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36 Trends Booming cities
A seductive city
C’est vrais, Brussels is more than just a center of political decision-making and administration.
And it is more than just Manneken Pis in Rue de L’Etuve, and more than just beer, chocolates,
and the trendy Dansaert quarter. The de facto capital of Europe can be a séductrice, a city that
entices its visitors with a rich mix of sights, sounds and smells.
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41
Photos: istockphoto (left) , Matthias Jung / Laif (right)
Who needs Paris? Belgians
are confident creators of
couture, as illustrated here in
Boutique De Stijl in the
Dansaert quarter.
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38
Calories galore:
The goods on
display at Corné
de la Toison d’Or
in Galeries
Royales SaintHubert are the
delicious death
knell of any diet.
§ When Miguel leaves his desk at Banque Nation-
ale the first thing he sees is the brilliant white walls
of the Cathedral of St. Michel: “Every day, it gives
me a fillip to see that it is still there. At least there is
one constant in a town that is changing so rapidly.”
Sometimes he enters the cathedral, built in the
middle ages, to admire the elegant combination of
late Romantic and Gothic architecture, including
sixteen huge stained glass windows. Then he
climbs the 299 much trodden stone steps to the
top of one of the two towers. “I like to savor this
view across the city at least twice a month. But I
usually spend no more than a couple of minutes up
there, then the desire for Sudden Death becomes
overwhelming.”
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No, Miguel does not jump. Instead, he gingerly
descends the 299 steps, crosses himself, leaves
the cathedral, and takes two turns, arriving at
A La Morte Subite (Sudden Death), a wonderfully
old-fashioned Brussels tavern, where he takes up
his usual seat. It is generally very busy, crowded
with students, artists, besuited Eurocrats, but also
established regulars – some of them as almost old
as the drinking hole itself, which first opened in
1910. Mort subite? Far from it.
Beer, bread and Babel
Miguel is a typical denizen of Brussels. He was born
in Lisbon, Portugal, and grew up in Hamburg, Germany, before studying in Paris, France; the 38-year-
old has now been living and working in the capital
of Belgium, or to be more exact, the de facto capital
of Europe, for almost a decade. We order Gueuze,
the legendary local beer that is fermented a second
time in the bottle – and dubbed the Champagne of
Brussels. Even if Brussels were the dullest place on
earth, it would be worth visiting for the beer alone. It
is served with savory pastry, or with bread and cheese,
absurdly called 1900, so fresh it could be accompanied by the sound of cows mooing. The atmosphere is
loud and hectic, and there is a rich mix of languages:
English, Russian, German, Swedish, Turkish, something Asian, and, of course, French and Dutch. Here,
the age-old strife between the Walloons and the Flems
seems endearingly anachronistic: Brussels is Babel.
Trends Booming cities 39
Places to stay
Luxury hotels
Amigo
1–3, rue de l’Amigo
Phone +32 2 547 4747
www.hotelamigo.com
From 640 euros
An oasis of calm in the midst of the hustle
and bustle of Grand’ Place. An old building that has been beautifully renovated in
the style of the Spanish Renaissance. The
rooms and suites on the upper floors offer
fantastic views across the city.
Métropole
31, place de Brouckère
Phone +32 2 217 2300
www.metropolehotel.com
From 250 euros
The oldest hotel in the city (1895) has
been successfully refurbished to create
an establishment of excellent quality. The
interior has been maintained in the style
of the Belle Époque. 283 rooms 15 suites,
excellent service.
A tasty place, both
day and night.
Grand Salon is the
city’s showcase for
the fine art of
chocolate-making.
Mid-range hotels
Comfort Art Hotel Siru
1, place Rogier
Phone +32 2 203 3580
www.comforthotelsiru.com
From 170 euros
101 rooms of modern design, each given
a personal look and feel by a Belgian
artist. Every room has its own theme, such
as “an exceptional encounter” or “an
evening alone.” The guests are as special
as the hotel: it is a popular haunt of musicians, artists and actors.
photos: Matthieu Collin / herus / Laif (left), Matthias Jung / Laif (right)
La Madeleine
20–22, rue de la Montagne
Phone +32 2 513 2973
www.hotel-la-madeleine.be
From 80 euros
Very affordable establishment close to
Grand’ Place, exuding the morbid charm
that typifies Brussels. Service is good,
some rooms are very small.
