A Walkabout Amid Signifiers a Literary and Artistic Walk Around Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Ter-Sneeuw Quarter Eric Min

A walkabout amid signifiers A literary and artistic walk around Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw quarter Eric Min

www.vlaamsparlement.be

A walkabout amid signifiers A literary and artistic walk around Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw quarter

Eric Min

Preface

Dear visitor,

What was once home to washerwomen and labourers, Today, writer and Brussels expert Eric Min takes you models and artists, self-assured citizens and drinkers out on a literary and artistic stroll around this colourful of absinthe is now a gathering ground for members quarter. Enjoy what promises to be a fun journey of dis- of parliament and other politicians at and around covery off the beaten track. Vrijheidsplein (Freedom Square). The ancient Onze- Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw (Our Lady Mary in the Snow) quarter, where our Parliament has its home base, is a Jan Peumans piece of Brussels that comes with a rich and evoca- Speaker of the Flemish Parliament tive history.

Part of this history is lost, and is known to us only through the accounts and testimonials of people who lived at the time. Another piece of this history remains clearly discernible in the road pattern and streetscape.

3 Liefdadigheidsstraat E 15 N S 14 W Kunstlaan entla Madou Reg an Vlaams Kunstlaan Eredienststr. Parlement Wetstraat De Loketten Noordstraat Barricaden 9 plein Omwentelingstr. Hertogsstraat 10 8 0 Drukpersstraat

Kruidtuinlaan Zavelput Vrijheids- 7 Verenigingstraat plein 3 2 4 5 Tribunestr. Warandepark Onderrichtsstr. 13 6 IJzerenkruisstraat Voorl. Bewindstr. Congresstraat 1 11 Staatsbladstr.

Koningsstraat12

Leuvenseweg Pachecolaan Wetstraat

. r Jonkerstr. t s Treurenberg n

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o K Liefdadigheidsstraat 15 14 Kunstlaan clamouring for ’ce cloaque’ – ‘dit Regentlaan Madou No, it is not Paris – but it could just as well have been. In the city afzichtelijke darmkanaal’ (this un- Vlaams Kunstlaan Eredienststr. Parlement quarter between Warandepark (Warande Park), Koningsstraat (King sightly cloaca/cesspool) – to be Wetstraat Street) and the wide city boulevards, everything exudes metropolitan razed to the ground and to be re- De Loketten grandeur. Here is where you will find the best possible panoramic built as an elegant middle class Noordstraat Barricaden vista : in the middle of the nineteenth century, monumental views quarter. 9 plein and public buildings lent shape to a brand new quarter. In the narrow Omwentelingstr. Hertogsstraat 10 8 0 streets of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw, everything was going to be The monumental city history titled different. Or : how urbanism, symbolism and a bizarre fondness of Bruxelles à travers les ages quali- Drukpersstraat chinoiseries left their mark on the city and its literature. fies the quarter as a refuge for ‘Ital- Kruidtuinlaan Zavelput Vrijheids- ians, accordeonists, organ grinders 7 Verenigingstraat plein 3 and artists’ models that posed in 2 4 Same as in Paris, which was devel- seen in Paris. The hub around the numerous painters’ workshops’. 5 oped by city planner baron Hauss- which the new boulevards orbited Hardly complimentary. It was not Tribunestr. Warandepark Onderrichtsstr. 13 mann, the wrecking balls were not was the new Stock Exchange Build- until 1874 when a public limited 6 IJzerenkruisstraat Voorl. Bewindstr. sitting idle in Brussels either. In the ing located at the eponymous Beurs company tackled the urban blight Congresstraat 1 11 nineteenth century, every self-re- plein (Stock Exchange Square), and pushed through the first expro- Staatsbladstr. specting metropolis was a city which was meant to become the priations. In the back garden of the under constant development. When throbbing heart of the city. Parliament building, six hundred Koningsstraat12 the river Zenne was covered be- But it was not just the city centre unstable properties were demol- Leuvenseweg Pachecolaan Wetstraat tween 1867 and 1871, houses, alleys which was radically redeveloped. ished – the residents of these prop- and bridges were knocked down ; The dilapidated Onze-Lieve-Vrouw- erties had to find homes elsewhere. forty thousand local residents were ter-Sneeuw quarter between Warande Up until that time, labourers, wash- forced to move away to the sprawl- and Kruidtuin (Botanical Garden) erwomen, lace workers, prostitutes

. r ing suburbs, their homes replaced was also sanitised. As early as 1861, and artists would hang out in the Jonkerstr. t s Treurenberg n by boulevards modelled after those voices in the Senate were heard quarter’s winding alleys where doz- ë i n

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5 ens of ginguittes (dance halls) and spelling of Our Lady Mary in the culs-de-sac, over ten thousand resi cabarets peddled cheap thrills. Now Snow) is covered up with the cloak dents were chased away from their adays, the shabby quarter around of charity and luxury. slums using strong arm tactics. the old chapel devoted to Ons Liv- Newfangled town planning grids From this time forward, around the row ter Sneeuw (the old Flemish were laid out across some twenty brand new Place de la Liberté (Liber ty Square) streets were seen to fan out, carrying the names of the constitutional freedoms proudly chis elled in stone : (freedom of (the)) Pers (press), Onderricht (education), Ver eniging (association), Erediensten (worship). Other street names around the quarter too were plucked from the annals of parliamentary democ racy, referencing Parlement (Parlia- ment), Voorlopig Bewind (Provi- sional Government of Belgium) and Staatsblad (Belgian Official Gazette). Barricadenplein (Barricade Square) kept the memory of the Belgian revolution of 1830 alive.

The transformation of the Onze- Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw quarter is an apt example of the nineteenth century’s zest for action and bour-

