Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
immigrants from former colonies, causing friction but diversifying
the population. Beginning in the 1990s, as Europe's nations have
united to form the European Union, Brussels gradually became
the de facto capital of this “United States of Europe.” Facing an
uncertain future today, the “Low Countries”—with much of their
territory below sea level—keep a close watch on global warming
and rising seas.
Sights
• Amsterdam's Beurs, Tuschinski Theater, and National
Monument on Dam Square
• Amsterdam's Anne Frank House and Dutch Resistance
Museum
• Amsterdam's Heineken Brewery, rock-and-roll clubs Paradiso
and Melkweg, and the new “Stopera” opera house
• Haarlem's Corrie ten Boom House
• Paintings by René Magritte in Bruges' Groeninge Museum
and in Brussels' Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
• Brussels' Atomium and European Parlia ment quarter
THE NETHERLANdS ANd BELGIum—
A TImELINE
57
b
.
c
.
Julius Caesar invades the Low Countries,
conquering local Batavian, Frisian, and Belgae
tribes, beginning four centuries of Roman rule.
a
.
d
. 406
Frankish tribes from Germany drive out the last
Roman legions as Rome's Europe-wide empire
collapses. Christian missionaries work to prevent
the area from reverting to paganism.
c. 800
Charlemagne, born in Belgium, rules the Low
Countries as part of a large northern European
empire. After his death, his grandsons divide the
kingdom and bicker among themselves.
c. 880-1000
Vikings rape and pillage during two centuries of
raids in the Low Countries.
c. 900
The Low Countries are a patchwork of small
dukedoms ruled by bishops and local counts (of
Holland, Flanders, Brabant, and so on), who owe
allegiance to greater kings in France, Germany,
and England.
c. 1250
In Amsterdam, fishermen build a dike (dam)
where the Amstel River flows into the North
Sea, creating a prime trading port. Soon the
town gains independence and trading privileges
from the local count and bishop. Meanwhile,