A mix of nations and languages
Over the last 20 years, the EU has become the
occupying force, and not without some downsides. Large swathes of beautiful old buildings
were ripped down to make way for bland blocks
of concrete and glass. Rents, particularly downtown, are astronomical. The main shopping precincts look like they do anywhere and are home
to the usual suspects. But (and there really is a
but): this city was and still is a maze, comprising
19 different districts, all pulling in 19 different directions. The result is a city that is consistent only in its inconsistency. It is reminiscent of a house
whose occupants have repeatedly redecorated,
remodeled, and repartitioned. The city has a cos-
mopolitan flair, an international energy, like no
other place in Europe. In the same manner as the
Russians once surrendered Moscow to Napoleon’s army only in order to ultimately triumph,
Brussels has submitted to the European invasion:
Lithuanian translators, African vegetable dealers,
Portuguese DJs, Greek concert organizers, British bricklayers, German journalists, Slovenian
models, Swedish fitness trainers, Russian not-sosure-what-they-ares; all of them arriving in the
wake of well over 100,000 EU diplomats and
officials. More than 30 percent of the population
is non-native. In some quarters, such as SaintGilles, the foreigners form a majority. Variety is,
after all, the spice of life.
Budget hotel
Rembrandt
42, rue de la Concorde
Phone +32 2 512 7139
www.hotel-rembrandt.be
Up to 80 euros
Exceptional value for money. An older
building that has been renovated to high
standards, located in a quiet part of the
popular district of Ixelles.
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Places to eat
Chez Patrick
6, rue des Chapeliers
Phone +32 2 511 9815
www2.resto.be/chezpatrick
Tues to Sat from 12 noon to 2.30 pm,
6.30pm to 10pm.
Cozy old-style Brussels restaurant with
excellent cuisine. Highly recommended
are the mussels, game dishes, and the
traditional Waterzooi stew.
Restobières
32, rue des Renards
(near Place du Jeu de Balle)
Phone +32 2 502 7251
www.restobieres.be
Wed 7pm to 11pm, Thurs to Sun 12 noon
to 2pm, 7pm to 11pm
Outstanding service, excellent cuisine,
and best of all: the restaurant recommends the right beer for each course.
Le Fin de Siècle
9, rue des Chartreux
Phone +32 2 513 5123
Daily from 12 noon to 2pm and 7pm to
11pm
Not to be confused with La Fin de Siècle,
a run-of-the-mill Italian eatery. Hearty
Belgian fare, large portions. No
reservations taken. Meals of the day are
listed on a large board. The prices are as
idiosyncratic as the long-haired and
bearded proprietor. Stoemp (mashed
potatoes, vegetables and sausages) costs
8.97 euros, other dishes are 12.27 or 9.83
euros. No two chairs are alike, and the
restaurant walls are used to display
artwork.
Friture René
14, place de la Résistance, 1070
Anderlecht
Phone +32 2 523 2876
Daily from 12 noon, closed Monday
evenings and Tuesdays
Although in Anderlecht, some way from the
city center, the cuisine is worth the trouble
of the travel. The restaurant attracts a large
number of regulars (always a good sign),
who swear that René serves the best
mussels in town. The furnishings are
unfussy, the complex maze of rooms are
lined with simple white tiles – nothing
distracts from the food itself.
Places to drink
A la Mort Subite
7, rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères
Phone +32 2 513 1318
www.alamortsubite.com
Daily from 10.30am to 1am
Of the many traditional Brussels beer
taverns, this is the classic.
Fries aplenty:
Appetizing slivers
of potato are
to be found on
every corner.
L’Archiduc
6, rue Antoine Dansaert
Phone +32 2 512 0652
www.archiduc.net
Daily from 4pm to 5am
Stylish, mint-green art deco bar close
to the stock exchange. Fantastic jazz
concerts on Saturdays and Sundays
from 5pm. Not cheap, picky doorman.
Taverne Greenwich
7, rue des Chartreux
Phone +32 2 511 4167, Sun to Thur
10am to 1am, Fri/Sat 10am to 2am
A tavern steeped in history, whose
famous regulars included René
Magritte. Chess is a popular pastime of
the patrons; it is a place where time has
stood still.
