Royal Castle of Laken
Encyclopedia
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: Kasteel van Laken kɐsˈteːl vɐn ˈlaː.kə(n), French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Château de Laeken, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Schloss Laken) is the official residence of the King of the Belgians.
History
The castle was built at Laeken between 1782-1784 after the plans of the French architect Charles de WaillyCharles De Wailly
Charles De Wailly 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 Comédie-Française...
under supervision of Louis Montoyer
Louis Montoyer
Louis Montoyer was an 18th century Belgian-Austrian architect, principally active in Brussels and Vienna.-Life:...
as a summer residence for the Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands
Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands
The Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands ruled the Habsburg Netherlands as a representative of the Duke of Burgundy .- Habsburg Netherlands :...
, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria and her husband Albert of Saxe-Teschen. Jean-Joseph Chapuis
Jean-Joseph Chapuis
Jean-Joseph Chapuis was a French cabinetmaker of the 18th and 19th centuries.-Biography:Jean-Joseph Chapuis was born in Brussels in 1765 and died there in 1864. It was formed in Paris where he acquired workmanship, what allowed him to use a stamp...
provided the royal furnitures.
On 21 July 1803, Nicolas-Jean Rouppe
Nicolas-Jean Rouppe
Nicolas-Jean Rouppe was a Belgian liberal politician...
, as commissioner of the department of the Dijle, received Napoleon at the Castle of Laeken. Napoleon stayed here with his Empress in August 1804 on his way from awarding the first Légion d'honneur to his invasion troops at Boulogne
Napoleon's invasion of England
Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom at the start of the War of the Third Coalition, although never carried out, was a major influence on British naval strategy and the fortification of the coast of south-east England. French attempts to invade Ireland in order to destabilise the...
to his progress along the Rhine, and later (on invading Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
during the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
in 1815) dated this proclamation prematurely from the palace.
Nicolas-Jean Rouppe
Nicolas-Jean Rouppe
Nicolas-Jean Rouppe was a Belgian liberal politician...
, as burgomaster of Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, received the new king Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I was from 21 July 1831 the first King of the Belgians, following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands. He was the founder of the Belgian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
also at the Castle of Laeken on 21 July 1831, the day when Leopold swore allegiance to the Belgian constitution
Constitution of Belgium
The Constitution of Belgium dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the Trias Politica. The Constitution established Belgium as a centralised unitary state...
. The Château was partly destroyed by fire in 1890 and rebuilt by Alphonse Balat
Alphonse Balat
Alphonse Hubert François Balat was a Belgian architect.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 Girault
Charles-Louis Girault was a French architect.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 Prix de Rome, awarded him in 1880 on the basis of a design for a hospital for sick children along the...
gave it its present outline in 1902. It has been the royal residence since the accession to the throne of king Leopold I in 1831. The domain also contains the magnificent Royal Greenhouses of Laeken
Royal Greenhouses of Laeken
The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken , are a vast complex of monumental heated greenhouses in the park of the Royal Castle of Laeken in Brussels and one of the major tourist attractions of the city. The complex was commissioned by King Leopold II of Belgium and designed by Alphonse Balat...
, a set of monumental dome-shaped constructions, accessible to the public only a few days a year. They were designed as well by Alphonse Balat, with the cooperation of the young Victor Horta
Victor Horta
Victor, Baron Horta was a Belgian architect and designer. John Julius Norwich described him as "undoubtedly the key European Art Nouveau architect." Indeed, Horta is one of the most important names in Art Nouveau architecture; the construction of his Hôtel Tassel in Brussels in 1892-3 means that...
.
The vast park of the Château includes lakes, a golf course and various pavilions like the Chinese Pavilion and the Japanese Tower. The Chinese Pavilion was commissioned by king Leopold II. The rooms are designed in a 'Chinoiserie
Chinoiserie
Chinoiserie, a French term, signifying "Chinese-esque", and pronounced ) refers to a recurring theme in European artistic styles since the seventeenth century, which reflect Chinese artistic influences...
' Louis XIV-style and Louis XVI style. They are decorated with Chinese motifs, chinaware and silverware. The Japanese Tower is a pagoda, originally built for the world fair of Paris in 1900. It was bought by King Leopold II and brought to Brussels.
Upon their accession to the throne in 1993, King Albert II
Albert II of Belgium
Albert II is the current reigning King of the Belgians, a constitutional monarch. He is a member of the royal house "of Belgium"; formerly this house was named Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
and Queen Paola preferred to remain living at Belvédère, a château on the grounds of the park surrounding the castle. The current occupants of the castle are TRH The Duke and Duchess of Brabant.