The Hôtel and Bank Empain in Congresstraat geois pride. If it is decrepit, it needs Building a modern city quarter is high townhouses, appartments, ele to make way for Progress – a con- not just an intervention in the phys gant shops, …) cept still spelt with a capital P at ical space but also an ideological One of the main principles in design- the time. The values of the fledgling operation. The construction site was ing this new section of Brussels was nation were eminently suited to be meant to embody all the principles the view, the distant view. This ‘pan- reflected in stone and cast iron, all citizens believed to be important : oramic gaze’ of the citizen is the key the more so as - en route to the new measure and order, perspective and concept of the prevailing views and society - city planners, engineers legibility, and good taste. actions. The modern city was not and artists were perfect allies of the only born out of money, but equally world of politics. Philosophical principles and politi- out of the urge to see far and wide. cal values were reflected in the road pattern, the materials used Place des Panoramas Our walk starts out at De Loketten (The Counters) 0 , the and the intended purposes of the former counter room of the Postcheques (Postal Cheques, a properties. Houses, blocks of flats Looking down onto the lower quar- division of the Belgian Royal Mail) which is now home to and public buildings were used to ters of the city of Brussels today the Flemish Parliament’s visitor centre. The modernistic lend shape to the quarter as a resi- and at the line of the horizon in the building, commissioned by De Post (the Royal Mail) and de- dential location where citizens and distance from behind Leopold I’s signed by architect Victor Bourgeois (1897-1962) was built office workers would be able to live back, perched atop his Congress between 1937 and 1946. As we step outside De Loketten, we and relax in comfort. In 1905, the Column 1 , few modern-day visi- head left into IJzerenkruisstraat (Iron Cross Street), before Baedeker tourist guide described tors would ever suspect that, over a making our way via Drukpersstraat (Printing Press Street) the quarter in the back garden of century ago, this place was a fa- to Congresstraat (Congress Street), which we walk all the Koningsstraat as a ‘quartier riche’. vourite spot to enjoy the view as way down until we reach the Congreskolom (Congress Col- Bruxelles à travers les âges too part of a leisurely stroll umn), where we get to enjoy the view looking out across the seems to have taken a shining to lower town. the quarter : ‘a small modern town Back in the day, the current Congres has been built here, with rented plein (Congress Square) was called

7 la Place des Panoramas, every bit centre at one’s feet. All it took was a as apt as it was unilingual. At the ride up to Panoramaplein by horse- top of the majestic steps which de- drawn carriage. scended towards Pachecolaan (Pa- checo Boulevard), an actual obser- Here is what Herman Teirlinck vation point had been been put up (1879-1967) had to say ‘in the shad- circa 1850. Today, little is left of the ow of the unfriendly Congress Col- charm of old as a result of the con- umn, in itself ample synthesis of struction of the city’s administra- what the bad taste of the artists of tive centre, the car park and the the 1830s was capable of’, in a guide pertaining terrace – a mammoth for visitors to the 1910 World Exhi- 225,000 square metres - between bition held in Brussels : 1958 and 1983. From a small public garden, citizens were able to gaze ‘Delightful is this panorama over- across the city of a Sunday, as looking the Lower Town … The though looking at a painted back- Lower Town lying there, roaring drop at the theatre. and steaming. Here you sense, feel the eagerness and frantic liveliness Gazing was a favourite pastime for and bustle, which you touched yes- those who had money and time to terday. The Lower Town is swelling, call their own. Something to which you believe, swelling with this live- a city such as Brussels, with its dis- liness. Across the distant crumbled tinct relief, eminently lent itself. mosaic of the rooftops, studded with One did not even need to build an smoking chimneys, glides a sky that Eiffel tower to look down from the bears toilsome labour. It is the Lower ‘upper’ town onto the medieval city Town that lies there toiling. The Lower Town is heaving. The Lower teenth century, all across Europe the cart load : Felix Mommen, a Town is panting. The Lower Town small round buildings were built, trader in art supplies. The canvases is lamenting in a fluttering din.’ inside of which huge paintings and of the Cairo panorama by painter a ‘very lifelike’ foreground gave vis- Emile Wauters and the diorama of A few years earlier, the author had itors standing on a raised platform the battle of the river IJzer painted already dropped one of the charac- the illusion they were visiting an after the First World War by Alfred ters from Zon (Sun), a collection of exotic city or had been transplant- Bastien were prepared in work- short stories, at this look-out point, ed amid the charging horsemen on shops at 37 Liefdadigheidstraat in leaving him to ponder the vicissi- a historical battleground. The can- Sint-Joostten-Node, on the other tudes of life. After a semi-one night vases frequently changed location, side of the city boulevard, which we stand with a highly paid prostitute in to sate audiences hankering after will be visiting in a bit.. the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw experiences out of the ordinary and quarter, the man had scurried from all things new. In Brussels, favour- The panoramas themselves enjoyed her room. From behind the Congress ite tableaus included the battle of their zenith in the town centre. In Column he is now seen to look, ‘at Waterloo, distant views for tourists 1880, visitors went to see the battle length and lost in reverie, across (from the Meuse Valley to Timbuk- of Waterloo, which Paris painter the myriad rooftops and green tu) and oriental dreams. So much Charles Castellani had depicted in lights of the lower town’. By the so that, during the last quarter of a brand new diorama in Henegouwen wide stone railing, travelling sales- the century, the local entrepreneur- laan, as Maurice Lemonnierlaan was man Joris Antie watches the rising ial spirit saw the Belgian capital be- dubbed at the time. Inside the build sun as Brussels slowly awakens. come the epicentre of this new me- ing, which later on was converted dium, replete with thriving publicly into a public car park which is still Same as a lot of other metropolises, traded companies such as Société standing, the spectacular stagings Brussels suffered from a mild case génerale des Panoramas and a pre- followed in quick succession. After of panorama mania. From as early ferred purveyor who traded in paint the turn of the century, static media on as the beginning of the nine- and gigantic stretches of canvas by such as dioramas, horror cabinets,

9 tableaux vivants and waxwork collections had had their run, and were superseded by cinema. The diorama open to visitors at the foot of the Lion’s Mound at the Wa- terloo memorial, which was built in 1915 to commemorate the centenary anniversary of the battle with due pomp and circumstance, is one of the last remaining witnesses in testament to this phenomenon..

Even though the panorama mania did not leave any painted traces in the new quarter of Onze-Lieve- Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw, the aspect of the quarter is determined by the mindset that underpinned it. Any- one who can afford the time to ‘see far’ is a powerful man ; something which the French Sun King was already wise to. It is safe to say that the panorama which Brussels citizens – literally from up on high – took in from their safe look-out point by the Congress Column, is

