The "Belgian House" in Cologne - Consulate General for Belgian Citizens until 2015
The architecturally remarkable "Belgian House" is located in the Cäcilienstraße near the Neumarkt. The building, which was built in 1948/49 by the Belgian state, contained a hotel, a restaurant, meeting and event rooms as well as a small library.
The Consulate General in Cologne was responsible for Belgian citizens in the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Rhineland Palatinate and Saarland, but was also involved in communicating Belgian culture and promoting economic contacts. When the Belgian state decided to reduce its locations in Germany in 2015, the Cologne Consulate General was subsequently closed.
The "Belgian House" continues to be used today as a venue for events and serves as an interim quarter of the Roman-Germanic Museum (RGM). Since 2015, an association of the Friends of the Belgian House has had the goal of preserving the "Belgian House" as a place for cultural encounters between Germans and Belgians.
2016 - Transfer of the library of the "Belgian House" to the UCL Cologne
The last Consul General in Cologne was Nicolaas Buyck. Thanks to his mediation, it was possible to transfer the holdings of the library of the "Belgian House" to the UCL.
Since we have been building up the collection focus Belgium / Luxembourg since 1951, which was supported by the German Research Foundation until 2015, there have always been close contacts and good cooperation between the library and the "Belgian House".
The Belgian state gave us the more than 5,000 volumes from the "Belgian House" and confirmed this with a contract, which was handed over to the Chancellor of the University Dr. Michael Stückradt on 20 May 2016 by the former Belgian Ambassador H.E. Ghislain d'Hoop.
Belgium/Luxembourg - our collection focus since 1949
The collection focus Belgium/Luxembourg is the largest collection of literature in the German-speaking world, especially on history, social and economic history, and politics about the culture of Belgium and Luxembourg. With the integration of the "Belgian House" collection into this focus, a piece of Belgian post-war history will be preserved in Cologne even after the closing of the Consulate General.