Park of the Fiftieth anniversary

The Park of the Fiftieth anniversary (in Dutch: Jubelpark ) is a park of Brussels, Belgium.

The park also shelters around the Arcades of the Fiftieth anniversary of many museums (Musée of the army, Musée of aviation, Musée Autoworld, royal Musées of art and history) but largest Mosquée of Belgium as well as an architectural monument of Victor Horta.

The esplanade of the Fiftieth anniversary is used regularly for the organization of events of all kinds: departure and arrived of 20 kilometers of Brussels (pedestrian race which brings together each year 20.000 participants), festival of the environment, celebrates bicycle, concerts, festivals, demonstrations, drive-in movie (cinema of outdoor) (July and August).

History of the creation of the park

At the end of the 19th century, the young person Belgium is in full economic advancement and industrial. The king Léopold II, joined by the leading middle-class, with the will to equip Brussels with infrastructures, parks and prestigious monuments worthy of a capital. With the approach of the fiftieth birthday of independence, the choice is made to organize the celebrations there, of a ground, parade ground of the army and is located on the territory of the commune of Etterbeek.

Annexed with the commune of Brussels, the place is arranged for the jubilee (1880). One organizes there the festivities as well as a national exposure of the products of Belgian art and industry.

A second exposure and a International Big competition of Sciences and Industry are organized in 1888. On this occasion, the architect Gédéon Bordiau, conceives the project to concentrate in only one place " all knowledge of the nation" in a Palate of the Fiftieth anniversary . It builds two buildings connected to each other by semicircular colonnades with to the center a provisional arcade to single arc. The unit is directed towards an axis, facing the prospect for the royal palace and the center of the city, and with the back of which the avenue begins from Tervuren, long of ten kilometers, that the king will make trace to connect the city to the castle and royal field. The layout of the park is conceived to accommodate the houses of the exhibitors.

For the World Fair of 1897 of the additional buildings are added of which monumental glazed markets placed of share and others of a vast court (esplanade) located behind the arcade. The project to also show there the collections resulting of the State independent of Congo will be given up for lack of space, they will thus be exposed to Tervuren at the place where is today the royal Musée of central Africa. The many visitors of the exposure (a million) will move from one site to another.

After the death of the first architect, Charles Girault establishes the plans of triple arcade which will be financed directly by the king. It will be inaugurated in 1905 at the time of the 75e birthday of Belgium. The three of the same arcs width and height, are surmounted by the quadriga, an imposing sculpture of bronze, the the Brabant upright on a tank drawn by four horses held up a flag. With the foot of the columns, the eight other provinces are represented. The park reaches its current size (30 hectares), limited by the urbanization of the accesses. There will remain a place of fairs and exposure until in the years 1930, with the construction of the Palates of the Heysel.

In 1946, a fire devastates part of the southern wing where are established the royal Musées of art and history, certain mummies Egyptian still carry from there the traces, the building will be rebuilt, but in the more sober style of the time breaking the symmetry of the unit.

Buildings and monuments of the park

the palates of the Fiftieth anniversary

the northern wing is occupied by the Musée of the army and the royal Institut of the artistic Inheritance.
the north-eastern market, by the Musée of aviation
the southern wing is occupied by the royal Musées of art and history and the moulding shop, which perpetuates in an artisanal way the techniques of reproductions of old works.
the south-eastern market is occupied by the Autoworld, museum of the car.

the Large mosque and the Islamic Center, inaugurated in 1978, north-western angle. The building of origin, built at the time of the exposure of 1897 by the architect Van Humbeek in a style Arabist, contained a monumental fresco, the " Panorama of Caire" then abandoned, the building is offered in 1967 by the king Baudouin to the king Fayçal of Saudi Arabia which makes it transform and restore with its expenses by the Tunisian architect Boubaker.

The House of human passions , in the vicinity is this house, one of the first works of Victor Horta, built in 1899 in a traditional style to shelter the Bas monumental relief of the sculptor Jef Lambeaux: Human passions 1886, which evokes the pleasures and misfortunes of humanity. Three days after the opening, the work dared for the time which represents intertwined bodies causes a moral real scandal. The open house behind the columns of frontage is walled and closed by a metal door. It will remain it a long time. the Belgian pioneers in Congo , this broad monument set up in 1921 by Thomas Vinçotte and intended to strike the spirits of the time must, like specifies it the sign posed at its side, being considered according to mentality colonialist and paternalist of the time. He represents several group of characters: at the base, surrounded by a basin, a Congolese young person lengthened close to a crocodile represents the brutality of the river. With the top of him, broad low a relief represents Léopold II itself, sitted and surrounded soldiers accommodating a Congolese woman and her children, missionaries and explorers. Above, two nations personified by two young women. Left Á a " Heroic Belgian soldier destroys the Arab esclavagiste" , on the right, " he devotes himself for his blessé" chief; . A quotation of the king going back to 1906 sounds today like a justification: " I undertook the work of Congo in the interest of the civilization and for the good of the people belge" .

the monument of homage to the aviators fallen in service , north-eastern side. the tower of Turned : this curious building built in 1880 in a pseudo-medieval style, was intended to show qualities of the stone of Tournai. Sculptures:

the reaper - bronzes 1892 - Constantin Meunier
builders of cities - bronzes 1893 - Charles-Pierre Van der Stappen.

the mastiff of Ulm - bronzes 1896 - Jean-Baptiste Van Heffen: at the time of the 75ème birthday of the Independence of Belgium, a brilliant exposure is organized to the Fiftieth anniversary and, to this occasion, several sculptures are exposed to the entry of the park of Woluwe, coldly inaugurated. Vis-a-vis an inn, one could see a bronze dog, quickly patinated of green the establishment will be called as of this moment the “green Dog”, and will make place on its roof a sign in ironwork of two meters top hat of sitted dog of green color. This piece of metal, disappeared in 1967, found a place of honor to the top of the main door of the building which replaced the inn. The bronze dog, as for him, was moved in the park of the Fiftieth anniversary.

Samson launching of the foxes in the fields of the Philistines - stone 1878 - Jean-Baptiste Van Heffen: to be avenged for the Philistines, Samson, judge of Israel to XIIe century before Jesus-Christ, bound 300 foxes one to the other by the tail, attached torches to them and released them in the middle of corns of its enemies to reduce them in ashes.

Bust of Robert Schuman - stone 1987 - Nat Neujean

Four seasons allegory:

spring - stone 1958 - Henri Puvrez
the summer - stone 1943 - Jean Canneel
the autumn - stone 1950 - Gustave Fountain
the winter - stone 1950 - Oscar Jespers

Internal bond

Triumphal arch

Satellite sight WikiMapia

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