In front of you rises one of the largest buildings of the nineteenth century. It covers more than 26,000 square metres, and locals like to point out proudly that it is bigger than St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

1Gallows hill

The site was not chosen at random. This was the Galgenberg, the hill where condemned prisoners were hanged, looming over the city below. The foundation stone was laid on 31 October 1866 to plans by Joseph Poelaert, and the palace was inaugurated in 1883.

To make room for it, part of the working-class Marolles district was demolished. Some seventy-five owners were expropriated and around a hundred residents were rehoused in another municipality. According to tradition, that is when the local dialect coined its worst insult: schieven architek, the “crooked architect”.

It is said that Poelaert went mad over his creation and that the witches of the Marolles cursed him. What is documented is that he died in 1879, exhausted, without seeing it finished.

2Other legends

People have claimed that the palace hides Masonic symbols and that it was paid for with the blood of the Congo. The second claim is an anachronism: the project was decided in 1861, long before Leopold II acquired the Congo, and Belgian taxpayers footed the bill. What really did happen is that on 3 September 1944, retreating German troops set the dome on fire.

3What to look for

  • The gilded dome, rebuilt after the 1944 fire.
  • The scaffolding, which has accompanied the building through decades of restoration.
  • The viewpoint over the Marolles, the district that paid the price.
Smoke rising from the dome of the Brussels Palace of Justice during the 1944 fire
The dome ablaze in September 1944, set on fire by retreating German troops.

Documented

The palace was built between 1866 and 1883 on the former Galgenberg; there were expropriations in the Marolles, and Poelaert died in 1879 before it was finished.

Oral tradition

Poelaert’s madness, the curse of the Marolles witches and the palace paid for with Congolese blood are legends; the origin of the insult “schieven architek” comes from oral tradition.

Sources and credits

Régie des Bâtiments / Regie der Gebouwen, website on the restoration of the Palace of Justice; Inventaire du patrimoine architectural de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; French and Dutch Wikipedia, “Palais de justice de Bruxelles” and “Justitiepaleis (Brussel)”.

Photos:

  • The Palace of Justice in Brussels with its gilded dome: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0.
  • Smoke rising from the dome of the Brussels Palace of Justice during the 1944 fire: Autor desconocido, Dominio público.

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