Gambrinus is a handsome bar on the Grote Markt in Leuven decorated with wood panelling, gleaming copper chandeliers and faded murals. Typically Flemish, you might want to say. Until you spot the Bavarian wall paintings and the inscription Bürgerliches Brauhaus München.
The original owners were granted the exclusive right to sell beer brewed by the Munich beer house. And that was enough to save this cafe from destruction in August 1914 when the invading German army set fire to the city, killing 248 people and destroying more than 2,000 buildings.
The Germans apparently took care to save the one cafe in town that sold Munich beer. In 1932, the owners moved to a new location on the main square, where they carefully reconstructed the old interior.
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.
