Georges
Rodenbach was born in Doornik in 1855, son of a family with German origins.
Patriarch Ferdinand (1714-1786) was a chirgan with the Austrian army, who
settled in Ypres after the marriage with Catharina Vanden Bossche.
The name Rodenbach may sound familiar to the beer lovers amongst you, and you
are right. One of the grandsons of Ferdinand was the founder of the known beer
Rodenbach.
Georges
lived in Ghent, went there to school and university. He graduated in law in
1878, but before passing the bar in Ghent he first went to Paris to improve his
legal competences. In Paris he mostly spent his free time in literary salons to
make friends with numerous poets and writers. It was no secret that Georges was
a writer of poems and novels himself. In that year in Paris he wrote 21
“Lettres Parisiennes” (Letters from Paris) for the catholic Brussels weekly “La
Paix”.
Feeling
homesick he returned to Ghent and started working as a lawyer. Disappointed in
his work, his love for the literary arts prevails. He keeps close contacts with
the Brussels literary circle “L’Union Littéraire”, where he becomes friends
with Caroline Popp, writer and publisher of “Journal de Bruges”. This
friendship is so strong he spends the entire summer of 1884 with her in Bruges,
getting the important impressions of the city of Bruges.
Georges is
so disappointed in his work as lawyer in Ghent, that he moved to Brussels to
work there as a lawyer. But again is love and passion for the literary arts
wins and in 1888 he leaves Belgium and moves to Paris to become a fulltime
writer and poet. He moved in different artistic circles where he made friends
with some prominent people; Mallarmé, Daudet, Rodin…
He also
started working for the liberal newspaper “Le Figaro” where he wrote several
serials on cities as Ghent, Middelburg and… Bruges.
It is in
the format of a serial that Rodenbachs most known work is published for the
first time. Bruges La Morte tells the story of widower Hugues Viane, looking
for the shadow of his deceased wife and is attracted to Bruges. One of the
rooms of his house on the Rozenhoedkaai is devoted to his wife; with several
portraits and in a glass shrine a lock of hair of her. To pass the time he made
long walk through the city. During one of these walks he meets a woman whom is
the spitting image of his wife. He becomes friends with her. Turns out she’s an
actress and her name is Jane Scott.
During their dates Hugues seeks the traits of his deceased wife. Somehow
he has her moving in to one of his houses just outside the centre of the city.
However, soon Jane gets bored in this bizarre relationship and goes out in
search for more enjoyable company. In Bruges gossip about this widower and
actress starts. With months passing by, Hugues discovers more and more
differences between Jane and his wife. When Jane discovers the room with
portraits and lock of hair, she confronts him with this and everything goes
wrong. He strangles her with the lock of hair.
What made
this work special? The main character in this book isn’t Hugues Viane, but the
city. The bells of the Belfry, the Beguinage, the atmosphere of the city… It
all plays an important part in the setting.
But the
people of Bruges didn’t appreciate the book! It was published on February 4th
– 14th 1892. This was the moment Bruges took on the plans to
(re)connect with the sea and expanding its harbour (Zeebrugge). Just then this
writer from Paris wrote a book with “dead” in the title! Also the colourless
setting isn’t something the people of Bruges liked.
Also there was the language in which it was written; French. The more Flemish-fanatics accused the writer of immoral, obscene and anti-religious thoughts, having the descriptions of the relationship between Hugues and Jane in mind. Maybe difficult to understand today, don’t forget that people had a totally different view on love and relationships in those times.
Also there was the language in which it was written; French. The more Flemish-fanatics accused the writer of immoral, obscene and anti-religious thoughts, having the descriptions of the relationship between Hugues and Jane in mind. Maybe difficult to understand today, don’t forget that people had a totally different view on love and relationships in those times.
While Rodenbach didn’t want to put a 100% accurate realistic image of the city on paper. He only wanted to vent his personal feelings, feelings of melancholy in which Bruges formed a perfect frame for this.
It is however without a doubt that Rodenbach –maybe unwillingly and without realising- boosted tourism in Bruges. It is a paradox but Rodenbach didn’t want to depict Bruges as a dead city. He fought this controversy by adding a foreword in reprints of Bruges La Morte, trying to explain his intentions.
Georges
Rodenbach died in Paris on December 25th 1898. And even after his
death there was protest coming from Bruges. The Flemish catholics and
conservatives remained opposed, depicting him as “French”, who made Flemish
people as fools and mocking Bruges. The symbolism used in the book was
misinterpreted, taken too literally and considered too bold. Creating an image
of a dead could be blocking the expansion of the port of Zeebrugge and this
would be ill-fated form the economic growth of Bruges.
Still
today, if you go looking for anything on him in Bruges, the only reminder is a
plaque on the house ‘De Rode Steen’ at the Jan van Eyck Square.
It is clear
that Rodenbach was and still is a misunderstood figure in the history of
Bruges. Except for the controversy of those times it is impossible to recognize
the major influence the book had on Bruges and its tourism.
With the
book being translated in several languages (English, German, Italian, Spanish,
Russian, Finnish and Dutch) it attracted many people from all over Europe, and
today the world.