A vanished place name
Nijpezele lay at the southern end of Diegem, on both sides of the St.-Katarinastraat and across the Woluwe. Today the name appears nowhere, neither in the land register nor on a street sign. It comes from 'Ten Ypensele': the dwelling place (sele) by the elms (yp). The n of 'ten' later moved forward, giving Nypesele. The oldest mention dates from 1263.
According to Verbesselt, Nijpezele went back to a Frankish farm of the 4th-5th century. Later it was a fief of the Benedictine abbey of Inde (Kornelimünster) near Aachen, and at the end of the 14th century a family calling itself 'van Nypesele' lived there. A few water mills turned there, including the St.-Katarinamolen and the Duivenmolen; in 1568 a paper mill of Lanceloet van Ginderachter is mentioned. Nijpezele later grew into Diegem-Lo, which became joined to the village along the Zaventemsesteenweg and the Molenstraat.
Diegem-Hoek
Diegem-Hoek, at the end of the Tenaertslaan, used to be the way into Nijpezele. Here the road crossed the Woluwe by the 'Boschbrugge', already mentioned in 1640. Around 1912 a new bridge was built, with the inn 'In de Boschbrugge' beside it. From 1930 the trees along the stream were felled to build the Woluwe sewer. A little further, on the border with Zaventem, lay the Dorrenberg, a spot surrounded by water where people already lived in the 14th century.