Charles Rogier at Vrijheidsplein an indirect result of this royal way square enabled visitors to look out A forest of symbols of thinking. This urge to take in onto dead straight triumphal vistas, wide panoramic vistas was unbri- as though in a panopticon. At one In Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw, dled. Anyone who was not prepared end, Congresstraat was crowned by things are not quite what they to settle for the view from the pub- the column carrying Leopold I’s ef- seem – a handful of roads lined by lic garden, around 1900 could even figy, made by academic sculptor high town houses, not all of which climb the column all the way up Guillaume Geefs. At the other end have made it through the years un- Leopold’s feet. In their Guide Conty, beckoned the boulevard – during scathed, some public buildings and French tourists visiting the loca- the Belle Epoque still a lush, green scarce greenery. The politicians tion in 1898 were made to read that promenade which people would and architects who developed this the guard expected a tip. After the flock to, especially on Sundays, the fairly congruent quarter were chil- turn of the century, the spiral stairs four roads that evoked the constitu- dren of their time : besotted with were closed to the public. tional freedoms pointing in four di- progress and all things new, with a rections. At the central square, per- proclivity for eclectic or even The panoramic ‘view’ held by the forming a 360° rotation enabled downright classicist architectural city planners comes best to the fore spectators to see everything at a styles but equally fascinated with in the quarter’s road pattern : stand- single glance, in the same way as symbolism. ing next to the Congress Column citizens of the era were able to un- The fact that a number of protago- gave people an unfettered view as lock all knowledge in the world by nists in this tale were members of far as the inner city Ring Road. opening an encyclopaedia. This is the Brussels masonic lodges – from Three thoroughfares converged at not the only panoramic experience the bronze statue of politician Vrijheidsplein, much like the halo the quarter has to offer. Further Charles Rogier waving the Consti- of a gas lantern. north, the circular Barricadenplein tution on the square named after – which we will be visiting later on him, across architects such as Standing at the foot of Charles Ro- - was devised as a stone rounda- Trappeniers, Besme and Janssens gier’s statue in the middle of the bout as early as 1824. or sculptors like Charles Fraikin

11 and Guillaume Geefs – is by no means the only reason. Anyone busying themselves with the arts and architecture per force is made to deal with a set of signifiers, which stand in reference to concepts and ideals. At least one art movement – symbolism – even purports that there is an entire universe that un- derlies our perceptible world. Is this a form of nostalgia in a world that has been disrobed of its magic ? After all, the modern age swears by the realism of French painter Gus- tave Courbet and the rationalism of modernist philosophers, who have banished religion to the archives.

Yet the things the Brussels libres At the foot of the Congress Column penseurs have put out with the rub- bish were seen to make their way back in through the backdoor : symbols, which may or may not be esoteric signifiers which we need to understand in order to be able to read and decipher them. Even the militant atheist fellow lodge mem- the constitutional freedoms which body masonic perfection (seen on bers of the Grand Orient designed were to be echoed in the roads the front walls around Vrijheids their own language of symbols, un- around the central square : worship plein), esoteric references to the leashed onto the public space by (front left, by Eugène Simonis), seven deadly sins (the private their master builders. In this re- press (rear left, by Joseph Geefs), home of architect Edouard De spect, they barely differed from fel- association (front right, by Charles Vigne at 13 Onderrichtstraat (Edu- low architects that subscribed to Fraikin) and education (rear right, cation Street)), acacia leaves (an different creeds. The zeitgeist was by Joseph Geefs). Their attributes emblem which evokes immortali- awash with symbolism : a thing is and the fauna & flora on the base ty), putti and medieval-looking also something else. and the column have all the mak- creatures of legend on the narrow ings of a manual in tracking for the neo-Gothic facade at 92 Onder- Take a look at the plinth of the Con- uninitiated. Torches light up the richtstraat. Here and there are gress Column, the victory column knowledge and science of Enlight- winged helmets, parchment scrolls, that is forty-five metres in height enment, laurel leaves epitomise snakes and scales, as though some- which the parliamentary democra- eternal glory, and lions display one decided to scatter the entire cy had erected in its own honour their power. Same as on the brand stock of an warehouse packed with between 1850 and 1859 – at a time new Stock Exchange Building in effigies across the facades. The ar- when Belgium had a particularly the city centre – to which sculptor chitects that worked on Onze- progressive, liberal constitution, Auguste Rodin contributed in his Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw not only which was set to be copied enthusi- younger years – art, science, indus- gave due consideration to the sce- astically. Architect Joseph Poelaert triousness and agriculture were nic design of the quarter but equal- who went on to draft the plans for given an allegorical depiction. ly paid particular attention to props the Palace of Justice, and a handful and details. of sculptors suffused the monu- Walking around the quarter, we will ment with meanings and referenc- be confronted with other meta- es. Four women’s figures represent phors : five-pointed stars that em-

13 Congresstraat typical of Brussels. Entirely in Walking down Congresstraat keeping with the liberal tradition towards Vrijheidsplein. which sees free enterprise take precedence over government initi- ative, the plan was implemented View, purchase, pay on the ground by the Société anon- 2 The dead straight Congresstraat yme du quartier Notre-Dame-aux- is the main thoroughfare in the Neiges. plan devised by architects Antoine From 1877 forward, private citizens Mennessier and Georges Aigoin in and investors were able to have in- 1874. Starting out in Koningsstraat dividual homes built for them- towards Leuvensepoort, en route selves around the quarter. However, Congresstraat is seen to lend shape this was not an all-out success, as to Vrijheidsplein. The quarter’s just a few years down the line the parcelisation plan clearly shows public limited company decided to how the central road, along with start building rental homes at its the two diagonal main roads and a own impetus. When the real estate few smaller connecting roads, not business ultimately filed for bank- only delivers perspective and gran- ruptcy in 1885, the Brussels munici- deur, but also hits home the fact pal executive came to the rescue by that this approach is informed by taking over the company shares economic reasons. Different from and bringing the project to fruition earlier plans, the final design ena- – the profits went to the private bled Mennessier and Aigoin to cre- sector, and the government was left ate more building plots with the saddled with the loss. five to seven-metre frontage width

15 Scattered across the territory of Onze-Lieve-vrouw-ter-Sneeuw theatres, public baths, a covered shopping gallery and government office buildings were built. There was no more room for a new church in the liberal and free-thinking Brussels. They thought of just about every single aspect of life in the modern metropolis. No one needed to leave their quartier to go shopping, work and enjoy some leisure. Leafing through the Almanachs du Commerce et de l’Industrie – a kind The planning transformation of the The quarter which, in doing so, took of early telephone directories pub- quarter was completed before the on its final shape, was able to per- lished each year which showed turn of the century. In all, some thirty fectly serve as an island within the who lived at which address in the architects were involved in the con- city. Alongside opulent city palac- capital – one finds that the people struction efforts, which brought a cer es, restrained town houses and the who came to take up residence in tain degree of diversity to the unity. rare buy to let, there are the requi- the quarter were chiefly captains of site shops and cafés. Particular at- industry, home owners, annuitants On the corner of Vrijheids tention was made to go out to put- and members of the liberal profes- plein, we now head right, into ting in place amenities intended to sions. Onderrichtstraat. lend the ensemble a sophisticated appeal. 17 Tasteful entertainment was ca- tered for at the Koninklijk Circus 3 (Royal Circus) , a performing arts hall built in 1878 by two French theatrical impresarios in the hous- ing block between Onderricht straat and IJzerenkruisstraat, neat- ly fitted in between the small back gardens of the adjacent dwellings. Wilhelm Kuhnen, who also went on to design the Eden Theatre in the quarter, came up with a near circular hall with a piste that would seat 3,500 spectators to enjoy the show ; underneath the stalls, there was room for some hundred horses and other circus animals. The current building dates back to 1953 and is now a far cry from what the original design looked like. As required by the then zeitgeist, the old Cirque Royal had been built as a pseudo-oriental palace, with the façade carrying Indian motifs, and the ceiling of the interior space decked with a

