| Brussels Town Hall | |
|---|---|
 Town Hall of theCity of Brussels's main façade seen from theGrand-Place/Grote Markt | |
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| General information | |
| Type | Town hall |
| Architectural style | |
| Location | Grand-Place/Grote Markt |
| Town or city | 1000City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region |
| Country | Belgium |
| Coordinates | 50°50′47″N4°21′6″E / 50.84639°N 4.35167°E /50.84639; 4.35167 |
| Construction started | 1401 (1401) |
| Completed | 1455 (1455) |
| Height | 96 metres (315 ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Jean Bornoy, Jacob van Thienen, Jan van Ruysbroek |
| Engineer | Guillaume de Voghel |
| Part of | La Grand-Place, Brussels |
| Criteria | Cultural: ii, iv |
| Reference | 857 |
| Inscription | 1998 (22ndSession) |
TheTown Hall (French:Hôtel de Ville,pronounced[otɛldəvil]ⓘ;Dutch:Stadhuis,pronounced[stɑtˈɦœys]ⓘ) of theCity of Brussels is a landmark building and the seat of that municipality ofBrussels, Belgium. It is located on the south side of theGrand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square), opposite theneo-GothicKing's House orBread House[a] building, housing theBrussels City Museum.[1]
Erected between 1401 and 1455, the Town Hall is the only remainingmedieval building of the Grand-Place and is considered a masterpiece of civilGothic architecture and more particularly ofBrabantine Gothic.[2] Its threeclassicist rear wings date from the 18th century. Since 1998, is also listed as aUNESCO World Heritage Site, as part of the square.[3][4] This site is served by thepremetro (underground tram) stationBourse - Grand-Place/Beurs - Grote Markt (on lines4 and10), as well as thebus stopGrand-Place/Grote Markt (on lines 33, 48 and 95).[5][6][7]
The Town Hall (French:Hôtel de Ville, Dutch:Stadhuis) of theCity of Brussels was erected in stages, between 1401 and 1455, on the south side of theGrand-Place/Grote Markt, transforming the square into the seat of municipal power. Due to the square's tumultuous history (see details below), it is also its only remainingmedieval building.[2]
The oldest part of the present building is its east wing (to the left when facing the front). This wing, together with a shorter tower, was built between 1401 and 1421. The architect and designer is probablyJacob van Thienen with whomJean Bornoy collaborated.[8] Initially, future expansion of the building was not foreseen, however, the admission of thecraft guilds into the traditionallypatrician city government apparently spurred interest in providing more room for the building. As a result, a second, somewhat longer wing was built on to the existing structure, with the young DukeCharles the Bold laying its first stone in 1444.[8] The architect of this west wing is unknown. Historians think that it could be Guillaume (Willem) de Voghel who was the architect of the City of Brussels in 1452, and who was also, at that time, the designer of theAula Magna at thePalace of Coudenberg.[9]
The 96-metre-high (315 ft) tower inBrabantine Gothic style is the work ofJan van Ruysbroek, the court architect ofPhilip the Good.[8][10] By 1455, this tower, replacing the older one, was complete. Above the roof of the Town Hall, the square tower body narrows to a lavishlypinnacled octagonal openwork. At its summit stands a 2.7-metre-tall (9 ft)[b] gilt metal statue ofSaint Michael, thepatron saint of the City of Brussels, slaying a dragon or demon.[8][11] The tower, its front archway and the main building's façade are conspicuously off-centre relative to one another. According to a legend, the architect of the building, upon discovering this "error", leapt to his death from the tower.[12] More likely, the asymmetry of the Town Hall was an accepted consequence of the scattered construction history and space constraints.
On 13 August 1695, during theNine Years' War, a 70,000-strongFrench army under MarshalFrançois de Neufville, duc de Villeroy, began abombardment of Brussels in an effort to draw theLeague of Augsburg's forces away from their siege on French-heldNamur in what is nowWallonia. The French launched a massive bombardment of the mostly defenceless city centre withcannons andmortars, setting it on fire and flattening the majority of the Grand-Place and the surrounding city. The resulting fire completely gutted the Town Hall, destroying the building's archives and art collections, including paintings byRogier van der Weyden.[13][14][15] Only the stone shell of the building remained standing.[16][13] That it survived at all is ironic, as it was the principal target of theartillery fire.[17]
After the bombardment, the municipal government funded the Town Hall's repair, raising the money by selling houses and land. The interior was soon rebuilt and enlarged by the architect-sculptorCornelis van Nerven [fr], who added three rear wings in theLouis XIV style over the ruins of the former inner cloth market (Halle au Drap), from 1706 to 1717,[9] transforming the L-shaped building into its present configuration: aquadrilateral with an inner courtyard.[18] Until 1795, these wings housed theStates of Brabant, the representation of the three estates (nobility,clergy andcommoners) to the court of theDuke of Brabant.[9][18]
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The Town Hall underwent many restoration campaigns throughout the 19th century, first under the direction of the architectTilman-François Suys, starting in 1840.[19] The interior was later revised by the architectVictor Jamaer [fr] from 1860, in the style of his mentorEugène Viollet-le-Duc.[20][19] Jamaer was the City of Brussels' architect and also reconstructed the King's House. The interior is now dominated byneo-Gothic: the Maximilian Room, theStates of Brabant Room and theirantechamber withtapestries depicting the life ofClovis,[21] the splendid Municipal Council Room, the likewise richly furnished ballroom and the Wedding Room (formerly the courtroom).[22][23]
It was also at this time that most of the Town Hall's statues were made. Indeed, before then, the Town Hall was not adorned like it is today with countless statues, with the exception ofcorbels, representations of eightprophets above theportal, and a few statues located at the cornerturrets.[20] Jamaer reworked the façade by adding non-existentniches, as well as a gallery and a new portal. Between 1844 and 1902, nearly three hundred statues inCaen andÉchaillon stone [fr], created by famous artists, includingCharles Geefs,Charles-Auguste Fraikin,Eugène Simonis andGeorge Minne, were executed.[19] The interior rooms were replenished withtapestries, paintings, and sculptures, largely representing subjects of importance in local and regional history, such as a monumentalbronze statue of Saint Michael created byCharles van der Stappen in the entrance.[23]
The Town Hall not only housed the city's magistrate, but also theStates of Brabant until 1795. In 1830, the provisional government operated from there during theBelgian Revolution, which provoked the separation ofthe Southern Netherlands from theNorthern Netherlands, resulting in the formation ofBelgium as it is known presently.
At the start ofWorld War I, as refugees flooded Brussels, the Town Hall served as a makeshift hospital.[24] On 20 August 1914, theoccupying German army arrived at the Grand-Place and hoisted aGerman flag at the left side of the Town Hall.[24]
The Town Hall was designated ahistoric monument on 9 March 1936, at the same time as the King's House.[25] It is aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site since 1998 as part of the registration of the Grand-Place.[4]
The tower is made up of two very different parts that nevertheless form a harmonious ensemble: a square base dating from the first phase of construction and alantern tower built byJan van Ruysbroek nearly half a century later.[8][10]
The square base is pierced by anogivalportal surmounted by the same decoration as the left wing:mullioned windows on the first floor, row of statues, then mullioned windows inscribed under atrefoiltympanum on the second floor. This square tower is then extended by two floors, each pierced by a pair of ogival bays on the side facing theGrand-Place.
Next comes the finely openwork octagonal lantern tower, supported at its base by fourbuttressedturrets, also octagonal. It has three levels pierced with elegant openwork ogival bays and adorned with a profusion ofarcades,parapets andgargoyles, and ends with a remarkable openworkspire enhanced with gilding and surmounted by the statue ofSaint Michael, thepatron saint of theCity of Brussels, slaying a dragon or demon.[8][11]
The statue of Saint Michael is a work by Michel de Martin Van Rode, and was placed on the tower in 1454 or 1455.[9][8][11] It was restored several times before being removed in the 1990s and replaced by a copy. The original is kept in theBrussels City Museum, located in theKing's House orBread House building across the Grand-Place.
