Brussels Park

About

Brussels Park (French: Parc de Bruxelles [paʁk də bʁysɛl]; Dutch: Warandepark [ʋaːˈrɑndəˌpɑr(ə)k] or Park van Brussel [ˈpɑr(ə)k fɑm ˈbrʏsəl]) is the largest urban public park in central Brussels, Belgium. The park was formerly known and is still sometimes colloquially referred to as the Royal Park (French: Parc royal [paʁk ʁwajal]; Dutch: Koninklijk Park [ˈkoːnɪŋklək ˈpɑr(ə)k]). It was the city's first public park, being originally laid out between 1776 and 1783 in a neoclassical style by the French architect Gilles-Barnabé Guimard and the Austrian landscape architect Joachim Zinner, as part of an urban project including the Place Royale/Koningsplein. The area of the rectangular park is 13.1 ha (32 acres). The park is surrounded by the Place des Palais/Paleizenplein to the south, the Rue Royale/Koningsstraat to the west, the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat to the north and the Rue Ducale/Hertogstraat to the east. The main entrance is on the northern side, opposite the Belgian House of Parliament (Palace of the Nation). An avenue leads to the main pond, from which three other avenues offer views of three important places in Brussels: the Palace of Justice, the Royal Palace and the Place du Trône/Troonplein...

Brussels Park lies on the site of the gardens of the former Palace of Coudenberg, which had been used since the Middle Ages as a hunting ground by the Dukes of Brabant. These grounds were divided into two parts: a large park known as the Warande ( game reserve), which extended, towards the end of the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, as far north as the Rue de Louvain / Leuvensestraat and south as the ramparts at the Namur Gate ; and a small park, located in the Koperbeek valley, between the back of the palace and the Sonian Forest. This small park included a private ornamental garden, which, in the course of its successive redevelopments, was sometimes called leafy, sometimes labyrinth because its landscaping, porticos and basins evoked the Corinthian labyrinth. The opposite hill was occupied by a vineyard that was used until the 16th century, an orangery and aviaries with exotic birds. Further in the valley, the park was embellished with a flower garden and a pond. With its water basins, fountains, imitation rock caves and numerous statues, this Warande Park, as Governor-General Maria Elisabeth of Austria would have known it, was one of the most beautiful in Europe.

The palace and gardens of Coudenberg in 1659, L. Vorsterman the Younger

The archdukes Albert and Isabella walking in the park of their Brussels palace, Jan Bruegel the Elder, c. 1609–1621

Hunting scene in the park of the Coudenberg Palace, Ignatius van der Stock, early 17th century

The palace burned down on the night of 3 February 1731 in a fire that took much of the original royal complex. This left behind a field of ruins and a neglected park. Some proposed a partial reconstruction of the site, but the money was lacking. It was not until 1769, in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine 's reign as Governor-General of the Austrian Netherlands, that the States of Brabant, the representation of the three estates ( nobility, clergy and commoners ) to the court of the Duke of Brabant, proposed to erect a statue in his honour. Georg Adam von Starhemberg, minister plenipotentiary to Empress Maria Theresa, suggested placing it before the ruins that had been levelled for the occasion. In the process, he proposed enlarging the former square in front of the palace, lining it with regular buildings and redesigning the park.

At the same time, the Viennese representative informed the Brussels' authorities of the governor's wish for the old park to be given a new shape "in order to increase the comfort of the public in this way and at the same time contribute to the embellishment of the capital and to make it by this means worthy of the stay of the Court and the curiosity of foreigners". The Empress granted conditional approval on 1 July 1775, provided that the City of Brussels would bear the costs. The city undertook the levelling of the ground for the construction of the park and the three adjacent roads—the Rue Royale/Koningsstraat, the Rue du Brabant/Brabantstraat (now the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat ) and the Rue Ducale / Hertogstraat —while the government took charge of the development of the park itself.