The Japanese Tower and the Chinese Pavilion in Laken. Inaugurated in 1905. large tarpaulin made from cash- As time went on, Crespin became a mere as though it were the roof of welcome customer at the Compag- a pagoda. nie japonaise in Koningsstraat, one of many shops in the capital that This fascination with Oriental art is sold chinoiseries. typical of the European fin de siè- cle, equally encountered in London Europe had become in thrall to the and Rome as it was in the far North. Far East since the middle of the Brussels was certainly no excep- century. In 1855, Jacques Offen- tion to the rule. A lot of artists and bach composed his ‘musical chi- intellectuals collected ’des choses noiserie’ Ba-ta-clan, a popular one- japonaises’ : masks, small lacquered act play which gave its name to a boxes, porcelain and the famed uki- grand café with its own theatre in yo-e, woodblock prints showing Paris – the stage curtain was a gi- landscapes or erotic scenes by re- gantic fan, with the roof built as a nowned masters such as Kunisada, pagoda. After the 1867 Paris World Utamaro and Hokusai. Exhibition the eagerness for art from China and Japan knew no In a brief autobiographical text, bounds. Foremost impressionist Brussels decorative painter Adolphe Claude Monet owned over two Crespin proudly tells the story hundred ukiyo-e. These ‘pictures whereby, aged seventeen, he bought of the ephemeral world’ taught his first Japanese objects from the painters and photographers to see souvenir shop run by James En- things through different eyes : the sor’s mother just off the seafront in stretched dimensions and ar- Ostend. rangements of the motifs within

Offenbach score (Source : gallica.bnf.fr/ Bibliothèque nationale de France)

19 Koningsstraat the frame, with the typical cut-out and small folding screens that keepers and would add to his col- of shapes in the foreground, left an transformed his wretched lodgings lection a few years later in Paris. indelible impression on genera- into ‘the inside of a paper lantern’. He was rummaging around the tions of visual artists. And can the ivory monkey from attic of the art gallery run by ex- Herman Teirlinck’s eponymous pansive shopkeeper Siegfried Around 1885, James Ensor started novel be anything other than an ex- Bing. Anyone of repute in the Brus- sketching chinoiseries like a man otic souvenir ? sels Republic of Arts and Letters of possessed. At the home of Jules the time had taken out a subscrip- Destrée, a labour politician and fig- Needless to add it is largely visual tion to Le Japon artistique, a urehead of the French-speaking artists and architects who know monthly journal published by Bing cultural scene, masked parties their way around the Oriental lan- in support of his small business. were held to which the guests guage of form. In November 1885, Symbolist painter Fernand Kh- dressed up wearing kimonos and painter Vincent van Gogh wrote to nopff, architect Victor Horta and parasols. The phenomenon waxed his brother Theo, saying how the writer Max Elskamp were all loyal into a veritable literary motif. When Antwerp docks and quays remind- readers of the journal. At a soirée Brussels poet and painter Theo ed him of ‘a famous Japonaiserie, in 1889 at the home of collector Ed- Hannon was not too busy drinking erratic, peculiar, quirky – at least it mond Michotte – around the cor- absinthe or focusing on the ‘inter- can be viewed as such’. In his ner, in Koningsstraat – the master minables bas rouges’ of his mis- room, he has ‘a batch of Japanese of the house showed off his al- tress, he took to writing verses pictures pinned on the walls in bums with prints and watercolours about Chinese trinkets. The penni- which I find much amusement. to a select clientele. The newspa- less protagonist in Guy de Maupas- You know, those small women’s pers of the day inform us that Kh- sant’s novel Bel-Ami seduces a girl figures in gardens or at the beach, nopff, author Georges Eekhoud by decorating his garret with Japa- horsemen, flowers, gnarled thorn and mayor Charles Buls were nese knick-knacks – lamps made branches’. Vincent had bought the among the guests. from crêpe paper, handheld fans woodblock prints from local shop-

21 That year, Brussels was particular- Warandepark staged an exhibition its annual salon. In a group photo ly captivated by the Orient. The se- of Japanese prints. On the same of its members, secretary Octave lect Cercle artistique et littéraire at day, artist society Les Vingt opened Maus is seen proudly waving a paper fan. Decorators would spe- cialise in fitting out Japanese or Moorish salons. The pseudo-Indian façade of the Royal Circus is not the only surge of Orientalism in this quarter. In a bit, we will be taking a look – albeit in thought only – at another exotic Shangri-la under the grey Brussels skies. However, this concession to the prevailing fashions proved to no avail. After just a few years, the French operators of the Royal Cir- cus did a moonlight flit, with the city council stepping in to take over the theatre, which was run- ning at a loss. The activities were continued, and before the century had ended, star violinist Eugène Ysaÿe would present the music of César Franck to an enthused audi- ence at the venue.

Dance tournament at the Royal Circus Louise Michel, la pasionaria of the ble in Paris at the time, and took up To catch a glimpse of the Paris Commune, held a meeting a different part of the interior space main entrance, let us turn the here and the venue was also where before ignominiously perishing in corner, into Staatsbladstraat. films were screened and ballet pro- turn. The shops were used by the ductions performed. Later on, vari- neighbours as storage for theatre ety artists such as Maurice Cheva- decors and props, until the gallery At number 10 Staatsbladstraat, ar- lier, Joséphine Baker and Fernandel complex was knocked down to be chitect Adolphe Vanderheggen won over audiences, before Juliette replaced by a second version, built the Koninklijke Baden (Royal Gréco’s generation took over. Per- which did just as little to stir the Baths) in 1878, a wellness centre formances by the Moscow Circus imagination. The architect who de- with its own swimming pool which featuring clown Oleg Popov remind signed the block of flats built over could be converted into a theatre us of the original intended purpose the gallery in 1960 was Charles Van in winter. In the end, it was rede- of the property, although choreog- Nueten, who had already designed veloped into a bathing establish- raphers such as Maurice Béjart the new-build of the Royal Circus ment for the somewhat less well- drew standing ovations here too. seven years earlier. heeled Brussels residents, who As a concert hall, the Royal Circus could not afford an individual has become an integral part of the Across the road in Onderrichtstraat, bathroom. Behind the facade in Brussels art scene. Nowadays, the the unassuming side entrance of Renaissance Revival style, the vis- cream of the crop of the world of the small school at number 94 5 itors were welcomed in salons and pop music and variety are seen to – next to the neo-Gothic town a lush winter garden – the fascina- tread the venue’s venerable boards. house designed by architect Men- tion with the pleasures of Oriental Back in the day, one of the three en- nessier in 1876 – does nothing to bathing was perfectly in keeping trances to the building was located suggest that the quarter billeted a with the propensity for hygiene 4 inside the Galerie du Parlement , lavish complex of public baths, that was characteristic of the mod- just down the road. The gallery was which was transformed into a ern era. Over a century later, little modelled after what was fashiona- school years later. is left of any of this.

