Memorials Prince Albert Barracks

A men's prison was built in 1813-1817 on the Kleine Zavel, where the "Court of Coulemborg" and later a "Karmelieten monastery" (1612 – 1811) once stood. The gendarmerie in the former rectory next door was soon converted into barracks for the Austrian, later the French and finally the Dutch army.
After independence (1830) the (Belgian) gendarmerie returned to the buildings and it was later taken over again by (Belgian) soldiers.
It was the 20th Artillery Battalion with riding school that installed itself in the barracks in 1842 with 72 men and 50 horses.
After a heavy riding school fire in 1846, this unit moved to "little" Ypres.

The buildings on Karmelietstraat were not restored and a women's prison was built. In 1886, two buildings were added to the prison complex to house soldiers of the Regiment of Grenadiers.
With the invasion of the German troops on August 4, 1914, the Royal Guard was disbanded and these Grenadiers left the capital to defend the eastern borders.
Sixteen hundred grenadiers were killed in the first war.
After the First World War they came back to this barracks until 1939.
At the mobilization in 1939, no one could have suspected that this operation would lead to the final departure of the Grenadiers from Brussels. In 1945, the Regiment was reformed into a battalion that was part of the Belgian troops in Germany. They only returned to Brussels for official ceremonies and waiting periods.

A memorial plaque in the two national languages ​​hangs at the entrance of the barracks:
"Prince Albrecht Barracks
The 1st and 2nd Regiment Grenadiers
departed from this quarter on August 3, 1914 augustus
for the defense of the homeland.
1600 grenadiers fell on the field of honor"

Source : Wikipedia

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Source

• Text: Marie-Christine Vinck
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck