6. Bois de la Cambre, Brussels - 12 Sept 1900 | Glass Plates
Taken on 12th September 1900, glass plate 6 captures the Swiss-style Chalet Robinson on its lake island in the middle Bois de la Cambre park in Brussels.
Named after the Cistercian abbey, Le Cambre Abbey, which once owned the land, Bois de le Cambre is a public park situated in the south of the city of Brussels and borders the Sonian Forest, a 10,920-acre oak and beech woodland that was once the hunting ground of the Habsburg Imperial Family.
Plans for a public park here began in the 1840s, and the land was granted to the City of Brussels by Royal Decree of King Leopold I on 21st April 1864. The park was designed in the idyllic, English Landscape Garden style by the German landscape architect Édouard Keilig, and Bois de le Cambre was opened to the public in 1866.
Built on the park’s lake island in 1877, the Chalet Robinson – the building central in the photo – contains a restaurant and ballroom. It can only be reached by ferry, and its isolated island location makes the restaurant and ballroom of the Chalet Robinson feel a world away from the metropolitan city. The original Chalet Robinson (pictured above) burnt down in 1991, but has since been rebuilt and reopened.
As it was in 1900, the Bois de la Cambre remains a picturesque escape from the city and popular walking spot.
Waterloo Connection
Although we have moved away from Waterloo – the former battlefield that was the subject of the previous five glass plates – Bois de la Cambre does have a slight connection to the battle.
On 17th June 1815, a day before the Battle of Waterloo took place, English soldiers took time to relax with a friendly game of cricket on the lawn now named La Pelouse des Anglais (The Englishmen’s Lawn). The site was marked with a plaque in 1965 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the cacophonic battle that took place within earshot of the city.
The Brussels of 1900
In the next few glass plates, we will be moving into the City of Brussels to explore its streets and witness the life of its denizens. All the glass plate thus far have been picturesque, landscape shots, but these upcoming photos show urban scenes bustling with people.
I hope you will join me.
1900 Glass Plates: This project explores a series of glass plates from the year 1900 with the eventual goal of travelling the same route as the photographer. It will be a varied journey that will stretch from simple blog posts examining each photo to videos and more. This project is in collaboration with photographer Aleksandar Nenad Zecevic, who’ll be restoring the photographs to bring out details dimmed by time. More to follow.
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