Bree Town Hall is a former
Augustinian convent from 1657, partly in
renaissance style (Meuse style), partly built in baroque style. It is a very rich building sponsored in the 17th century by Baron De Taxis; he left his estate to the Augustinians because he wanted free secondary education for children from Bree and the surrounding communities.
At the beginning of the 18th century, a baroque chapel was added to the complex. In the chapel there are two side altars with valuable paintings of the
5
Liège baroque painter Englebert Fisen. One is a picture of Saint Nicholas by Tolentino and the other is an Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
In 1797 the building was confiscated by the French. It became a municipal school with a gymnasium in the chapel, a caretaker's house and a gendarmerie with even horse stables and a hayloft. The gendarmerie and horse stables remained there until 1909.
In 1820, part of the building comes into the possession of the city of Bree. In 1884 it becomes a full-fledged episcopal college, the Sint-Michielscollege. In 1992 the Sint-Michielscollege moves outside the center. Through a long lease agreement, the building came back into the possession of the city, which carried out a thorough restoration from 1996 to 2004 and architecturally reduced the building to its essence, namely the Augustinian Monastery. The new town hall was officially opened in 2004. Since 2015, the building with garden is once again the full property of the city.
During the last renovation, modern techniques were combined with respect for the historic character of the building. All new-build elements are at an angle of 10° to the original axis of the building. In some rooms, especially in the current wedding room, beautiful 18th-century murals were painted
exposed.
Special in the town hall is the council chamber, named after our most famous Breeënaar Kim Clijsters. The wooden trusses of the roof are still original 17th century and are the absolute crowd puller.
Source: bree.be

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An 🇧🇪

February 22, 2025

The former monastery and St. Michael's College were built by the Augustinian Fathers. They received financial support from Baron Gerard van Huls, who Latinized his name to Gerardus de Taxis. His family came from Bree. He made his fortune as an officer in the Austrian army during the Thirty Years' War.
In 1797, the monastery was closed down by the French; the buildings were confiscated and put to use as barracks and city warehouses. Under Dutch rule, the monastery became the property of the municipality. From 1865 to 1874, it was the city college. In 1874, it housed a state secondary school, which was abolished in 1884. At the end of the 19th century, the Bishop of Liège bought the buildings and turned them into St. Michael's College. In 1992, the city of Bree was granted a 75-year lease on the building. Since October 2004 it has been in use as a town hall, and houses the municipal administration, the municipal council and a contact area for visitors. It is accessible via the Vrijthof, or along the small ring road, also Witte Torenwal. There you can admire the newly laid out garden, before you can take a tour inside the former inner courtyard, now under a glass roof (inspired by the Flemish Parliament in Brussels).
It is worth knowing that this is the fourth town hall of the city of Bree. In 1969, a "glass house" on the Grauwe Torenwal was inaugurated as the third town hall (since April 2010 it has housed the justice of the peace and the services of the Ministry of Finance). The second town hall or Old Town Hall, (from 1591) can be found at Markt 2. This also had a predecessor, the Gewandthuis on the Vrijthof.

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Location: Bree, Maaseik, South Limburg, Flanders, Belgium

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