Brussels Town Hall

The oldest part of the present Town Hall is its east wing (to the left when facing the front). This wing, together with a shorter tower, was built between 1401 and 1421 under direction of the architect Jacob van Thienen. Initially, future expansion of the building was not foreseen, however, the admission of the craft guilds into the traditionally patrician city government apparently spurred interest in providing more room for the building. As a result, a second, somewhat longer wing was built on to the existing structure, with the young Duke Charles the Bold laying its first stone in 1444. The architect of this west wing is unknown. Historians think that it could be Guillaume (Willem) de Voghel who was the architect of the city of Brussels in 1452, and who was also, at that time, the designer of the Aula Magna at the Palace of Coudenberg. The facade is decorated with numerous statues representing nobles, saints, and allegorical figures. The present sculptures are reproductions; the older ones are in the city museum in the King’s House across the Grand Place.

The 96-metre-high (315 ft) tower in Brabantine Gothic style emerged from the plans of Jan van Ruysbroek, the court architect of Philip the Good.[4] By 1455, this tower, replacing the older one, was complete. Above the roof of the Town Hall, the square tower body narrows to a lavishly pinnacled octagonal openwork. At its summit, stands a 5-metre-tall (16 ft) gilt metal statue of Saint Michael, the patron saint of Brussels, slaying a dragon or demon. The tower, its front archway and the main building’s facade are conspicuously off-centre relative to one another. According to a legend, the architect of the building, upon discovering this “error”, leapt to his death from the tower. More likely, the asymmetry of the Town Hall was an accepted consequence of the scattered construction history and space constraints.