The Palace of Laeken or Castle of Laeken (french: Château de Laeken, nl, Kasteel van Laken, german: Schloss zu Laeken) is the official residence of the

King of the Belgians Belgium is a constitutional, hereditary, and popular monarchy. The monarch is titled king or queen of the Belgians ( nl, Koning(in) der Belgen, french: Roi / Reine des Belges}, german: König(in) der Belgier) and serves as the country's h ...

and the Belgian Royal Family. It lies in the

Brussels-Capital Region Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, north of the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fre ...

, in

Laeken () or () is a residential suburb in the north-western part of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. It belongs to the municipality of the City of Brussels and is mostly identified by the Belgian postal code: 1020. Prior to 1921, it was a sep ...

(part of the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels (french: Ville de Bruxelles or alternatively ''Bruxelles-Ville'' ; nl, Stad Brussel or ''Brussel-Stad'') is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the F ...

), and sits in a large private park called the Royal Domain of Laeken. The palace was built between 1782 and 1784 for the

Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands The governor ( nl, landvoogd) or governor-general () of the Habsburg Netherlands was a representative appointed by the Holy Roman emperor (1504-1556), the king of Spain (1556-1598, 1621-1706), and the archduke of Austria (1716-1794), to administer ...

, and was originally named the Palace of Schonenberg. It was partly destroyed by fire in 1890, after which it was rebuilt and extended. Significant modifications were undertaken at the beginning of the 20th century during the reign of

King Leopold II * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...

. Nowadays, it is often referred to as the Royal Palace of Laeken or Royal Castle of Laeken. The Palace of Laeken should not be confused with the

Royal Palace of Brussels The Royal Palace of Brussels (french: Palais royal de Bruxelles, , nl, Koninklijk Paleis van Brussel , german: Königlicher Palast von Brüssel) is the official palace of the King and Queen of the Belgians in the centre of the nation's capita ...

, in central Brussels, which is the official palace (not residence) of the King of the Belgians and from which state affairs are handled. It is served by Stuyvenbergh metro station on line 6 of the

Brussels Metro The Brussels Metro (french: Métro de Bruxelles, nl, Brusselse metro) is a rapid transit system serving a large part of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It consists of four conventional metro lines and three ''premetro'' lines. The me ...

History

Origins (–1830)

The palace was built between 1782 and 1784 in

, then a rural village outside

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, after the plans of the French architect and urbanist

Charles de Wailly Charles de Wailly () (9 November 1730 – 2 November 1798) was a French architect and urbanist, and furniture designer, one of the principals in the Neoclassical revival of the Antique. His major work was the Théâtre de l'Odéon for the Coméd ...

, under supervision of the Belgian-Austrian architect Louis Montoyer. It was originally named the Palace of Schonenberg (french: Château de Schonenberg, link=no, nl, Kasteel van Schonenberg, link=no) and was to serve as a summer residence for the

, Duchess Maria Christina of Austria and her husband Prince Albrecht of Saxony-Teschen. The French

cabinetmaker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (so ...

Jean-Joseph Chapuis provided the royal furniture. On 21 July 1803,

Nicolas-Jean Rouppe Nicolas-Jean Rouppe (in Dutch also: ''Nikolaus Joannes Rouppe'') (baptised 17 April 1768 – 3 August 1838) was a Belgian liberal politician. He was the first burgomaster of Brussels after the Belgian independence in 1830. Nicolas-Jean Rou ...

, the commissioner of the department of the Dyle, received

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

at the Palace of Laeken. Napoleon stayed there with the

Empress Josephine An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

in August 1804 on his way from awarding the first ''

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

'' to his troops at Boulogne, to his progress along the Rhine, and later, during the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...

in 1815, prematurely made this proclamation from the palace: File:Front Schonenberg.jpg, The Palace of Schonenberg in the 18th century File:Goetghebuer - 1827 - Choix des monuments - 001 Palais Royal de Laeken.jpg, Engraving of the Palace of Laeken from Pierre-Jacques Goetghebuer's ''Choix des monuments'' (1827)

Post-independence (1830–present)

After

Belgian Independence The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. Th ...

, Rouppe, by then

mayor of the City of Brussels This is a list of mayors or burgomasters of the City of Brussels. Burgundian Netherlands (1384–1482) *1380: Geert Pipenpoy *1381: Geert Pipenpoy and Jacques Stovaert *1421: J. Swaeff, J. Cooman *1422: Walter Vanden Heetvelde, Petrus van Bole ...

, received the new King Leopold I at the Palace of Laeken on 21 July 1831, the day of Leopold's coronation. The palace was partly destroyed by fire in 1890, and was rebuilt and extended by the architect

Alphonse Balat Alphonse Hubert François Balat (15 May 1818 – 16 September 1895) was a Belgian architect. Life Balat was born in Gochenée. He studied at the Academie of Namur and obtained his degree in architecture from the Academy of Antwerp in 1838 ...

. The French architect

Charles Girault Charles-Louis Girault (27 December 1851 – 26 December 1932) was a French architect. Biography Born in Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, he studied with Honoré Daumet at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He received the first Pr ...

gave it its present outline in 1902, with the addition of two new monumental wings forming a "U" shape with the main facade. The domain also contains the large Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, a set of monumental dome-shaped constructions, accessible to the public only a few days a year. They were also designed by Balat, with the cooperation of the young

Victor Horta Victor Pierre Horta (; Victor, Baron Horta after 1932; 6 January 1861 – 8 September 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. His Hôtel Tassel in Brussels, built in 1892–93, is often ...

. The Palace of Laeken has been the royal residence since Leopold I's accession to the throne in 1831. However, upon their accession to the throne in 1993, King Albert II and Queen Paola preferred to remain living in the

Belvédère Belvédère (; oc, Barver; it, Belvedere) is a commune in the Vésubie valley north of Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. The village of Belvédère is located at the entrance of the Gordolasque valley on the e ...

