The municipality comprises the subdivisions or deelgemeenten of Nossegem, Sint-Stevens-Woluwe, Sterrebeek and Zaventem proper.

The old spelling of the municipality's name is Saventhem, but the oldest notation of Zaventem is Saventa, which dates from records in 1117.

From burial remains it has become clear that the area also was inhabited during the times of the Frankish Empire and the Merovingian dynasty.

[citation needed] Originally, there was a large forest northwest of Zaventem called Saventerlo where the Dukes of Brabant used to go hunting.

Initially, the river had many bends along its path in Zaventem which made the supply of energy from the water power rather difficult.

In 1208, Godfrey, Duke of Brabant gave orders to alter and elevate the pathway of the Woluwe River so that the watermills would be supplied with a sufficient amount of water.

From 1850, the development of steam engines even intensified the process of industrialisation, having a negative effect on agricultural activities.

In 1866, the railway track between Brussels and Leuven, as a sign of the industrial era, was inaugurated splitting Zaventem into two parts.

Added to that the strong growth of semi-industrial companies during the 1960s and 1970s Zaventem became an important economic hub.

They are primarily old objects that were used in the past, such as weighing instruments, threshing and transport material, archival pieces regarding local societies, municipal governments and economic activities.

Furthermore, there are also artefacts relating to the monarchy, the church life, the world wars and historiographical accounts and flags of Zaventem.

[5] The Mariadal Castle in the municipal park was built at the end of the 19th century by the archeologist Baron Emile de Munck.

The location of the castle used to be the place where the 17th century homestead Hof van Ophem stood (and still partially exists).

[6] The House of the Seven Knights ("Huis der Zeven Ridders") is a building from the 17th century and was the property of the du Bois or vanden Bossche family.

Because of their multitude of properties the vanden Bossche family was highly regarded amongst the people, which may explain the confusion.

Its history goes back to the 13th century when during the time of Henry III, Duke of Brabant the mill was mentioned in an official document of 1249.

From 1675 until the beginning of the 19th century, the mill remained the property of the highly esteemed vanden Bossche family.

When during the Belgian Revolution of 1830, Dutch troops were stationed in the fields along the Woluwe River between Zaventem and Sint-Stevens-Woluwe, miller Karel de Velder stopped the water from flowing through in order to flood the fields and the Dutch would retreat.

The municipality contains a major road intersection where the Brussels Ring (R0) meets the A3 (towards Leuven and Liège); the junction on the ring road serving the town is further north, while the intersection with the A201 serving the airport (and labelled Zaventem) is actually located within Machelen.

European Air Transport has its head office in Building 4–5 on the grounds of Brussels Airport and in Zaventem.

[10] When it existed, Virgin Express had its head office in Building 116 on the grounds of Brussels Airport and in Zaventem.

It covers an area of 1245 hectares with about 225,000 flight movements and at least 19 million passengers annually, therefore making it the largest airport in Belgium.

The Belgian capital Brussels is at a distance of 12 km (7 mi) and it is easily accessible both by car and by public transport, including train, bus and taxi.

During the First World War, the German occupier started building an 'airfield' there because of the proximity of Brussels, the connection to the road to Haacht and the flat terrain.

Shortly after, the Second World War broke loose during which the Germans set up an airport in Melsbroek during the occupation.

The buildings of the Zaventem airport were designed in 1956-1958 by Maxime Brunfaut, Georges Bontinck and Jos Moutschen.

The transit hall was intended as a striking feature with a space of a 100m long, 55m wide and 18m high, covered with a curved roof structure out of aluminium.