquartersDuring World War II, following the German invasion of Belgium, Brussels was occupied by the German military. The Nazi security organisation, the Sicherheitspolizei-Sicherheitsdienst, (Sipo-SD) of which the Gestapo was a part, set up their Brussels headquarters on Avenue Louise.
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