, a

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowad ...

on the grounds of the park surrounding the palace. The current occupants of the palace are King Philippe, Queen Mathilde and their four children. File:Château royal de Laeken en 1880.jpg, The Palace of Laeken in 1880, etching from ''L'Illustration nationale'' File:Incendie du château royal de Laeken le 1 janvier 1890.jpg, The Palace of Laeken on fire, 1 January 1890 File:Laeken after the fire.jpg, Aftermath of the fire File:Château royal de Laeken J1.jpg, The wing built by

Royal Domain

The Royal Domain of Laeken is extensive, about , or slightly smaller than Monaco.Raf Casert
Some Belgians shout: 'King! Tear down your garden walls!'
Associated Press (4 March 2021). The gardens are surrounded by walls and iron gates, and are closed to the public, although there have been calls for the king to open at least a portion of the park for public use amid the

COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium The COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Belgium on 4 February 2020, when one of a group of nine Belgians repatriated from Wuhan to Brussels was repor ...

. The gardens of the Royal Domain are landscaped in English style; the vast park includes lakes, a golf course and artworks.

was very closely connected with the designs of his private gardens. It is in these gardens that his only son, Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, fell in a pond, and died subsequently from pneumonia, aged only nine. The king had trees planted for his new-born children, which still stand in the park. There are various pavilions, including the Chinese Pavilion and the Japanese Tower. They were commissioned by Leopold II and now form part of the

Museums of the Far East The Museums of the Far East (french: Musées d'Extrême-Orient, nl, Musea van het Verre Oosten) is a complex of three museums in Laeken, City of Brussels, Belgium, dedicated to Oriental art and culture, specifically that of China and Japan. Co ...

. The rooms of the Chinese Pavilion are designed in ''

chinoiserie (, ; loanword from French ''chinoiserie'', from ''chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other East Asian artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, liter ...

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ve ...

and

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...

styles. They are decorated with Chinese motifs,

chinaware Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the Palaeolithic era. Chinese ceramics range from construc ...

and silverware. The Japanese Tower is a pagoda, inspired by a construction Leopold saw at the

Paris Exposition of 1900 The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...

. Leopold thus asked his architect Alexandre Marcel to build him a similar one in Laeken. In the gardens live several colonies of wild Canada geese, hundreds of

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven gen ...

s and other large birds. The gardens are also home to one of the biggest colonies of

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...

s in the country. File:Castle of Laeken.JPG, Main facade of the Palace of Laeken File:0 Château Royal de Laeken - Jardins 2.JPG, The gardens of the Royal Domain and the Japanese Tower File:Lawn - Royal Castle of Laeken - Brussels, Belgium - DSC07103.jpg, The Great Lawn of the Royal Domain

Royal Greenhouses

The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken are located within the Royal Domain and are attached to the palace via the

orangery An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very larg ...

. They were commissioned by

and designed and built between 1874 and 1895 by

. The total floor area of the immense complex covers . The main

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...

s, such as the Congo Greenhouse and the so-called ''Iron Church'', a domed greenhouse, which would originally serve as the royal chapel, are all linked by flowered corridors spanning hundreds of meters. The complex is home to the famous Royal Botanic Collection, which includes large collections of

camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controversy ...

orange tree Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...

s and many plants originating from the African parts of the former

Belgian Empire Belgium controlled several territories and concessions during the colonial era, principally the Belgian Congo (modern DRC) from 1908 to 1960 and Ruanda-Urundi (modern Rwanda and Burundi) from 1922 to 1962. It also had small concessions in Guat ...

. Many sculptures and Chinese vases can also be found within the greenhouses. File:Laeken Se1JPG.jpg, Royal Greenhouses of Laeken File:Royal Greenhouse of Laken.jpg,

Orangery An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very larg ...

File:Laeken Se1a.jpg, Under the dome of the Winter Garden File:Laeken Se1lJPG.jpg, Interior of the Embarcadère Greenhouse

Modern-day function

The Palace of Laeken is mainly a residential palace and has a more sober and intimate character than the

. Since 1999, it has been the residence of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde with their family. The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken are open to the public for three weeks each year during the flowering period, in April–May. The palace is known for its stables, the

Chinese pavilion A Chinese pavilion (Chinese 亭, pinyin ''tíng'') is a garden pavilion in traditional Chinese architecture. While often found within temples, pavilions are not exclusively religious structures. Many Chinese parks and gardens feature pavilions t ...

and the Japanese Tower. The painting studio of

Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium Elisabeth of Bavaria (Elisabeth Gabriele Valérie Marie; 25 July 187623 November 1965) was Queen of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 to 17 February 1934 as the spouse of King Albert I, and a duchess in Bavaria by birth. She was the mother ...

, can also be admired. At the request of Queen Paola, the play pavilion in which the children of

King Leopold III Leopold III (3 November 1901 – 25 September 1983) was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasi ...

grew up has been restored, so that Crown Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant could play there with her siblings and cousins.

Influence

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic ...

, the dictator of

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

(the modern-day

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

), built a palace in his hometown of

Gbadolite Gbadolite or Gbado-Lite (pronounced ) is the capital of Nord-Ubangi Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town is located south of the Ubangi River at the border to the Central African Republic and northeast of the national capi ...

modelled upon the Royal Palace of Laeken.Recovering stolen assets: Making a hash of finding the cash
''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * *

External links

The Royal Castle of Laeken
at Visit Brussels {{Authority control Castles in Brussels Palaces in Brussels City of Brussels Royal residences in Belgium Houses completed in 1784 Neoclassical architecture in Belgium Continental gardens in the English Landscape Garden style