Heritage brochure - The royal library of Belgium

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the royal library of belgium, from the montagne de la cour to the mont des arts

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rigin

This landmark attracts many a visitor over the course of the year, from tourists exploring the venue and its park to passers-by or workers climbing up or down the hill, and of course, readers. The building that houses the Royal Library is part of a broader area that is known as the Mont des Arts, or mountain of the arts.

In fact, this mountain encompasses the Royal Library, a commercial gallery and a number of offices located on the opposite side of the street, which is rightfully named Rue Mont des Arts, as well as the Palace of Congress – or «Square» – at the top of the hill, the statue of Albert I at the foot of the hill, the gardens and esplanades, and even an underground car park.

The area of land upon which the library rests formerly housed a number of sumptuous royal palaces, including the famous palace of Nassau, home to the renowned William of Orange-Nassau, an emblematic figure for the independence of the Netherlands in the 16th century. This wealthy nobleman, who owed his name to the inheritance of the French principality of Orange, led the revolt against the Habsburgs which resulted in the independence of the entire Netherlands, largely covering what we now know as Belgium and Holland. In truth, only the north remained free from the clutches of Spanish power. It was thus that William introduced the colour orange to the Netherlands – even the national flag was at first orange, white and blue. The successor of the Palace of Nassau was the Palace of Charles de Lorraine, which is still partly visible to this day from the Place du Musée.

The Royal Library officially began operation as such and in its current location in 1969. The building took fifteen years to construct. Yet already in 1935, at the behest of King Leopold III and his recently widowed mother, Queen Elisabeth, the Belgian government had made the decision to erect a new library in memory of King Albert I, their father and spouse who died during a mountaineering excursion near Namur in early 1934. But, why choose to open a library in his honour? The context of the times encouraged it: on the one hand, the need to pay tribute to the deceased sovereign, a well-respected man especially owing to his exemplary attitude during World War I, coincided with the need for a new library (space had become short in the old building); on the other hand, account was taken of King Albert’s thirst for knowledge as a keen defender of the heritage of the arts. It is for this reason that the library is sometimes know as «The Albertine», and can also be heard called «The Royal» or the «KBR» for short.

«Only the intellectual and moral forces of a nation fertilise its prosperity,» said the monarch during his coronation speech.

The concept of a royal library is not, however, strictly bound to the figure of Albert I. It is, in fact, older as it dates back to the 16th century, when Spain ruled over these regions: Philip II, the successor of Charles V on the Spanish throne, had already gathered together all of the works in his possession inside the Coudenberg Palace, home to the reigning princes in Brussels. But looking back even further, we see the first embryo of a central library in Brussels at the hands of the Dukes of Burgundy, who reigned in the region and amassed a collection of illuminated manuscripts over the course of the 15th century comprising some 900 works, which formed the Bourgogne Library.

Fortunately, these collections were barely scathed by the fire that struck the Coudenberg Palace in 1731. The collections were then transferred to the Domus Isabellae – named after Archduchess Isabella who reigned over the area in the early 17th century – in an ancient home belonging to the guild of crossbowmen, located on today’s Rue Baron Horta. The library was opened to the public in 1772.

With the French occupation in Belgium, many manuscripts and valuable books were taken to Paris, though some were returned in 1815. Under French rule, the library was incorporated into the Ecole Centrale in the département of Dyle, which meant that the collections were shipped to the premises of that establishment, located in the old Palace of Charles de Lorraine (at Place du Musée).

In 1837, the Belgian government created the Royal Library of Belgium, following a purchase by the State of a collection from the famous bibliophile Charles Van Hulthem of Ghent, containing 70,000 volumes. The library officially opened its doors to the public on 21 May 1839, still on the site of the former Court of Brussels (the Palace of Charles de Lorraine). During that time, other national institutions were also born, including the National Archives of Belgium, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts and the Royal Observatory of Belgium.

The context was clear: the aim was to build or reinforce the feeling of belonging to the new nation. As such, the Royal Library should be seen to constitute the memory of the country. It also serves a scientific purpose, lending support to the country’s industries on which its economy depends.

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rchitecture and décor

Based on the usual categories, the Albertine building was constructed in a monumental style. In the 1930s, most European States were eager to regain order and find some stability after the painful episodes of World War I and the financial recession of 1929. In their pursuit to reassert power, particularly in financial terms, the States looked to architecture as a symbol of their new identities.

The buildings of the library enshroud the old chapel of the Palace of Nassau, the last remaining bastion of its time as a home of princes.

The outer structure and layout suggest a certain austerity. On the whole, however, the edifice has a functional beauty. As a result of a significant slope in the land, the arrangement of the building’s floors is somewhat unusual: the entrance is on the second floor below ground level, while the general reading room lies on the ground floor.

Besides its collections of books, the institution contains a variety of other formats which are divided into sections: engravings, prints, posters, letters, journals and more, as well as a number of exhibition rooms, including the printing house museum, the book museum and others.

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tinerary and detours

The idea of transforming this area into a corner for the arts – a testimony to the culture and history of the country – was put forward by King Leopold II. It is set in a place of transition between the upper part of town, a symbol of power, and the less prestigious lower part, and is located on a route that draws a practically straight line between two of the city’s gates: the Gate of Namur on the hilltop and the Gate of Flanders at the foot.

Ever since the mid 19th century, attempts were made to rearrange the area into a link between the upper and lower city, for instance by means of a major project to build a palace of commerce designed by two French architects. A series of other projects were also brought to light, until that of Henri Maquet was ordered by Leopold II. The project began in 1897 with the demolition of the old Saint-Roch quarter. It was, however, rejected by Parliament in 1908, leaving the site in a state of disrepair. In anticipation of the Universal Expo in 1910, King Leopold II entrusted the French landscape designer Vacherot to build a temporary public park over the ruins, which was the object of much criticism on its opening in 1910.

The project to build a «Mountain of the Arts» was retaken in 1935, when the Albert I Library Collection was created thanks to a series of donations that aimed to glorify the name of the former sovereign. In 1937, a contest was held calling for ideas on a new layout for the site, which was rightfully won by the architects Ghobert and Van Steenbergen. A second contest was organised in 1938, this time for the construction of the Royal Library in the place of the greenhouses in the Botanical Garden. The project was awarded to the architect Houyoux. One year later, the current site was chosen and the work was entrusted to Ghobert and Houyoux, though the latter died in 1960 and was unable to see the completion of the work. With some adjustments, the final project was adopted in 1946. In 1951, an equestrian statue of King Albert I was raised on the site. The foundation stone for the Library was laid in 1954, but construction work on the Palace of Congress began one year later. Next, until 1973, came the construction of the building that would house the National Archives of Belgium and the extension work to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts.

The delay in effectively completing the work gave rise to some inconsistencies. In terms of style, a clear difference can be seen in the trends of the 1930s and the architectural tastes of the 50s and 60s. Moreover, this period saw a change in royal figure, which went from a sovereign cult under Albert I to something of a royal disenchantment with Leopold III, whose attitude during the war was sorely questioned. In fact, a movement arose from the people complaining that the quarter that was being built was purely artificial to the detriment of the existing living area. It was then that the terms «Deserted Mountain» and even «Disaster Mountain» were coined. The announcement of Brussels as the host of the Universal Expo in 1958 would be the saving grace of the Mountain of the Arts construction project, and gave rise to the beginning of a modern space worthy of welcoming the whole world to the Belgian capital.

Today, the institution houses more than six million volumes on its 150 km of shelves and 17 floors (6 of which are underground), with 67,000 m² of floor space. copyright: Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles

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