The new park was designed and laid out between 1776 and 1783 in a neoclassical style by the French architect Gilles-Barnabé Guimard and the Austrian landscape architect Joachim Zinner [ fr ], as part of an urban project including the Place Royale/Koningsplein. This park resolutely marked a break with the past, everything having been flattened and redone for the occasion; 1,218 trees were felled to trace the new paths and another 3,284 were planted. This marked the first major work of proactive urban planning carried out in Brussels to completely renew an entire district of the city.

Plan of the Place Royale/Koningsplein and Brussels Park by Joachim Zinner [ fr ], 1780

View of Brussels Park, coloured etching engraved by J.B. Probst after A. Rooland, c. 1775–1800

Brussels Park and the Palace of the Council of Brabant, Aurèle-Augustin Simons, 1789

The park witnessed many events unfold during its history. In 1793, French Revolutionaries known as the sans-culottes destroyed the sculptures and overthrew the busts of the Roman emperors that adorned it. The City of Brussels, which had managed the park since 1797 before becoming its owner by royal decree of 23 April 1817, took it upon itself to repair the damage and soon repopulated the park with its current statues and busts. Lack of money led the city to organise a public subscription, after which management of the park's maintenance was entrusted to the good care of the thirty most generous donors. The results greatly exceeded expectations and the victorious patrons elected seven representatives to form the park's management committee. In 1830, during the Belgian Revolution, which led to the separation of the Southern Netherlands, it served as a refuge for the army of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Since the 19th century, the park has been surrounded by a double row of lime trees, which emphasises the perspectives on either side. The establishment of the Academy Palace and the Royal Palace modified its western flank in the 1820s. The monumental neoclassical railings surrounding the park were installed in 1849, using public funding and based on the designs by the architect Tilman-François Suys. The southern entrance to the central path was designed by the architect Joseph Poelaert in 1857 and executed in 1858, before being moved further north in 1904–1908.

In the 20th century, a large number of buildings surrounding the park were demolished and rebuilt, sometimes without respecting their original appearance and swapping the painted coating for a white stone facing. The first sports activities were organised in the park in 1920. In the 1930s, it was fitted with Art Deco lampposts and a bunker was built underneath it, connected by tunnels to the House of Parliament. In the 1960s, an entrance was built in the north-western corner to access the underground Parc/Park metro station. Classified as a protected site in 1972, the park now belongs to the Brussels Region, which manages and maintains it. It was most recently renovated between 2000 and 2002.

Assault on the Park of Brussels, a scene from the Belgian Revolution ( Constantinus Fidelio Coene, 1830)

Brussels Park's fountain in 1870, etching from L'Illustration Européenne

La promenade ( Franz Gailliard [ fr ], 1896), with the park as setting

Brussels Park lies on the site of the gardens of the former Palace of Coudenberg, which had been used since the Middle Ages as a hunting ground by the Dukes of Brabant. These grounds were divided into two parts: a large park known as the Warande ( game reserve), which extended, towards the end of the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, as far north as the Rue de Louvain / Leuvensestraat and south as the ramparts at the Namur Gate ; and a small park, located in the Koperbeek valley, between the back of the palace and the Sonian Forest. This small park included a private ornamental garden, which, in the course of its successive redevelopments, was sometimes called leafy, sometimes labyrinth because its landscaping, porticos and basins evoked the Corinthian labyrinth. The opposite hill was occupied by a vineyard that was used until the 16th century, an orangery and aviaries with exotic birds. Further in the valley, the park was embellished with a flower garden and a pond. With its water basins, fountains, imitation rock caves and numerous statues, this Warande Park, as Governor-General Maria Elisabeth of Austria would have known it, was one of the most beautiful in Europe.

The palace and gardens of Coudenberg in 1659, L. Vorsterman the Younger

The archdukes Albert and Isabella walking in the park of their Brussels palace, Jan Bruegel the Elder, c. 1609–1621