23 Paradise lost

To have some sort of mental pic- ture of the exotic showpiece of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw quarter, you need an inordinate amount of imagination today. Ap- proximately in the middle of the building block 7 was a theatre hall like a dream from the Orient, with winter gardens, greenhouse plants and artificial caves : the Eden. A frontage in Moorish style led to a hypostyle hall and a foyer, which gave access to an octagonal per- Admission ticket to the Royal Baths forming arts hall. The fairytale palace was built in 1880, designed by architect Wilhelm Kuhnen and decorator Alban Chambon. The lat- Leaving the Royal Baths for what they are, we head back to Onderrichtstraat, ter also designed the famous cross the road and enter Tribunestraat. At the bottom of Tribunestraat, we turn Metropole Hotel in the heart of the left into IJzerenkruisstraat, which offers a view of the massive new-build on the city as well as the gorgeous Kursaal right, which was once the venue of sensual adventures. in Ostend in Oriental style. Seated in the sumptuous decor of the Eden, 1,500 spectators would enjoy music hall shows in the best Folies Bergère tradition and well attended popular dances. This is where the cast of the Paris Moulin Rouge descended in 1888, headed up by star dancer La Gou- lue and – discreetly enjoying the festive event from his private box – resident artist Henri de Tou- louse-Lautrec. Later on, academy student Marten Melsen would sit in the stalls. The painter lived down the street at number 27 with his parents. This vibrant quarter is where the Dutch butcher’s son learned to see things through different eyes.

He was not alone. In the naturalis- tic city novel Bruxelles rigole…, a comedy of manners largely set in the theatres and cafés of Onze-Lieve- Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw, young Brussels writer Henri Nizet (1863-1925) records

Interior view of the Eden Theatre

25 a delightful portrait of the quarter dawn first hand, where everything in 1883. is imbued with a sultry oriental at- “Onze-Lieve-Vrouw quar- mosphere and the harsh reality is ter exudes the indefinable By the same token, the three dots kept at bay. Tinsel, mirrors and perfume of strumpets, of behind his title suggest mystery, palm trees are the fitting decor for cheap lasciviousness […] sensuousness as well as threat. To their erotic reveries. And what bet- The whiff of the trade in this end, Nizet unleashes his char- ter place to have your every whim carnal urges permeates acters – foreign students, dandies indulged than the foyer with its every nook and cranny of and their mistresses – in the cafés lanterns ‘en faux style japonais’, the the quarter.” chantants and other dens of de- theatre boxes or the golden room in bauchery. The Eden Theatre is the Hindu style where the cocottes epicentre of their little world, a (prostitutes) pick up their willing place where they experience the victims ? rush of excitement of the big city During summer, this smell drifts between sunset and the crack of It is as though electric light is gush- through the streets ‘as though a gi- ing from the portholes of the imag- gantic oven dish is being carried inary ship : everything gleams and around’. The perfume breaks out of flickers, down to the artificial exot- the bellies of the houses and “The Eden was like a boat, a large sailing ship that resem- ic plants in the pots. Nothing is real spreads along the courtyards, the bled those old galleons of which he had seen remnants in in this theatre decor. The elegant stairwells and the open windows. museums, armour-plated with ivory and precious metals, middle class quarter from which it with which the kings and dogi were welcomed and whose rises is another lie. Clearly the re- The somewhat caricature charac- hull was shrouded in embroidered and painted canvases. cent urbanisation wave failed to ters of Bruxelles rigole… wavering The women leaning over the balcony over there seemed completely polish away the char- between lust and listlessness, in a like the crew members who had dressed up for the party.” acter of the small time-honoured quarter where the wrecking balls streets. failed to redeem the expectations of the new rulers. The modern houses with their small turrets and Making a left Drukpersstraat takes us balconies were soon taken up by back to Vrijheidsplein, which we cross street prostitutes and other rabble. to head into Verenigingstraat. At the Underneath the veneer of the day- next junction, we go right into Om- to-day business quarter lurks – as wentelingstraat towards Barricaden of old – the night-time city. Nizet’s plein. Just before we get there, we novel is not just a baroque and head left into the nameless alley 8 crude tale of a youth gone wild, but where we can hear Victor Hugo’s also a critique of the city planners nightingale sing. and their ideology.

Same as the Royal Baths, the Eden was short-lived. Ten years after the festive inauguration, mayor Buls ordered the theatre to be shut down and the building razed to the ground. Even Onze-Lieve-Vrouw- ter-Sneeuw was unaccustomed to this much licentiousness.

Walking down IJzerenkruisstraat today in the shadow of the office buildings, one can only imagine the clatter and rustling of this former den of iniquity.

