Leuven's university library, burned down by the Germans in World War I, was rebuilt as a war memorial in 1928 thanks to donations from numerous high schools and colleges, most of them from the USA.
Check out the inviting reading room - made of wood from the floor to the shelves. In the nearby 73.5-meter-high bell tower hang 63 bells with a total weight of 35 tons. Are you fit? Then climb the almost 300 steps to the top to enjoy the great view of the city.
In the square in front: a work of art by Jan Fabre.
The University Library, the monumental library of Leuven, was designed by Whitney Warren. The neo-Renaissance building was built between 1921 and 1928. The building was a gift from the American people to the city of Leuven and the KU Leuven.
Warren drew inspiration from Spanish examples for the eighty-meter-high bell tower with its impressive clockwork. The carillon is a memorial to the American engineers who fell during World War I. The 48 bells – as many as the US states at the time – were cast by the famous English bell foundry Gillett & Johnston. The current carillon has 63 bells and weighs 35 tons.
One can climb the 80 meter high tower and learn about the history of the university library.
You can also visit the beautiful reading room!
OPENING HOURS
Every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
PRICE
Recommended adult price: 7 euros
Many (former) KUL students have spent a considerable amount of time in the beautiful reading room of the central university library on Ladeuzeplein in Leuven. In recent decades, even before the Internet existed, this was often not so much out of necessity but because of the peace and beauty of the place that sometimes made studying just that little bit easier.
The building is also more than worth it and certainly a highlight that deserves more attention than what was here until now. The history, walls, tower and carillon alone will make your jaw drop. The building looks a bit older and stately but is not that old. There was already a central library in 1636 but it was located in the Cloth Hall. The French occupier closed down the whole thing and abolished the university in 1797, after which the largest, especially oldest and most valuable collections of books and other writings went to France. In the nineteenth century, a considerable part also went to Brussels. And then there are quite a few documents that ended up elsewhere in ways that are not immediately clear. For example, the original founding deed of the KUL was located in 's-Hertogenbosch for a long time.
Back to this library on the Ladeuzeplein. After the Catholic University of Leuven was founded in the nineteenth century (after its earlier abolition), a library was also established. It quickly grew into one of the most important in our region thanks to purchases and donations and was located in the Naamsestraat.
Then the Germans came in 1914 and the whole lot, including a mass of books, went up in flames - more than 300,000 works, including irreplaceable works from antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
The indignation was great, also in other countries. Fundraising campaigns were set up and with the support of the chairman of the Commission for Relief of Belgium that was set up after the war, a certain Herbert Hoover, who did indeed become President of the US in 1929, construction began in 1921 on the university library that stands here today (1 of 2).
Translated by Google •
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