BRUXELLES - MAISON DU ROI.

There are a few cards in the Miller collection that have handwritten text taken from 'Belgium and Holland Including the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, Handbook for Travellers' by Baedeker, Karl. (Originally published in 1905).

The text here and on page 122 reads: "Maison du Roi formerly the seat of the Government authorities. The building was erected in 1514-25, in the transition style from the Gothic (through) to the Renaissance"

The Maison du Roi or Broodhuis is known these days as the Museum of the City of Brussels: the Musée Communal or Gemeentelyk Muzeum. It faces the City Hall and is situated in the historic heart of Brussels, on the Grand-Place or Grote Markt .The museum building is in the neo-Gothic style and was remodelled in the 19th century by the architect Perre-Victor Jamaer. In 2000 it was placed on the UNESCO world heritage list together with the whole of the Grote Markt.

It became a Museum in 1889: a museum of the history of the City of Brussels.

Broodhuis means 'Breadhouse'. This name gives some idea about the original function of the building in the fourteenth century. It was then part of a complex of commercial buildings around the square: la halle au pain, la halle aux draps et la halle à la viande (bread, textiles and meat).

The original building was rebuilt in 1405 and became an administrative building of the Duke of Brabant.

With the accession in 1506 of Charles as Duke (later Charles V) it was called " 's Hertogenhuys" or "Maison du Duc".

Ten years later in 1516 it became the «'s Conincxhuys» ou «Maison du Roi» when Charles became the "heir of three of Europe's leading dynasties, the House of Habsburg of the Habsburg Monarchy, the House of Valois-Burgundy of the Burgundian Netherlands, and the House of Trastámara of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon.

He ruled over extensive domains in Central, Western, and Southern Europe, and the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia.

As Charles was the first king to rule Castile, León, and Aragon simultaneously in his own right, he became the first King of Spain.

In 1519, Charles became Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria. From that point forward, his empire spanned nearly four million square kilometers across Europe, the Far East, and the Americas."

How a bakery became the Palace of an Emperor!

The Infanta Isabella restored and beautified it in 1625 in thanksgiving to Our Lady of Base Wavre for delivering Brussels from the plague, war and famine. "A Peste, fame et bello libera nos Maria pacis."

It was bombarded by the French in 1695 and restored by Jean Cosyn in 1767. When Belgium was taken over by the French revolutionaries it was given a new name the "Maison du Peuple". It was then bought and sold a few times ending up finally in the hands of the City yet again in 1860 when Pierre-Victor Jamaer took on the restoration project.

This is a bi-lingual postcard nº 10280 published by Ed. Atelier H. Guggenheim. H. Guggenheim & Co. (1893-1945) Zurich, Switzerland.