Where oh Where Wednesday: Capital cities

You would think that talking about a capital city would be easy. After all, every country has their capital (their head city) and their capitol (the building housing the government) somewhere. Sometimes they move it or build whole new cities to be a capital. But every country has one somewhere. 

In the Netherlands, it is not so difficult as simply a bit unclear. What type of capital does one mean?  Many people when thinking of the Netherlands would say that Amsterdam is the capital. But this is as with many US states, the most well-known or populous city is not necessarily the capital city, where the capitol is found. As a matter of fact, in the States, the capital is seldom the most populous city. 

The government of the Netherlands, parliament, meets in The Hague (and has done since 1588). This is where the prime minister has his office - a little place called ‘the tower’ (the little pointy tower in the photo). When the King gives his yearly speech at the opening of parliament on the 3rd Tuesday of September, it is in the Knights’ Hall. The Supreme Court is also in The Hague. We might say that the capitol is in The Hague.

And yet, Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. This is even established in the constitution. Even in a 1983 revision of the constitution, Amsterdam is noted as the capital city of the country. And yet, Amsterdam has only once in its history housed the government (and this for only 2 years between 1808-1010). The king’s palace (one of them) is here in Amsterdam. 

For Belgium it might seem that things are simpler,. Not so fast. Nothing in the political arena is easy in Belgium. The capital of Belgium is indeed Brussels. The region around Brussels even has its own government and the area is called ‘the capital region of Brussels’. One could also argue that Brussels is the capital of Europe, since the European Parliament meets here. But even that is not easy - and is a story for a different time. 

Although Brussels is the capital of Belgium, Belgium itself is a confederation. It is made up of three almost separate areas working together: Flanders, Wallonia and Capital city (Brussels). And then there is the federal government over all of those layers. There is then a capital of Flanders and a capital of Wallonia. 

So you have choices when you come to visit Belgium and the Netherlands. You could visit up to 5 different cities to have visited the capital of these two countries. Come on over and we will help you figure out what to do. You can also visit the church in 4 of the 5 cities as well.