Poster of the ULB (1837-1838)

This page has been automatically translated from French into English by a translation software. Automatic translations are not as accurate as translations made by professional human translators. Nevertheless these pages can help you understand information published by the City of Brussels.

   

The Université libre de Bruxelles, in the beginning the 'University of Belgium', was founded in 1834 by a group of Freemasons with Théodore Verhaegen (1796-1862) as their main driving force. Yet not all the founders were 'unbelieving', they simply wanted to offer an alternative to the monopoly of Catholic education in Belgium. They got the support of the Brussels bourgeoisie, especially after the condemnation of the Masons in 1838 by Cardinal Sterckx.

Program courses 1837-1838

The start of the university was however very difficult, especially in financial terms. In the beginning, the classes were held in the Museum of Science and Arts. The poster for the academic year 1837-1838 gives an idea of the kind of training that was given in the 4 faculties. The program also shows that after only a few years the training was already quite extensive. In 1842 the university moved to the Rue des Sols [plan] in the ancient palace of Cardinal Granvelle. This palace was demolished in 1931, but the university had already moved to the site of the World Fair from 1910 at the present Avenue Roosevelt [plan].

• Poster ULB academic year 1837-1838 (PDF, 0,44MB)