Molenbeek-Saint-Jean Cemetery

Molenbeek-Saint-Jean Cemetery (French: Cimetière de Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Dutch: Begraafplaats van Sint-Jans-Molenbeek) is a cemetery belonging to the municipality of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels, Belgium, where the municipality's inhabitants have the right to be buried. It is located at 539, Chaussée de Gand/Gentsesteenweg, in the west of the municipality.[2] The ensemble extends over 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres).

Cimetière de Molenbeek-Saint-Jean
Begraafplaats van Sint-Jans-Molenbeek
Entrance of the cemetery
Details
Established16 August 1864[1]
Location
Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels-Capital Region
CountryBelgium
Coordinates50°51′40″N 4°18′39″E
TypePublic, non-denominational
Size1.5 hectares (3.7 acres)
Find a GraveCimetière de Molenbeek-Saint-Jean
Begraafplaats van Sint-Jans-Molenbeek

The cemetery was inaugurated on 16 August 1864 to replace the old parish cemetery around the Church of St. John the Baptist, which had become too small, and whose last remains were cleared in 1932.[1][3] Today, it concentrates a considerable protected heritage, including funeral galleries and a columbarium initially imagined for Laeken Cemetery and built in 1880, as well as several chapels.[1]

Main sights

The cemetery houses fine examples of 19th-century funerary art. Examples include:[1]

  • the burial galleries and columbarium from 1880, spurred on by Émile Bockstael, after his earlier initiative at Laeken Cemetery
  • the Art Nouveau funerary monument of the family des Cressonnières by Victor Horta (1894)
  • the tomb of the Beelaert family with a bronze sculpture by Amédée Hamoir
  • the funerary monument of the Jean De Maerschalck family by Ernest Salu
  • General view
  • Gravestones
  • Columbarium
  • Detail of the columbarium

Notable interments

Personalities buried there include:[3]

  • Jean-Baptiste Piron (1896–1974), military officer, best known for his role in the Free Belgian forces during World War II
  • Eugène Laermans (1864–1940), painter and engraver
  • Sander Pierron (1872–1945), writer and art critic
  • Henry Meuwis (1870–1935), painter
  • Édouard Van Haelen (1895–1936), swimmer and 1920 Summer Olympics medalist
  • Ernest Kindermans (1875–1932), founder of the Kaaitheater
  • Louise Charlotte Massart (1880–1906), dramaturge
  • Jan Frantz De Mol, composer
  • Henri Hollevoet (1833–1911), mayor from 1879 to 1911
  • Julien Hanssens (1842–1914), mayor from 1912 to 1914[4]
  • Louis Mettewie (1855–1942), mayor from 1919 to 1938
  • Edmond Machtens (1902–1978), mayor from 1939 to 1978

See also

References

Notes
  1. Celis 2004, p. 12–17.
  2. "Cimetière communal de Molenbeek-Saint-Jean – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural". monument.heritage.brussels (in French). Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  3. "Le Cimetière Communal de Molenbeek-Saint-Jean" (PDF). Retrieved 9 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. Un deuil à Molenbeek, Le Quotidien, 20 October 1914

Bibliography
  • Celis, Marcel (2004). Cimetières et nécropoles. Bruxelles, ville d'Art et d'Histoire (in French). Vol. 38. Brussels: Éditions de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale.
  • Vandervelde, Cecilia (1991). La nécropole de Bruxelles : Étude de l'architecture et de la sculpture funéraires, des symboles et des épitaphes. Inventaires (in French). Brussels: Commission d'Histoire de l'Europe.
  • Vandervelde, Cecilia (1997). Les champs de repos de la Région bruxelloise : Étude de l'architecture et de la sculpture funéraires, des symboles et des épitaphes. Inventaires (in French). Brussels: Self-published.
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