A bronze plaque in central Brussels marks the building where the Dutch writer Multatuli wrote his classic novel Max Havelaar.
‘In September-October 1859,’ the plaque reads, ‘Multatuli (Edward Douwes Dekker) wrote his masterpiece Max Havelaar in the bar ‘Au Prince Belge’ that stood on this spot up until 1876.’
The book caused a scandal in the Netherlands because it harshly criticised colonial rule in Indonesia. Despite its long title – Max Havelaar or, the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company – it is still read today in Dutch and dozens of other languages.
Like many writers, Multatuli had fled to Brussels in 1857 to escape his creditors. He began writing Max Havelaar in a bar opposite the Cathedral finished it in less than a month. He had almost no funds and had to beg locals for money to buy ink.
The novel is a classic of Dutch literature, sometimes ranked as the greatest Dutch novel of all time. It inspired the Dutch fairtrade coffee brand Max Havelaar and the radical Indonesian journalism initiative Project Multatuli. But the book might never have been written if it had not been for the hospitality of the people of Brussels who gave the struggling writer money to buy ink.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