27 Royal Circus View of the district, left the Royal Circus and right a part of the Barricadenplein

29 A writer of the people The alley known as Rue du Rem- Belgium that Hugo found incredi- on the barricades part-du-Nord at the time still ex- bly appealing : the writer had first ists : nowadays it is a narrow cul-de- ended up in Brussels in August 1837 sac with wet and bumpy cobble- and spent a lot of time in the Bel- “Local detail : at number 2 of Rue du Rempart-du-Nord stones lurking in the backdrop of gian capital, especially after the behind Barricadenplein you can get a cigar, a glass of the square. Omwentelingstraat (Rev coup d’état by his arch enemy Na- brandy, a cup of coffee and a woman for twenty-five cen- olution Street) where the alley starts poleon III in 1851. That year he fled times.” used to be called Onze-Lieve-Vrouw- France, and it came as no surprise ter-Sneeuwstraat (Our Lady Mary that he made a beehive for Brus- in the Snow Street). It was the quar- sels. His quick-witted mistress and A quote from Victor Hugo (1802-1885), ter’s arterial road before the wreck- guardian angel Juliette Drouet ar- a literary monument and the living ing balls hit. If anyone knew what it ranged for her hero to travel on the and breathing conscience of French had looked like before, it was Hugo. passport and wearing the overcoat politics. Pushing seventy at this He knew the old Notre-Dame-des- and labourer’s cap of one Jacques- stage, and still jotting down every- Neiges like his inside pocket. Firmin Lanvin, typesetter and odd thing he does and thinks in his car- Victor Hugo was a fêted author, a job man at a printworks. nets. On 7 May 1871, grandad Victor celebrity whose comings and go- had breakfast with his grandson ings could even be followed in the In Brussels, Hugo moved into the Georges. After lunch, he took out illustrated magazines. He was also Hôtel de la Porte Verte in Violet- little Jeanne to the Zoniënwoud a true product of European bour- straat, although he soon relocated (Sonian Forest) on a little horse and geois society ; someone who had to a room at the Grote Markt (Cen- cart trip. In between, he recorded come a long way through intellec- tral Market Square). One of Europe’s the ‘local detail’, which took place tual work. At home and abroad he most delightful squares was at his in the back garden of his house at had scores of admirers, and his lit- feet. Prime minister Charles Rogier number 4 Barricadenplein – he could erary work fetched numerous re- and mayor Charles de Brouckère, hear the nightingale sing. prints. There was something about both liberals and freemasons, called La Place des Barricades

31 round to pay their respects. Mon- her life. Filling page upon page On a blue Monday in March 1852, sieur Lanvin’s false passport was with observations and rumina- Juliette reminded unfaithful Vic- immediately sorted out, and the tions, from which the author could tor he had not touched her for two Belgian government offered Hugo poach at will. A lot of passages in months – ‘Voilà deux mois révolus a three-month residence permit. Les Misérables and political pam- que nous ne nous sommes pas fait The mayor had a comfortable arm- phlet Histoire d’un Crime are ver- une seule caresse.’ Hugo relented. chair delivered to him and proudly batim transcriptions of her writ- Being a child of his time, he knows gave the writer a guided tour of the ings. Juliette was his mistress (up to what women want : he would take town hall. a point), his rock and his strength, her on a day outing, which had his estate manager and his memo- been a long time coming. They Drouet joined her lover and moved ry, his devoted secretary and his went out to see work by real China- in with him at Prinsengalerij (Princ copyist. A writer in her own right men on exhibit at a flat in Konings es Gallery). Legend has it that her living in the shadows, who by no galerij (King’s Gallery) – just maid Suzanne traipsed to Grote means got the attention she de- around the corner from where Jul- Market every morning carrying a served. Needless to add her belov- iette lived. In those days a family pitcher of hot cocoa, and treated ed also constantly frequented of Asians were travelling around the Genius to a carefully packed prostitutes during his time in Brus- Europe under the care of two Brit- hot meal for lunch – a pork chop sels – so much so that he even kept ish impresarios, like a travelling and bread, scrambled eggs and a records, specifying prices and circus in miniature, taking in all cup of coffee. Juliette never set areas of speciality in code. Juliette the major cities. It was a fair- foot inside the official residences got a few crumbs. Every now and ground attraction for intellectuals, of her beloved. As long as his legal then, Victor would find himself with live chinoiseries to be viewed spouse Adèle was around, she kept forced to spend some attention on for payment – adults paid a franc, a low profile. Throughout her entire his patient mistress, who was writ- children fifty centimes. Mr Chung- adult life, Juliette wrote over twen- ing him moving letters from her Ataï, his two wives, sister in law ty thousand letters to the love of guest room at Prinsengalerie. and servant had started their Eu-

33 ropean tour at the 1851 World Exhi- 91 Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw- the white rendered houses, Juliette bition in London. straat and his son Charles at the would live in a hotel. swanky Hôtel de la Poste in The master of the house Chung- Wolvengracht (Wolves Trench). Barricadenplein is a remnant of a Ataï was a young thirty-something, Valuing his privacy, Hugo himself previous urbanisation wave at with a plait at the back of his head moved into 31 Noordstraat (North Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw, that went all the way down to the Street), where he successively went which included the development of floor. Smoking the odd opium pipe, on to bed the new Flemish maid- the nearby Kruidtuin – at this high- he entertained visitors on the ob- servant Jeannette and the landla- er up location too, the city unfolded jects that had been set out at their dy. In between, he had an affair its majestic panorama. temporary accommodation before with a successful Brussels cello falling asleep like a pasha. His player. In Koningsstraat he bought In 1824, the circular square was women wore impressive headwear Juliette an expensive but belated built as a textbook example of the and had tiny maimed feet which birthday present that year : a small new planning style, harmonious visitors were allowed to touch. folding screen made from Chinese and conveniently laid out, restrain They sold the kind of trinkets Euro- porcelain. ed and classicist – with rendered peans were mad for : small lac- facades. All the while the Dutch quered boxes, hand fans, jewellery… From October 1865 onward, Hugo ruled the roost in Belgium, the place Victor Hugo gifted Juliette a small rented the house at 4 Barricaden- was called ‘Oranjeplein’ (Orange 9 red purse in which she would keep plein in the name of his son Square) ; after the 1830 revolution, it her hero’s portrait. Charles, whilst Drouet moved into was given a new name in reference the Hôtel de la Poste. From this to the roadblocks that had been put During Hugo’s later times spent in time forward, things would go on up around the capital to thwart the the Belgian capital, Drouet was al- along similar lines, even after Adèle Dutch occupying forces. As was cus ways around. In 1861, died in 1868 : the Hugo clan set up tomary in the day, a bronze statue the writer put his secret lover up at house at the circular square with was set up at the public garden to educate and entertain the passers- brewing. Just as Hugo was prepar- by. Here, it is physicist and human- ing to bed down for the night, there ist Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) was knock on the door. Seconds who is given the honour of repre- later, a stone was thrown, and then senting the Nation’s Glory. another one.