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Photo: Jan van de vel / reportenrs / laif
Cobra Bar
1, rue des Chartreux
Phone +32 2 513 4247
Daily from 7pm
Small, cozy bar. A spiral staircase
leads up to the upper floor, where the
international Brussels community is to
be found flirting at little tables, while
sipping large cocktails. The proprietor
looks like a member of the Foreign Legion, and is known to entertain guests
in the early hours with magic tricks.
Searching for the city’s soul
It is life that, during the day, takes place far from
the madding tourist crowd. Grand’ Place is a mustsee, with cobblestones and attractive guild houses,
spruced up in a way that is not the norm in this
town. Grand’ Place is truly unique, not least
because of the thousands of champagne-bottle
corks that have been wedged between the cobblestones. But the truth is that the soul of the city has
moved on. It is not to be found in the shop
windows of the upmarket Galeries Royales, and
not beside the Atomium monument (which,
recently renovated, is certainly worth seeing),
where an amusement park offers rides such as the
Turbo Kamikaze.
Trends Booming cities 41
The influence of comic
illustrators such as
Georges Remi Hergé is
to be seen everywhere,
such as here in Rue de
Flandre, and on the front
of the boutique run by
star fashion designer
Martin Margiela.
No, the soul of the city is to be found elsewhere: for
example at Place du Jeu de Balle, where copious
amounts of beer are drunk in the surrounding bars
from breakfast onwards. It is also home to a flea
market that has taken place every day (!) for the last
300 years (!), from the early hours of the morning
until 2pm. It is the backdrop to typically Brusselsesque chaos: Flemish farmers barter with Congolese for old manuscripts, Russian icons, once-valuable fur coats and shoes from the 60s. The place
smells of garlic, dusty furniture, and mothballs. The
city’s soul is also be found at Place St Géry, in the
little drinking holes dotted around the historical
covered market. It is to be found propped up
against the bar of Le Roi des Belges, viewing the
art deco interior and flirting with pretty Czech
students. Or west of Boulevard Anspach, in the
Church of St. Catherine, and at the subway station
of the same name, where there is a motley mix of
sometimes scarcely distinguishable stores, art
galleries and fishmongers.
Morbid charm and Manneken Pis
The slender house fronts are by and large shabby,
but it is precisely this morbid charm that characterizes Brussels. There are far fewer tourists to be
found wandering across the cobbles; this is where
the city’s soul encounters its old friends, and where
they eat well, and to excess. There are stands selling freshly cooked French fries on every corner,
wrapped in layer upon layer of paper. They are
served with a choice of a dozen sauces – the result
is delicious. Manneken Pis, the (in)famous statue
of a boy urinating, is a mere two feet tall, but the
most famous landmark. A boy gorging himself on
the local food would make more sense. According
to Miguel, the soul of Brussels is often to be found
at midday, out in Anderlecht at Friture René, where
the locals help themselves to mussels from huge
pots. Nobody is entirely sure just why, but tout
Bruxelles would appear to be mad about mussels
and fish, despite being landlocked.
The city’s soul spends time in the quarters
southeast of the center, in Ixelles, attending chamber concerts in the art nouveaux houses, and a
Best Practice 04/2008
photos: Matthias Jung / laif (left), Didier Banwaarts / Reporters / laif (right)
Inside the future. The
nine spheres that make
up the Atomium are 18
meters in diameter. Each
one provides a glimpse
things to come.
42
Galeries Royales
Saint-Hubert
is a romantic place,
in more ways
than one.
Cookies and cakes:
Dandoy House in
Rue au Beurre
(butter street).
block further along, in the district dominated by immigrants from former Belgian colonies, such as the
Maghreb and the Congo.
The soul meanders through the antique shops
along Rue Blaes. In the neighboring bars, time
seems to have stood still. This is where the traditional inhabitants of Brussels are to be found; here
is where they live, drink and squabble. Here, we are
transported back to the Brabant of the middle
ages; here the beer is half the price of the same
drink downtown. And right opposite, there are a
dozen competing Arab-run vegetable stores.
A legal maze
But Miguel is convinced that the soul of the city is
most often to be found in a building that epitomizes
Brussels like no other: the Palace of Justice. It is the
product of megalomania, erected between 1866
and 1883, on Galgenberg, the hill where convicted
criminals were once hanged. With an area of some
26,000 square meters, it is far larger than St.
