600

An Irish missionary called Rumbold (Rumoldus) left his country to spread Christianity. His destination was the settlement of Mechelen. You will meet him in St Rumbold’s Cathedral, where 25 paintings tell the life of Rumbold in an early comic strip. He died between 580 and 655 and was venerated as St Rumbold. Pilgrims visited his tomb. And monks founded St Rumbold’s Abbey. A flourishing community grew up on the right bank of the River Dyle, near the site of what is today St Rumbold’s Cathedral.

800-1000

We know from archaeological research on the Lamot site that there was a trading port on the left bank of the River Dyle, possibly belonging to a local ruler or to St Rumbold’s Abbey. By the end of the twelfth century there are no more references to it. 

1288

There are already references to the Schepenhuis or Aldermen’s Building House, which means it is one of the oldest stone town halls in Flanders. Until the second half of the fifteenth century it was the town hall and meeting place of the city tribunal; later the seat of the Great Council. It is now a municipal museum housing a sizeable collection of work by the artist Rik Wouters. 

1301

Duke Jan II of Brabant and Jan Berthout granted Mechelen a charter, prescribing the structure and organization of the city. For example, a twelveman bench of Burgomaster and Aldermen was set up. The charter determined the way the city was administered until 1795. But more happened in 1301: Mechelen was given the exclusive staple rights for grain, salt and fish, which was very good for the economy! Boats tied up here and offered their goods for sale. Only after three days could merchants offer their unsold wares elsewhere. Other towns felt considerably disadvantaged by Mechelen’s staple rights and were not happy about the situation. 

1452

The first stone of the present-day St Rumbold’s Tower was laid. The plan was to build a tower some 167 meters high but in the mid-sixteenth century when it had reached a height of just 97 meters, building work came to a standstill for various reasons. 

1473

The Burgundian duke Charles the Bold centralized power and founded the Parliament of Mechelen: a court of law which represented all the other courts of law in the Burgundian territories. Mechelen was a logical choice because of its central location and special status. Mechelen, along with the region, formed a seigniory, which enjoyed autonomy from the large principalities nearby like the Duchy of Brabant and the Princebishopric of Liège. By choosing Mechelen the duke avoided conflict. Mechelen retained its autonomous status until the end of the eighteenth century. Under Charles V it became one of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands. 

1506

Margaret of Austria, Charles the Bold’s granddaughter, was appointed regent of the Netherlands. Mechelen was the juridical and administrative centre. Margaret of Austria’s palace in Keizerstraat was a hive of activity: the most progressive artists of her day visited the court and the renaissance and humanism flourished. The city became a magnet for rich families who settled in the city and demonstrated their power by building impressive residences. The Hof van Busleyden is a beautifully preserved example. Five centuries later Margaret of Austria’s palace served as a court of law. 

1530

Mary of Hungary succeeded Margaret of Austria as regent of the Netherlands. Under her rule the court moved definitively to Brussels, which meant that Mechelen was no longer the political centre of the Netherlands. 

1554

Rembert Dodoens, who was from Mechelen, published his ‘Cruydeboeck’, a herbal that was revolutionary because of the way it classified the plant kingdom. The book was translated into most European languages. There is even a Japanese version. Did you know that Rembert Dodoens was the city surgeon, but also Emperor Maximilian II ’s personal physician? 

1559

King Philip II of Spain made Mechelen the seat of an archbishopric and thus the ecclesiastical capital of the Southern Netherlands. This was a politically shrewd move: by having state and church borders converge, he increased his control. The first archbishop of Mechelen was Antonius Perrenot de Granvelle. Later well-known archbishops included Matthias Hovius, Thomas-Philippus d’Alsace et du Boussu, Désiré-Joseph Mercier and Jozef Ernest Van Roey. Since 1961 it has been the archbishopric of Mechelen-Brussels. The current archbishop – who succeeded Godfried Danneels in 2010 – is André-Joseph Léonard. 

1687

Late in the evening, on January 27th and 28th 1687, St Rumbold’s Tower was shrouded in a wintry mist. A none too sober tippler stumbled out of an inn on the Grote Markt into the cold night. He suddenly noticed that the tower was ablaze and immediately raised the alarm. The whole city was thrown into a state of confusion. The city council led by the burgomaster lost no time in organizing the fire-fighting campaign. Buckets of water were passed from hand to hand up the tower stairway, but even before they reached the top, the moon slipped through the haze and the glow disappeared … The courageous citizens realized that the reddish misty glow they were trying to extinguish was the moon! “Don’t tell a soul,” they said. But the news soon spread abroad, earning the people of Mechelen the nickname ‘Maneblussers’ or ‘Moon Extinguishers’ – a nickname they bear to this day. 

1835

On May 5th the first train on the European mainland chugged its way along the Brussels-Mechelen line. A law dated May 1st 1834 made Mechelen the midpoint of Belgium’s future railway network. A milestone in front of the station commemorates this. The arrival of the train changed the city and a new district grew up around the station. In 1839 the Central Railway Engineering Works – known locally as ‘het Arsenaal’ – brought employment and a significant increase in the population. 

1914

The bombing raids at the beginning of the First World War certainly did not leave Mechelen unscathed. St Rumbold’s gigantic clock was badly damaged and many of the historic buildings along the IJzerenleen were destroyed. 

1940-1945

The Second World War was a sad chapter in the history of Mechelen. More than 25,000 Jews and gypsies were deported to Auschwitz from the Dossin barracks by the Nazis. In April 1944 the Allies carried out bombing raids on the Arsenaal, the station and the railway. Many people died and there was considerable material damage. Fortunately, on September 4th 1944 Mechelen was liberated by the British. 

1960-1970

Belgiumrecruited workers for its coal mines. Many Berbers from the north of Morocco came to Mechelen. These ‘temporary’ workers were needed for longer than anticipated and stayed on. Three generations have now lived in Mechelen. Assyrian Turks from the Christian village of Hassana in the far south-east of Turkey also came to Mechelen. When their village was set on fire and destroyed, Belgium recognized its inhabitants as political refugees and they soon integrated. 

1988

As the European newcomer, KV Mechelen won the European Cup Winners’ Cup by beating the Dutch champions Ajaz 1-0 in Strasbourg on May 11th. Football-mad Europe was stunned. Not a single Belgian team has since won a European football trophy. 

post-2000

Mechelen has rediscovered its heritage. The public space is being carefully modernized, guided by respect for history and heritage. Monuments have been sympathetically restored. Highlights include uncovering former brooks, installing the Skywalk on St Rumbold’s Tower and the newlydiscovered medieval wall paintings in St John’s Church.