Heritage brochure - The Brussels courthouse

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the brussels courthouse:

the single largest of the world

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he story behind the building

Whether you admire it from the outside or from the inside, you cannot but be overwhelmed by the sheer size of this massive building. The intention is clearly to show the power and authority of justice and remind people of how small and insignificant they are before the law.

A symbolic place with a troublesome past, the Palace of Justice is built on the Galgenberg site (Gallows Hill), a place where convicted criminals were hanged in the Middle Ages; the legend has it that world-famous physician Vesalius (16th century) went there at night to collect cadavers in order to study the anatomy of the human body.

Previously — i.e. since the beginning of the 19th century, shortly before the independence of Belgium in 1830 —, the Brussels Courthouse occupies buildings formerly belonging to the Jesuits, located between the current Rue de Ruysbroek/Ruisbroekstraat and Rue de la Paille/Strostraat, and refurbished to fit the Courthouse requirements. Given the advanced state of disrepair, there is, from 1853 onwards, increasingly talk about their renovation, extension or the construction of a new more spacious building capable of accommodating all the courts that had to have their seat in Brussels. The negotiations pit three different entities against each other: the State, the Province of Brabant and the City of Brussels, each having the supervision over a number of courts (Court of Cassation, Court of Appeal and Military High Court for the State; Court of Assizes, Court of First Instance (trial court) and the Commercial Court for the province; Justice of Peace (district court), Police Court, Court-martial and Civic Guard Disciplinary Council for the city). This situation seriously complicates the good progress of discussions.

After never-ending debates, the government eventually decides by the royal decree of 27 March 1860 (i.e. under the reign of Leopold I) to organize an international architecture contest in order to select a project for the new Palace of Justice to be built on the current site. Since none of the designs entered in the contest are found acceptable by the jury — which the future architect of the palace is a member of! —, Joseph Poelaert who had already held the position of architect of the City of Brussels is appointed to carry out the job.

The actual construction only kicks off on 31 October 1866 (under the reign of Leopold II); the inauguration takes place... 17 years later on 15 October 1883 ! The author himself will not live to see the end of the works: he dies in 1879, presumably from a stroke, completely exhausted and practically insane (it is said that he only slept four hours a day!).

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rchitecture and decor

Currently the building, eclectic in style with predominantly Greek and Roman influences, only quarters three courts: the Courts of Cassation and of Appeal, and some departments of the Court of First Instance. Its massive size constitutes a serious impediment to a sound and comfortable use (in terms of maintenance, energy, etc.).

If you are indeed welcomed at the entrance by the architect himself (statue of Poelaert), the main façade shelters the bust of goddess of wisdom Athena. The vast peristyle is decorated on the left-hand side with the life-size statues of Roman statesmen Cicero and Ulpianus and on the right-hand sight with Greek figures Demosthenes and Lycurgus. This part of the building definitely brings forth a spatial ambiguity: are you inside the palace, or are you still outside?

The huge entrance hall (appropriately called “salle des pas perdus” or “hall of lost steps”) provides the answer; it is as impressive as an arena: its immense scale and dizzying height prevent the visitor from grasping the origin of all possible hazards.

At the top of the marble stairway the gallery on the first floor reveals a series of busts of eminent lawyers: Jules Bere, Charles Duvivier, Charles De Jongh, Alphonse De Becker, Jules Guillery, Victor Bonnevie, Eugène Henssens, Louis Leclercq, Charles Graux, Paul Jenson, Jules Lejeune.

The Court of Cassation holds its sessions in a richly decorated room: portrait of Philip the Good in a gilded frame above the entrance door, furniture in false ebony, bronze lamps on its desks, busts in Carrara marble of King Leopold II and Queen Marie-Henriette under an equestrian painting of King Leopold I at the back of the room.

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The dome which stretches over the entire architectural structure is flanked by four allegorical statues representing Justice, Clemency, Law and Strength.

ours and detours This palace of justice, superbly isolated from its direct surroundings, is still the largest in the world today: approximately 160 by 150 metres with a useable space of about 40,000 square meters, a dome which reaches a height of over 100 meters, 27 large courtrooms and 245 smaller courtrooms and other rooms. The mammoth enterprise was fraught with some difficulties and oppositions to say the least: demolitions and expropriations — “nothing more than decrepit hovels not worth a penny, the acquisition costs will be as limited as one can hope for”, says engineer Groetaers —, at the far end of one of Brussels’ poorest neighbourhoods, the Marolles… however followed by some compensations; popular resentment but also certain political figures are displeased (on completion of the building, the attitudes of the elite change – it no longer approves of the grandiloquent requirements of the ruling liberal bourgeoisie; Catholics and socialists seek to make their voices heard)… Faced with criticism relating to the great artistic and financial freedom granted to him, Poelaert shows himself rather inflexible: “If you are not satisfied with my work, I will leave you in the lurch. Please note, dear gentlemen, that it is after all a work of art.” Such incidents add up in the course of time and very

soon the term “architect” becomes a serious term of abuse in the mouth of the true “Brusseleirs”: “Skieven architek” (crooked architect, also the name of a café on Place du Jeu de Balle/Vossenplein) or “Rotten architek”. Similarly, at the official inauguration, the furniture of the palace suffers damage (armchairs slashed with knifes, curtains and tapestries torn down, etc.), all the work and message of the Brussels people.

© Sint-Lukasarchief, fonds Gustave Abeels

Although the name of architect Poelaert is often the only one referred to when talking about the Palace of Justice, the role of head engineer of the then Ministry of Public Works François-Joseph Wellens should also be acknowledged: he is after all in charge of the practical and technical achievement of Poelaert’s design. Among about 800 recently classified and registered original plans, all but one bear Wellens’ signature.

“Preposterous construction that goes against the most elementary laws of constructive rationalism; a cyclopean architecture that has taken shape in the mind of a dwarf ignorant of the human scale; a massive structure topped with a cheese cover” V. Horta

So, for example, at the time, 1,200 tons of coal are needed to heat the building during the winter; the coal is carried by rail and brought in through a door in the façade located Rue aux Laines/Wolstraat.

On 3 September 1944, the Germans, forced to retreat to the East following the arrival of the allied troops, set fire to the building in order to destroy their traces and documents: the dome and the back of the building are essentially damaged. The fire fighters, supported by the population, manage to put out the fire but cannot prevent the copper dome from collapsing. In 1969, the Marolles working-class area is once again threatened with destruction: what is at issue is no more and no less than to wipe it off the map in order to add an extension to the Palace of Justice! The Marolliens rise up against the proposal and eventually the “battle of the Marolle” proves them right. This temple of law is listed since 2001.

On 20 July 2010, the Belgian Buildings Agency (Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der Gebouwen) and the Federal Public Service Justice launch an international ideas competition named “Brussels Courthouse, Imagine the Future!”.

The main purpose of this competition is to study the future functions of the Brussels Courthouse and of its immediate vicinity, as it no longer meets safety and functionality requirements. Participants have the opportunity to submit their ideas for two possible scenarios: a Courthouse (partially) keeping its judicial functions and a Courthouse cleared of its judicial functions. In the end, 188 files are submitted. The jury has selected three laureates for each scenario. However, too much about the future of this colossus is still unsettled, undecided and unclear...

“The judiciary system is probably one of the most efficient means to protect oneself from endless vengeance. The principle of a restrictive law releases human beings from the duty of vengeance” Y. Michaud

Buildings Agency copyright: Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles

www.visit.brussels