Barricadenplein is the setting of an By now, a seething crowd had gath- anecdote which secured Victor Hu- ered on the square. ‘Vous êtes des go’s prominent place in Belgian misérables’, the writer exclaimed history books for a long time. Dur- with much literary display, only to ing the days of the Paris Commune be met by ‘Kill him ! String him up in May 1871, the writer and his reti- from the highest lantern !’ chants. nue were again living in Brussels. Thankfully the maid had bolted In L’Indépendance newspaper of 27 down the door and the shutters May, he again lambasted the Bel- held out. Hugo put his arms around gian government, which did not his grandchildren – which is how seem to have any intention of he went on to be portrayed in the granting the Paris revolutionaries newspaper. political asylum. After being beleaguered for over The popular magazines eagerly Around midnight, the old fox was two hours, the fifty to sixty violent adopted the writer’s version of walking home, not along Zavelput protesters (according to Hugo) or a events. In his diary, Hugo noted that (Loam Pit) as per usual but via handful of hotheads singing the an aged unarmed man, four women Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw- Brabançonne (Belgium’s national and two children had been made to straat (now Omwentelingstraat), hymn) (according to the police) pay the price for his intransigent blissfully unaware trouble was slink off. pacifism. When the police commis-

35 sioner called round the next day to The very next day, Hugo’s party see what damage had been done, boarded the train for neutral Lux- he found a few windows had been embourg – a travelling circus of broken and curtains torn. The neigh seven cheerful folk was seen to oc- bours heard nothing untoward. cupy the first class carriage : Victor and Juliette, now free to come out That evening, Hugo was sum- of the closet as Hugo’s concubine, moned to the Office of State Secu- Hugo’s son Victor, his son Charles’ rity. That same night, a troupe of el- widow, the grandchildren and three egantly dressed youngsters again maidservants. The writer and Juli- descended on the square, where ette would never return to Belgium they jeered the Great Writer of the again. People. In the meantime, Hugo had moved his relatives elsewhere. In- At Barricadenplein the dust has fantry and mounted guides were on settled. The lonesome nightingale hand to keep things in check. The from Rue du Rempart-du-Nord is next morning, the writer was back to warbling his familiar tune. served with an expulsion order signed by King Leopold. The Senate Applied surrealism debated Hugo’s sympathies for the Commune and the minor distur- Nizet’s heroes and old Victor Hugo bances that occurred as a result. are not the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter- Only a few leftist senators voted Sneeuw quarter’s only historical against his expulsion. anchor points. From his home at Victor Hugo mobbed 37 1 Barricadenplein, on 16 September Ghelderode (1898-1962), where he Along Barricadenplein and 1839 immigrant Frenchman Jean- wrote his play La Ballade du Grand Vrijheidsplein, we head back Baptiste Jobard made the very first Macabre in the 1930s. Michel de to Onderrichtstraat.. photo ever to be taken in Belgium : a Ghelderode would sign his letters daguerreotype with a 7-minute ex- as ‘Le Seigneur du Zavelput et au- posure time, showing the liberty tres lieux’. A commemorative Here one Paul Nougé (1895-1967), tree in the public garden impetu- plaque has been put up at number poet, theoretician and a figurehead ously moving to and fro. Literature 24 of the street which is called so of Brussels surrealism, concluded too has made its mark on the quar- much more elegantly Rue de la Sa- our journey across the quarter. 10 ter. Just around the corner was the blonnière in French. Today, the man has been as good as home of playwright Michel de relegated to oblivion – same as a lot of his fellow surrealists it is as though he has evaporated, or rath- er : pushed aside in the shadow of René Magritte. If you take the time to take a closer look at his life and work, you will not be disappointed.

Paul Nougé was born very nearby at 39 Congresstraat and in 1933 moved into 16 Onderrichtstraat 11 , a café still called Treurenberg to this very day, replacing the former occupant, a company called Shina- gawa, importers of ‘articles de Chine et Japon’ – in this quarter, 39 we would be surprised if the con- trary were true..

The name of the café is certainly apt : this is where Nougé shacked up with his somewhat hysterical muse Marthe under his mother’s very eyes and much to her dismay. With her the writer had a dead-end affair under the double portrait his friend Magritte had painted of him in 1927. Nougé wrote the lengthy poem Esquisse d’un hymne à Marthe Beauvoisin for her in 1953, whilst his love was admitted to a psychiatric clinic.

Today, the memory of Paul Nougé has been snowed under. The handful of photos and collections he has left pales into insignificance com- pared against the popular surrealism of Magritte, who got two museums elsewhere in the city. The man with the black thick-rimmed specs and thick lenses spent his entire life living in Magritte’s shadow. Slightly further up from Nougé’s If you would like to continue your During the day, Nougé worked as café Treurenberg and brasserie La walk, head into Leuvenseweg be- chemical engineer at a medical Rotonde – ‘in colonial style’, ac- hind general Brialmont on the tiny laboratory in Belliardstraat, at cording to Brussels city writer Jean square, between the Paleis der night he was a writer, occasional d’Osta – which makes up the cor- Natie (Palace of the Nation) and a photographer and a firebrand oper- ner with IJzerenkruisstraat, we string of office buildings. ating somewhere between surreal- chance upon an unnamed tiny ism and communism. square off Koningsstraat. In the back garden of the Federal Parliament our attention is drawn He is the man hiding his head be- In a quarter dominated by re- by the Bron der Geknielden (Source hind a chessboard on the famous strained neo-Classicism and the of the Kneeled) 13 , an iconic sculp- Le Géant photo which Magritte took cautious eclectic styles of a hand- ture by George Minne. The first de- in 1937 on a Belgian beach, long be- ful of innovators, this development sign dates back to 1898. Minne built fore both men fell foul of each other. is a rare gem, a timely reminder that several versions of this sculptural He reached old age debilitated by Brussels is also an art nouveau cap- group in plaster, marble and bronze ; drink, bad relationships and a ital, courtesy of the pioneering work the plinth was added in the late much too clear perspective of the of the likes of Horta, Hankar, Van de 1920s. ways of the world. However, as a Velde and other kindred spirits. lynchpin and thinker of the movement, Nougé is the best thing Brus- sels surrealism has left us with. Turn right into Koningsstraat and walk on towards the Congress Col- One needs to be some sort of ar- umn to find a prime specimen of pure and unadulterated art nouveau chaeologist to delve up the scat- at number 13 : the shop front designed in 1899 by architect Paul tered fragments of his body of work, Hankar for Niguet shirt outfitters 12 , now Daniël Ost’s flower shop. but every line is worth the effort.

