Metropole Brussels

Jardin d'hiver

History Book Hotel Metropole by Virginie Jourdain

1890: The Café Metropole was inaugurated to present the beers of the owner family Wielemans to the public.

1894: Many electrified tramways and subways converge to the hotel, and private cars can be placed in front of the Hotel. Of the many facilities of the Hotel, we have only provided a glimpse. Thanks to the owner's visionary ideas, who bear a famous name in the Belgian brewer's world, they are all of princely taste. Let us first enter the entrance-hall in French renaissance style. On your left and right, blind mirrors provide you with a view on the lounge, the restaurant and the reception. The high walls are covered with Numidian marble, and the coffered ceiling will remind you of some historical Loire castles. Admire the wrought- and cast-iron arches, professionally designed and finely crafted. The Hall, illuminated by large lanterns and enhanced with stained-glass windows, is ventilated by hidden air conducts. Characterized by simple architectural design, supported by large bays and enlarged with mirrors, this space will leave you with an impression of grandness. Opposite the Hall, you will admire the large staircase. The lift was commissioned from the renowned French company of Edoux, which found favor when it equipped the Eiffel Tower with elevators. The latest safety measures have been used, like the ones in the Banque de France or in the Fort de Vincennes or in many Parisian Hotels. The walls in the hall and in the staircase have also been covered with Numidian marble. In the Café Metropole, a lovely marble fountain, with a bronze nymph on top, as well as a statue represented the techniques on the roof of the hotel created and realized by Julien Dillen, are not to be forgotten. The restaurant “L’Alban Chambon” is decorated in an Italian baroque style. On both ends you will see large Chemtoe marble fireplaces, over twenty feet high, with gilded ornaments. The large Hall - This vast room, formerly marvelous winter garden and now bar “Le 19eme” with very comfortable armchairs, a piano, frescoes on the ceiling, has been decorated in aristocratic style. A strict and both lush impression is conveyed by the design of the layout and the charm of the shades. Six high marble columns, enriched with Pompeian bronze and gold inlays, sustain the arched ceiling. In the coffers of this ceiling, you will be attracted by the boldness of the colors, by the decoration, by the original, harmonious and charming design. What have we forgotten in this mind dazzling description, however incomplete? That the presentation and courtesy of the staff is unflawed; that all employees speak different languages; that both kitchen and wine cellar of the Hotel Metropole stand no comparison; that all meals are real Lucullus feasts completed with concerts each evening at six p.m., during the whole season at the bar. It would be useless publicity, for the reputation of this house has already been established through many thousands of visitors, who pledged to return after their stay.
From the first hotel brochure, dated, 1894

1895: The Wielemans - Ceuppens family bought the building, a former bank, just next to the Café Metropole and converted it into a hotel. As responsible archtitect Alban Chambon was engaged and supervised all the main works. The main entrance was decorated in French renaissance style, the reception hall in Empire style, and some rooms in Art Deco style.

1995: The hotel celebrated its centenary.

2002, April: The Council of Monuments and Sites of Region of Brussels-Capital gave Metropole Hotel’s facade as well as the ground floor protected status.

At the Metropole in 1911: seated (L-R): Walther Nernst, Marcel Brillouin, Ernest Solvay, Hendrik Lorentz, Emil Warburg, Jean Baptiste Perrin, Wilhelm Wien, Marie Curie, and Henri Poincaré. Standing (L-R): Robert Goldschmidt, Max Planck, Heinrich Rubens, Arnold Sommerfeld, Frederick Lindemann, Maurice de Broglie, Martin Knudsen, Friedrich Hasenöhrl, Georges Hostelet, Edouard Herzen, James Hopwood Jeans, Ernest Rutherford, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Albert Einstein, and Paul Langevin. Photograph was taken by Benjamin Couprie, 1911

Sarah Bernharst, Jaques Brel, Yehudi Menuhin Philippe Noiret, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Justine Henin, David Gross, Hans Blix, Pierre Arditi, Arthur Rubinstein, Jean Piat and many others ...

Through the years, the Metropole has offered his beautiful settings for the shooting of many prestigious movies.
Among them you find:
Les anges gardiens, France, 1994, Gerard Depardieu and Christian Clavier, Producer: Alain Poire
Le sang des autres, France-Canada, 1984, Jodie Foster and Lambert Wilson, Producer Claude Chabrol
“Odette tout le monde” (France) with Catherine Frot and Albert Dupontel.
Producer : Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt – 2006
“Je l’aimais” (Belgium) with Daniel Auteuil and Marie-Josée Croze
Producer : Zabou Breitman – May 2008
“Villa Amamia” (France) with Isabelle Huppert. Producer : Benoît Jacquot – July 2008
“La guerre continue” (France) with Micheline Presle.  Producer : Frédéric Sojcher – July 2009
“Hors La Loi” France- Algeria Producer : Racid Bouchareb

Wouter Liekens
Rodolphe van Weyenbergh
Xavier Damster / Alexander Krips
Serge Schultz until ca 2001
Miguel Van Ackere (HM)