Not many people know about the strange Gothic tower in a quiet corner of the Leopold Park in Brussels.
The red brick building dates from the early sixteenth century when it formed part of the Eggevoort country estate. One of the oldest buildings in Brussels, the crumbling tower looks like something in a fairy tale. But it has a troubled history.
The tower was saved from ruin in 1919 when a local action group called on the city to buy the historic building. The city reluctantly agreed to purchase it, but failed to maintain the building. It fell to another local action group to restore the tower using their own funds.
The tower was later occupied by park-keepers until the 1960s when it was once again left to rot. But then a little miracle happened.
In 1969, a young German woman called Margarethe Braune working at the European Commission fell in love with the abandoned ruin.
She approached the city with an offer to rent the building. And the city agreed, as long as she covered the cost of urgent repairs.
Margarethe lived here happily with her husband for some 15 years. They were finally forced to leave after a large apartment block was built nearby, which overshadowed the little tower and caused the underground River Maelbeek to flood the building.
The crumbling tower is once again abandoned with the windows broken and the door blocked off with wooden bars. It looks like it might be time for a fresh citizens’ initiative. But maybe it’s already too late.
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.