This statue is made of arranged metal plates and not brassware. Up close, it looks clumsy and ill-proportioned, but these distortions disappear when viewed from afar, from which it appears elegantly proportioned.[26]
The dragon symbolises theDevil orSatan according to theApocalypse:
The main façade consists of two asymmetrical wings framing the tower and terminated by corner turrets. Each wing consists of arcades, a balcony, two stories pierced by large mullioned windows and is surmounted by a highsaddleback roof pierced by numerous hippeddormers. The octagonal corner turrets have several levels whose faces are decorated withtrefoil arches. Each level ends with eight gargoyles arranged radially and is surmounted by a walkway with an openwork parapet. The last level is crowned by a stone spire decorated with foliage and surmounted by aweather vane.
The façade is decorated with numerous statues representing the local nobility (such as theDukes and Duchesses of Brabant andknights of theNoble Houses of Brussels),saints, andallegorical figures. The present sculptures are mainly 19th- and 20th-century reproductions or creations; the original 15th-century ones are also in the Brussels City Museum.[27][28] Each of these statues rests on a historiated corbels and is sheltered under a finely chiselled stonecanopy surmounted by a pyramid-shaped stonepinnacle decorated with foliage pattern and topped with afinial.
The base of the tower is pierced by an ogival portal surmounted by atympanum depicting Saint Michael surrounded bySaint Sebastian,Saint Christopher,Saint George andSaint Géry (Gaugericus) who, according to legend, erected a chapel that would be at the origin of the City of Brussels.
On either side of this portal stand statues of the four cardinal virtues:Prudentia ("Prudence") andJustitia ("Justice") on the left,Fortitudo ("Fortitude") andTemperantia ("Temperance") on the right. The statues of the virtues are supported by very expressive historiated corbels.
The tympanum, the statues and the corbels do not date from the Gothic period but from the 19th-century restorations.
The base of the façade is adorned with a gallery of arcades. These arcades are highly asymmetrical as mentioned above: the left wing has eleven arches (including a blind arch located under the corner turret) while the right wing has only six. These ogival arcades have an outer curve decorated with cabbage leaves, a typical motif of theBrabantine Gothic style. Each of them is topped with a finial, also adorned with cabbage leaves, and is surmounted by an arcade of trefoil arches.
The arches are supported by pillars adorned with statues of knights andsquires of the Noble Houses of Brussels.[20] These statues rest on often very expressive historiated corbels, among which can be noted avielle and agittern player.
The gallery in the left wing houses a porch made up of a staircase, a stonebalustrade pierced with quadrilobed motifs and two columns each surmounted by a seated lion bearing thecoat of arms of Brussels. These lions were sculpted by G. De Groot in 1869, during the 19th-century restorations.[29]
On either side of the steps, the pillars are replaced by historiated corbels representing two tragic scenes involvingschepen (aldermen) of the City of Brussels:
![The legend of Herkenbald [nl]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aH%25C3%25B4tel_de_ville_de_Bruxelles_-_Chapiteau_13.JPG)
The various façades of the Gothic Town Hall (on the Grand-Place but also on the courtyard side) are adorned with innumerable very expressive gargoyles depicting human beings, animals or fantastic creatures. Similarly, the octagonal corner turrets feature a series of eight gargoyles on each floor.