The land across quently saw at their salons, he pur- chased works by Ensor, Finch and Number 16 Kunstlaan is home to Manet, along with one Seurat and the inconspicuous Charlier Muse- two drawings by Vincent van Gogh. 14 um , a building with all the hall- After his only son passed away in marks of a time machine that 1880 and his wife Laure died one transports visitors back to life one year later, Van Cutsem was left a hundred years ago. Here is where lonely man. From now, he would Henri Van Cutsem, an art collector throw himself into the world of art and the owner of the Hôtel de with even greater abandon. The Suède, would invite artist-friends discreet patron knew no bounds. for high-brow conversation and He gifted travel grants and even chamber concerts in the spacious workshops to artists. Those who exhibition gallery which young fell ill were tended to by the best Victor Horta built up against his doctors. Van Cutsem had Horta de- At the other end of Leuvenseweg (Leuven town house in 1890. The generous sign a house for young art critic Road), just past the Flemish Parliament, Van Cutsem followed his gut in- Sander Pierron and footed at least we turn left into Regentlaan (Regent Boule stinct and bought realistic land- part of the bill. The patron had a vard) down to Madouplein (Madou Square), scapes and academic genre scenes mausoleum built in honour of which we cross into Sint-Joost-ten-Node. which he felt were innovative. Even painter Henri de Braekeleer in Ant- Across the square we head into Kunstlaan before artist circle Les Vingt had werp. Sculptor Guillaume Charlier (Art Boulevard) south-bound – this hectic made its entrance in Brussels cul- and his spouse moved in with their city urban motorway was once an elegant tural life in 1884, he already owned generous friend, which made the green promenade, where a double artistic a lot of paintings and sculptures big empty house a little less empty. surprise awaits us. made by the association’s mem- After Van Cutsem died, Charlier bers. Inspired by what he subse- was his sole heir – which also ex-

43 plains the museum’s name. The ing and dispatch of works of art, best pieces in Van Cutsem’s col- but also rented out workshops to lection moved to Doornik, where artists, who would often take up Horta designed a museum for permanent residence here. In them. But what was left in Brus- doing so, the Établissements sels is a fine sample of the kind of Mommen waxed to become an art produced during the fin de artistic beehive just next to the siècle, and well worth a visit. heart of the city. During the pano- Look out for the Chinese cabinet, ramic painting boom, Mommen which has been preserved intact. specialised in large size canvas- Our last stop in the former artists’ es. Which – literally – takes us quarter of Sint-Joost are the Atel- full circle and back to the start of 15 iers Mommen at number 37 , this extensive but fascinating diagonally opposite from the rear trip through time. facade of the city palace where Van Cutsem used to live. Here is where paint and canvas After an hour or so taking in the art on display at Van Cut- trader Félix Mommen built a sem’s, we follow Kunstlaan to the left up to the corner, complex of warehouses and where we turn left and descend into Liefdadigheidsstraat painters’ workshops behind his (Charity Street) shop at the tail end of the nineteenth century. The business and

The Charlier Museum (16 Kunst- the building played a major role laan) is open from Monday in the artistic life of Brussels through Thursday from 12 noon to circa 1900. Mommen sold art 5pm and on Fridays from 10am to 1pm. www.charliermuseum.be supplies and organised the pack- 45 View on the Onderrichtstraat Further reading

• Brussel, breken, bouwen – Architectuur en stadsverfraaiing 1780-1914 (exhibition catalogue), Brussels, Gemeente krediet, 1979 • Victor Hugo, Bruxelles et la Belgique (exhibition catalogue), Brussels, Gemeentekrediet, 1985 • Nachtraven. Het uitgangsleven in Brussel van 1830 tot 1940 (exhibition catalogue Passage 44), Brussels, Gemeente krediet, 1987 • Le quartier Notre-Dame-aux-Neiges, Ministère de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Service des Monuments et des Sites, 1998 • Itinéraire de la Franc-maçonnerie à Bruxelles, Brussel, Société Royale Belge de Géographie & Parcours maçonnique, 2000 • Les élites dans la ville (Les Cahiers de la Fonderie nr. 43), Brussels, December 2010 • Het Charliermuseum en Victor Horta – Het herenhuis Van Cutsem 1890-1893, Brussels, AAM-Éditions, 2012 • Victor Hugo en exil (exhibition catalogue), Brussels, Musée des lettres et manuscrits, 2014 • Acke, Daniel, Ontmaskering van de urbane genotscultuur en utopie van het natuurlijk leven. Bruxelles rigole… (1883) by Henri Nizet, in : Tussen beleving en verbeelding – De stad in de negentiende-eeuws literatuur, Leuven, Universitaire Pers, 2013 • Hymans, Louis [Paul en Henri Hymans voor III], Bruxelles à travers les âges (3 vol.), Brussels, Bruylandt-Christophe, z.d. [1882-1888] • Jacquier, Yvonne du, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode au temps des équipages, [z.p.], [z.j.] [1963] • Loze, Pierre (redactie), Guide de Bruxelles – XIXème & Art Nouveau, Brussels, Eiffel & C.F.C. Éditions, 1990 • Min, Eric, De eeuw van Brussel – Biografie van een wereldstad (1850-1914), Amsterdam/Antwerpen, De Bezige Bij, 2013 • Nizet, Henri, Bruxelles rigole... Moeurs exotiques, Brussels, Kistemaeckers, 1883 • Osta, Jean d’, Dictionnaire historique et anecdotique des rues de Bruxelles, Brussels, Legrain, 1986 • Smolders, Olivier, Paul Nougé / Écriture et caractère / À l’ecole de la ruse, Brussels, Labor, 1995 • Teirlinck, Herman, Zon. Een bundel beschrijvingen, Bussum, C.A.J. van Dishoeck, 1906 • Teirlinck, Herman, Brussel 1900, Antwerpen/Amsterdam, Elsevier/Manteau, 1981, P. 50

47 Credits

Author : Eric Min Photos : Lander Loeckx (p. 46) and Stefan De Wilde Archive documents made available by Eric Min Published by the Flemish Parliament Graphic design : Karakters, Gent Printing house : Artoos, Kampenhout Co-ordination : Kris Van den Bremt Publisher : Julie Clément, director of Communications, Information and External Relations, Flemish Parliament

The publisher has endeavoured to compensate the copyrights in respect of the illustrations in compliance with applicable statutory provisions. However, anyone who believes he/she may lawfully assert copyright claims over the illustrations included in this brochure is invited to contact the publisher. In this brochure, we have used the official Dutch street names. Nonetheless there may be cause for confusion when walkers read the street name plates. For instance, you may come across ‘Onderrichtsstraat’ as well as ‘Onderwijsstraat’ (which both translate as ‘Education Street’ in English). Or find ‘Rue de la Tribune’ rendered as ‘Tribunestraat’ (Tribune/Grandstand/Platform/Rostrum ... Street) at one end and as ‘Kanselstraat’ (Pulpit Street) at the other end of the street. Similarly, ‘Verenigingstraat’ (Association Street) is also called ‘Bondstraat’ (Bond/League/Alliance… Street). A peculiarity typical of Brussels, which should not stop walkers from enjoying this delightful quarter.

Legal deposit : D/2016/3933/8

A walkabout amid signifiers A literary and artistic walk around Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw quarter Eric Min