Talk:Leuven
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[edit] Foreign names
The French name "Louvain" has been officially abolished to avoid confusion with the town of Louvain-la-Neuve, and the German name is not used in Germany anymore.
- True. When you talk about "Louvain" in the Grand-Duchy of Luxemburg, they think you're talking about Louvan-La-Neuve. Say "Leuven" and they know directly what you're talking about! Erik Van Thienen 21:43, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
- Unlike Nederlands, there is no "official" lexicon of English, so the French spelling "Louvain" in English remains current, though far from universal. --Dystopos
- Is Lovan another english name for Leuven? It is well-known that dutch-speakers are strangely monomaniac about placenames in Foreign names anyway... David Descamps 09:30, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
- The English name "Louvain" has not been officially abolished. In English speaking countries, we do have "standard reference works". They include the dictionaries that we use as guides to spelling and usage of words (such as the Oxford English Dictionary) and encyclopaedias (such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopedia Americana, note differences in spelling). You will find "Louvain" in ALL the standard references but only passing reference to the Dutch translation "Leuven". The University of Louvain and the city of Louvain are well known in Britain and Ireland and the eminence of the university makes it truly an international university. There is immense historical value to its name. Abolishing the ENGLISH name "Louvain" by editting it out of Wikipedia goes against the spirit of this work. I do bow to Flemish sensibilities and their pressure to enter the name Leuven into the English language by putting it at the title of Wikipedia articles, but please leave the reference to the English name and do not remove the knowledge that Leuven is the Flemish name. Laburke 03:27, 13 September 2007 (UTC)Laburke (D.Sc. University of Louvain) 04:16, 13 September 2007 (UTC)
- Point taken. I agree. Both names should be mentioned, maybe even the english version as the title of the article since that seems to be the standard for all other place names on Wikipedia. Key to the city 19:28, 13 September 2007 (UTC)
- The English name "Louvain" has not been officially abolished. In English speaking countries, we do have "standard reference works". They include the dictionaries that we use as guides to spelling and usage of words (such as the Oxford English Dictionary) and encyclopaedias (such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopedia Americana, note differences in spelling). You will find "Louvain" in ALL the standard references but only passing reference to the Dutch translation "Leuven". The University of Louvain and the city of Louvain are well known in Britain and Ireland and the eminence of the university makes it truly an international university. There is immense historical value to its name. Abolishing the ENGLISH name "Louvain" by editting it out of Wikipedia goes against the spirit of this work. I do bow to Flemish sensibilities and their pressure to enter the name Leuven into the English language by putting it at the title of Wikipedia articles, but please leave the reference to the English name and do not remove the knowledge that Leuven is the Flemish name. Laburke 03:27, 13 September 2007 (UTC)Laburke (D.Sc. University of Louvain) 04:16, 13 September 2007 (UTC)
- Is Lovan another english name for Leuven? It is well-known that dutch-speakers are strangely monomaniac about placenames in Foreign names anyway... David Descamps 09:30, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
- Unlike Nederlands, there is no "official" lexicon of English, so the French spelling "Louvain" in English remains current, though far from universal. --Dystopos
[edit] Library of Leuven
The destruction of the library of Leuven in August 1914 is an event of some notoriety. I wonder if we can say more about that. The event figures in Allied accounts of the lack of civilization and barbarism of the Germans. I am guessing it is more complex than that. Anyway additional details will be helpful to the reader. 64.48.158.34 05:09, 23 April 2006 (UTC)
- I found out that there is a bit in the Treaty of Versailles about reparations to balance the destruction of the library of Leuven. "Germany undertakes to furnish to the University of Louvain, within three months after a request made by it and transmitted through the intervention of the Reparation Commission, manuscripts, incunabula, printed books, maps and objects of collection corresponding in number and value to those destroyed in the burning by Germany of the Library of Louvain." (Article 247 of Part VIII, [1]). Maybe it can be mentioned in this article. Best, 64.48.192.31 04:26, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Fonske
I was a resident in Leuven for a total of four years, and from what I remember, "Fonske" was to remind the students that only beer -or- wisdom could be in the head at one time, not both. Notice the Dutch diminutive "~ke" ending to the Latin word "Fons" for "Fountain".
- Fons is also a Flemish and Dutch variant af the name Alphons. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.241.179.3 (talk) 01:21, 25 February 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Student Forum
This link (External Links, Student Forum) claims to be a student forum, but it's limited to economics students. I don't see the point of linking such a specific group's forum in the Leuven article. To be honest, I think it's just an attempt at advertising their forum. Remove it? Key to the city 12:01, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
- I'm in favour of removing it.
Erik Van Thienen 21:43, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Miscellaneous
- I can hardly see why the comments about ‘the smallest bar’ in the miscellaneous section are relevant. Please revise, as this is once again just an attempted self-promotion act.
