The Congress Column ( ; ) is a monumental column in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium, commemorating the creation of the

Belgian Constitution The Constitution of Belgium (; ; ) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the separation of powers. The most recent majo ...

by the National Congress of 1830–31. Inspired by Trajan's Column in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, it was erected between 1850 and 1859, on the initiative of the then-

Prime Minister of Belgium The prime minister of Belgium (; ; ) or the premier of Belgium is the head of the federal government of Belgium, and the most powerful person in Belgian politics. The first head of government in Belgian history was Henri van der Noot in 179 ...

, Charles Rogier, according to a design by the architect

Joseph Poelaert Joseph Poelaert (21 March 1817 – 3 November 1879) was a Belgium, Belgian architect. He was entrusted with important projects in Brussels, such as Saint Catherine's Church, Brussels, Saint Catherine's Church, the Church of Our Lady of Laeken, t ...

. At the top of the column is a statue of Belgium's first monarch; King Leopold I, and at its base, the

pedestal A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

is surrounded by statues personifying the four freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution. The Belgian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame lies at its foot.The oldest film material in this movie (9:03 - 9:49 min), is about the burial of the coffin of the Unknown Soldier at the monument to the Congress Column on November 11, 1922. The column is located on the /; a small square adjacent to the Rue Royale/Koningsstraat, in the

Freedom Quarter The Freedom Quarter (; ) is a quarter of Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Be ...

. This area is served by Brussels-Congress railway station, the metro stations Parc/Park (on lines 1 and 5) and Botanique/Kruidtuin (on lines 2 and 6), as well as the

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

stop / on lines 92 and 93.

History

Background

Following Belgian independence in 1830, the desire to consolidate a still fragile identity led to a mania for monuments and a taste for national history. This expression of ardent

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

, which mainly found its inspiration in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, led for example to the installation of a statue of

Andreas Vesalius Andries van Wezel (31 December 1514 – 15 October 1564), latinized as Andreas Vesalius (), was an anatomist and physician who wrote '' De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem'' (''On the fabric of the human body'' ''in seven books''), which is ...

in the centre of the /, and another of the Counts of Egmont and

Horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

on the Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square). At the same time, the new Rue Royale/Koningsstraat, which remained unbuilt in its middle on the western side, defined an open space called then the / (the current /), which offered a beautiful view of the city and its surroundings. In 1850, to commemorate independence and the work of the National Congress, which had laid the foundations of the Belgian State twenty years earlier, the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, on the initiative of the then-

, Charles Rogier, thus decided to build a Congress Column on this site.

Construction (1850–1859)

The first stone was laid down in presence of King Leopold I on 24 September 1850 and the monument was inaugurated on 26 September 1859. The architect

(who was later to also build Brussels' Palace of Justice) was responsible for the execution of the works, under the supervision of the Monuments Commission, and the sculptures of the monument were entrusted to five sculptors, amongst which Eugène Simonis. In the centre of the Place des Panoramas, renamed the Place du Congrès for the occasion, the column became the focal point of the neighbouring / district (today's

). The development plans for this formerly mostly

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

district, cleaned up between 1875 and 1885, attempted to free up the perspective of the column and organise the road network around it accordingly. At the same time, the architect

Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar (1811–1880) was a Dutch-born architect and the founder of the Belgian Cluysenaar family of artists and architects. Family Cluysenaar was born in Kampen in the Netherlands as a son of Joannes Kluysenaar and Garideni ...

took charge of creating, below the square, a covered market which replaced some populous alleys or ill-famed dead-ends bordering the (now-disappeared) /.

20th and 21st centuries

The Belgian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame was installed at the foot of the Congress Column in 1922, in memory of the Belgian soldiers who died during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1929, it was the site of an attempted assassination of Crown Prince Umberto of Italy by Fernando de Rosa. Severely degraded by time, the Congress Column was cleaned in 1968 for the first time since its erection. The monument was again the subject between 1997 and 2008 of major renovation works divided into different phases. In 2001, the

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

and the four corner

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

statues underwent a deep cleaning, using the

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

technique. The corner statues were then coated with wax. In July 2002, work began on cleaning and restoring the column itself, again using laser cleaning technology. The works were finished in November 2002, allowing for the

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between th ...

ceremonies to take place at the site.

Description

The Congress Column has a total height of . A spiral staircase of 193 steps inside the column leads to a platform, decorated with a lavishly carved

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

, surrounding the pedestal of the statue of King Leopold I. The platform can accommodate 16 visitors but is no longer accessible for security reasons. The statue of Leopold was made by the sculptor Guillaume Geefs. Designed by Poelaert and inspired by Trajan's Column in

, the column commemorates the National Congress of 1830–31 which drafted the liberal Belgian Constitution of 1831. The important dates in the struggle for Belgian independence are engraved on column's pedestal, together with the names of the members of the National Congress and the

Provisional Government of Belgium The Provisional Government (; ) was the first iteration of the Belgian state, formed in the midst of the Belgian Revolution. After Dutch forces were expelled from Brussels on 27 September 1830, the recently created Revolutionary Committee tr ...

, as well as important passages from the Constitution. The

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

is decorated with elegant foliage and on its four sides are represented ''Wisdom'', ''Strength'', ''Immortality'' and ''Glory''. File:Brussels, la Colonne du Congrès in straatzicht (Rue Royale) foto2 2015-06-07 09.50.jpg, The Congress Column and the Finance Tower seen from the Rue Royale/Koningsstraat File:Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Brussels - DSC06939.jpg, Pedestal of the column, with two bronze lions by Eugène Simonis File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Colonne du Congrès - 02.jpg, Detail of the

on the column File:Brussel Congreskolombeeld.jpg, Statue of King Leopold I, by Guillaume Geefs, at the top of the column On the base of the column, surrounding the pedestal, four sitting

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

bronze female sculptures represent the major constitutional liberties enshrined in the Constitution of 1831: the ''Freedom of Association'' by Charles-Auguste Fraikin, the ''Freedom of Worship'' by Eugène Simonis, the ''Freedom of the Press'' and the ''Freedom of Education'' both by Joseph Geefs. Two monumental bronze lions by Eugène Simonis are placed in front of the monument. In 2007, during Storm Kyrill, the ''Freedom of the Press'' sculpture was blown down and later restored. File:Libercultes.JPG, ("Freedom of Education") File:CONGRESS COLUMN-BRUSSELS-Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram (12).jpg, ("Freedom of Association") File:CONGRESS COLUMN-BRUSSELS-Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram (13).jpg, ("Freedom of Worship") File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Colonne du Congrès - 03.jpg, ("Freedom of the Press")

Monument to the Unknown Soldier

Tomb of Unknown Soldier in Brussels - panoramio

As a memorial to the Belgian victims of

, an unknown soldier was buried at the foot of the monument on 11 November 1922. This unknown soldier was selected out of five unidentified soldiers from different battle sites by Raymond Haesebrouck, a veteran blinded in battle. The tomb is surmounted by an eternal flame. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a second memorial plaque was added to the monument to honour the Belgian victims. In 1998, a third memorial plaque was dedicated to the Belgian soldiers killed in the service of peace since 1945.

References

Footnotes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* {{Belgian Revolution of 1830 Monuments and memorials in Brussels City of Brussels Monumental columns in Belgium World War I memorials in Belgium Neoclassical architecture in Belgium Constitution of Belgium Buildings and structures completed in 1859 1850s establishments in Belgium Leopold I of Belgium Belgian Revolution