After Frits Schetsken (translated by us): 'In the passage of the house De Sterre on the
corner of the Town Square (Grote Markt) and the Karel Bulsstreet, one finds the lying
statue of Everaert T'Serclaes.
When count John III of Brabant dies without mail children, a war starts for his
succession. Lodewijk van Male, count of Flanders, married to John's daughter
Margareth, enters into Brabant and in August 1356 he takes Brussels. But few months
later, Everaert T'Serclaes chases him out.
When T'Serclaes later resists an increase of the size of territory of Sweder
d'Abcoude, count of Gaasbeek. When in 1388, returning from his properties in Lennik, 2
puppils of Sweder, Willem van Kleef and Melys Utenenghe, pull him from his horse, they
cut his tongue and one feet. Severely wounded, T'Serclaes reaches Brussels, but 5
days later he dies in this house. Nevertheless, is he really gone?? Girls and women
touching his shiny arm, either get married or give birth within the year. You choose
which of the two, you can always come back later for the other part...
Let's still finish 'T Serclaes' story: the inhabitants of Brussels are very enraged
about the attack. They jointly got to the castle of Gaasbeek and after a weekslong
siege set on fire. Their wives were getting chickens here and there, to get the men
fed. That's how the inhabitants of Brussels got their nickname: 'kiekefretters'
'Chicken Eaters'.
Memorial plate for Charles Buls
As a liberal politician, Karel Buls becomes mayor of Brussels in 1881, till 1899. He
is especially concerned about the preservation of the historic view
his city and describes in his Esthetique des villes his predilection for organic
growth. In the same period however, King Leopold II has very different plans for
Brussels. He dreams about large boulevards around and through the city, inspired by
Haussmann's Paris, with also a series of other great projects. Two
completely different views on urban development, that had to go wrong. When
Leopold buys the entire Saint Roch district for the construction of the Mont des Arts,
this medieval part of Brussels is almost completely demolished, which is the signal for
Buls to resign in protest on 16 December 1899. The first Kunstberg with
waterfalls and fountains will also come from lack of money from 1908 thanks to the
Brussels World Fair of 1910.
Although the title of his publication on urban development is in French,
Karel Buls strongly committed himself to Dutch in Brussels. He builds
a Dutch-speaking education network in his city, and the Royal Flemish
Theater. October 13, 1887, he sees the chance for Leopold II to speech Dutch, a
first for a Belgian king.
In 1852, the guildhall De Sterre is demolished on the Brussels Grote Markt, because
this would impede traffic. Buls has it reconstructed in 1897 with one
colonnade, so that pedestrians do not have to walk on the road and traffic
therefore can pass easily. Not by coincidence, this street later on is
renamed Karel Bulsstraat, with a memorial plaque for the mayor in the year
of his resignation. This is what the most important architects mentioned have
participated in the various buildings and guild houses on the Grote Markt: Jacques Van
Thienen and Jan Van Ruysbroeck in front of the City Hall; Antoon and Rombout
Keldermans,
Lodewijk Van Bodeghem, Domien De Wagemaker and Hendrik van Pede for the Broodhuis;
Willem De Bruyn, Jan Cosyns, Herbosch, Van Delen, Mombaerts and Mercx for the
guild houses.
Karel Buls also gets a bit further on the Agoraplein more recently a
fountain with bench on which a bronze Karel sits with his dog. Something for a selfie
with ...? '
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