The interior courtyard has a pavement marked with a star that indicates the geographical centre of Brussels. It is decorated with two marble fountains designed in 1714 byJohannes Andreas Anneessens [nl], surmounted byallegorical figures ofTheMeuse andTheScheldt rivers, sculpted in 1715 byJean de Kinder [nl] andPierre-Denis Plumier respectively.[30][18]
The north-western and south-eastern façades of the courtyard have two levels pierced by large rectangular windows with wooden mullions with a flat frame and drip edge in the shape of anentablature, all surmounted by a high roof pierced with dormer windows surmounted by a triangularpediment (a structure very similar to the façade on theRue de l'Amigo/Vruntstraat). On the ground floor, a high door surmounted by a triangular pediment and framed by large lanterns is protected by a large glassawning from the 19th and 20th centuries.[22]
The southern façade is pierced, on the ground floor, with a portal with a basket-handle arch framed by semicircular bays, framed by large lanterns like the other doors of the courtyard. Upstairs, aFrench window topped with a curved pediment is surrounded by rectangular windows whose flat frames are adorned with crossettes.
The main rooms are on the first floor. Passing the right entrance, visitors enter thevestibule, also known as the Prince's Gallery. Here are portraits of the princes and governors who ruled theSouthern Netherlands from 1695 and of theKings of the Belgians. There is also a group portrait of the intendants of theWillebroek Canal, with a view ofKlein Willebroek.
In the long rear wing is the States of Brabant Room, built in the early 18th century for theStates of Brabant and then used by the Brussels City Council. The lavish decoration is the work of the painterVictor Honoré Janssens. He made the ceiling painting with anAssembly of the Gods and also the cartons for threeBrussels tapestries with scenes from the history ofBrabant. The three paintings between the windows show female figures against a golden background, representing the cities ofAntwerp, Brussels andLeuven. The wooden benches are arranged in a U-shape.
The Maximilian Room next door is named after a 19th-century double portrait ofMaximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor andMary of Burgundy. The space was intended for the administrators of the States of Brabant and was taken over by the College of Mayors and Aldermen. The walls are covered with four tapestries from the eight-part seriesLife ofClovis, after cartons by the French painterCharles Poerson. The other four tapestries decorate the next room. The Grangé Gallery on the side of the courtyard connects all these rooms. It contains 18th-century portraits of monarchs painted around 1718 by Louis Grangé.
The mayor's cabinet is located on the side of theRue Charles Buls/Karel Bulsstraat. The Waiting Room, originally built for the secretariat of the States of Brabant, is decorated with paintings byJean-Baptiste Van Moer [fr]. They are incorporated into the oak panelling and show the part of Brussels that was destined for demolition because of thecovering of the Senne.
The staircase of honour is the result of a late 19th-century renovation to provide direct and monumental access to the mayor's cabinet and the Gothic Room. The original chapel had to make way for this. Paintings byJacques de Lalaing have been applied to the walls and ceilings. Busts of the mayors are lined up along the landing.
The Gothic Room in the oldest part of the Town Hall is in factneo-Gothic. The wooden cladding is the work ofVictor Jamaer [fr]. Tapestries from theMechelen studio Braquenié, designed byWillem Geets [nl], have been incorporated into the long sides. They represent theGuilds of Brussels. The two tapestries on the short side relate to the weapons' guilds. Originally, this was the room in which supreme justice was spoken. The long wall opposite Rue Charles Buls was decorated withThe Justice of Trajan and Herkinbald, the famous justice panels ofRogier van der Weyden that were lost in the 1695 bombardment.
The Wedding Room has been set up on the side of the Grand-Place. Here too, in the past, justice was spoken and a neo-Gothic transformation has been carried out. AMiddle Dutch poem has been reproduced on the roof beams, which, as early as the 15th century, recalled the way to properly govern the city. Thecorbels show thecoats of arms of theSeven Noble Houses of Brussels, and the ceiling those of the guilds.
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Brussels' Town Hall was an exemplary work for architects representing theGothic Revival in the era ofhistoricism. The Austrian architectFriedrich von Schmidt drew inspiration from it when building theCity Hall inVienna.Georg von Hauberrisser, while building theNew Town Hall ofMunich, also used the building's Brabantian pattern as an architectural example.
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