Peter’s Basilica in Rome (15,160 square meters). It
Best Practice 04/2008
overlooks the entire city. Anyone daring to pass
through the 10-meter high portal strikes a lonely
figure in the Salle des Pas-Perdus, the room of lost
steps. The gold-crowned dome atop this magnificent
hall rises to 104 meters at its highest point
(the apex of St. Peter’s basilica is a modest 43.20
meters).
Here, and in some additional 254 rooms (the
figure varies), black-robed lawyers ply their trade.
The place is a labyrinth, the corridors twist and
turn. The architect was either a genius or a madman. Or both. Monsieur Joseph Poeleart died in a
Brussels hospital, in mental turmoil, four years
before the building’s completion. No drawings or
designs were ever found, which goes some way to
explaining the convoluted construction. There is
nothing comparable anywhere else in the world.
The only equivalent is to be found in Franz Kafka’s
The Trial, which is perhaps why the city made the
resident of Prague, who never stepped foot in
Brussels, an honorary citizen.
Thorsten Kolle
Trends Booming cities 43
A maze and a
masterpiece:
The Palace of Justice
created by the
architect Joseph Poelaert.
Interview
Five questions for
Ralf Nejedl
CEO of T-Systems Belgium.
You have been CEO of T-Systems Belgium since March 2008 – what were
your goals when you took the position?
T-Systems is aiming for international
growth, and as an international hub,
Belgium is a very important market. We see ourselves as a challenger:
we want to significantly increase our market share among local
customers, and even more so among our multinational customers.
We will achieve this by means of our global network services - but also
through our innovative offerings, such as Dynamic Services. This gives
customers flexible access to resources and applications – such as
SAP – over a network. So far, we are on the right track. In a very short
space of time, we have doubled our headcount.
Who are your most important customers?
We serve T-Systems’ customers in the automotive industry – such as
Audi, Daimler and BMW – at their sites in Belgium. Our largest Belgian
customers include Agfa and Solvay, a pharmaceuticals company.
Furthermore, in the EU we operate the network for the administration
of all Schengen countries, and we are involved with the Galileo
satellite navigation system. We see huge potential for further growth
with the EU. And as a result of our market leadership in Germany, we
are very aware of the needs and goals of the public sector, and its
specific security requirements. What’s more, we represent a highly
attractive partner for European authorities.
The names Brussels, or Bruxelles,
means “home in the marsh.” In 2007,
central Brussels had just 145,717
inhabitants. However, the population of
the 18 surrounding districts of the
Belgian and European capital is over a
million (1,031,215).
Gross domestic product:
330.8 billion euros (2007)
Per capita GDP is 31,208 euros in
Belgium, 53,381 euros in Brussels –
the third highest in Europe after
London and Luxembourg, followed by
Hamburg.
In 2007, Germany imported goods and
services from Belgium to the tune of 38.8
billion euros and exported goods and
services worth 51.4 billion euros.
Germany is therefore Belgium’s most
important trading partner
Official languages:
Flemish (Dutch) 57 percent, French 42
percent, less than 1 percent German
Languages used in Brussels:
French, English, Dutch
Economic growth in 2007:
2.7 percent; projected to be slightly less
in 2008 at 1.6 percent
If you had one wish, what would it be?
I would wish for more time to enjoy everything that Belgium has to
offer: the museums, the music scene, and the local cuisine. And I’d
also like more time to experience the wonderful cities that I have only
visited on business – not just Brussels, but Antwerp, Bruges, and
Ghent, for example.
What, for you, makes Brussels special?
Because of its blend of Flemish and French influences, Belgium is by
nature a very multicultural country. Moreover, in Brussels, there are
people from all over Europe – be it through the EU, business and
culture, or tourism. If you visit a restaurant here you’re likely to hear
people talking in practically all the languages of Europe. And, if like
me, you have a passion for all things international, then this is the
place to be.
If you were allowed one vice, what would it be: Belgian beer, or
Belgian chocolates?
I would have to go for the Belgian chocolates. Have you been to Place
Sablon? There are shops there that put their chocolates on display as
if they were jewels – it is pretty hard to drag yourself away.
Belgium’s leading trading partners are
The Netherlands, Germany and France,
accounting for 50 percent of exports.
Links
www.t-systems.be
Best Practice 04/2008
Photos: Matthieu Collin / herus / Laif (left), getty images, flandern.com
Facts and figures
A rich mix