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The Battle of Gravensteen Castle

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One of the more majestic castles in Belgium is The Gravensteen (which in Dutch means the “Castle of the Counts”). It is a medieval castle built in 1180 and located in Ghent, East Flanders in Belgium. It was only occupied by anyone other than the owners one time, on November 16, 1949, when 138 students from the University of Ghent took over the castle to protest an increase in the price of beer.

Onlookers filled the streets outside the castle in downtown Ghent.

Here is a description of the day’s events from the University of Ghent website, as translated by Google:

On November 16, 1949, 138 students (including one girl) entrenched themselves in the Gravensteen in Ghent. The battlements are adorned with playful student slogans, while the police and fire brigade are treated to overripe fruit and smoke bombs. The student-like violence can only be contained with the greatest difficulty by the police. The student joke is front-page news in the international press. 

Firemen turned their hoses on the students.

In addition to protesting the new beer tax which caused the price to go up, the students also wanted to abolish the use of white helmets by the police. This helmet was replaced by a blue kepi so that the police officers would be less distinguishable from postmen, among others. I don’t know why that was important to the students, but apparently, it was.

Eventually, the police and fire brigade managed to charge the students, but despite this, the students still essentially won the day. Public opinion was on the side of the students and no students were prosecuted and they essentially got what they asked for. To this day, each year it’s commemorated with a parade and a cantus song; and is considered, by the city of Ghent at least, the greatest student prank in its history.

A caricature of the day’s events from shortly after it took place.

The song they sing every year is entitled, of course, “The Battle of the Gravensteen,” and is based on a poem by Flemish teacher and folk poet Eugeen De Ridder. Belgian composer and organist Armand Preud’homme wrote the music for it. Below are the lyrics:

1. In Ghent, the old city,
there was the Gravensteen
For centuries as forgotten,
Abandoned and alone.
Until suddenly student times,
Lust for fun and laughter,
With trickery to renovate the castle,
Without a blow or a blow.

Sprayers of Flanders!
Ghent roars with pleasure:
“‘t Gravenkasteel occupied by students!”
They’re in it! who gets z’er out.
They fear neither club nor water nor spray!
Besiegers if you want to attack.
Watch out, watch out, watch out, watch out!
Ulenspiegel, Ulenspiegel leads them!

2. ‘t Pandoerheir, sealike, Rolls
ladders by the wall,
And takes with water lances,
The ruin under fire.
But apples like grenades,
Explode on the ground,
And the slimey scraps sow, crushing,
Confusion all around.

3. The Student’s Guild, doggedly
Covered with dust and ashes,
Faded its last apple,
His last sod of grass.
Then their battle was over …
But, through the centuries,
Vlaadren’s laughter will commemorate,
The Battle of ‘t Gravensteen!

The Gravensteen Castle today.

Beer In Ads #3501: Pilsen De Haecht

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Saturday’s ad is for Pilsen de Haecht, from perhaps the 1950s. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was created for Brouwerij van Haecht, which I believe was located somewhere in the Netherlands. To confuse matters, there’s also a Brasserie de Haacht in Belgium, and Google appears to keep confusing the two in searches with the “aa” and “ae” seemingly interchangeable, and yet they seem to be different breweries. And on top of that, the Belgian brewery Haacht seems to sometimes use the spelling Haecht, despite being from the town of Haacht, which is located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. So needless to say, I’m just not sure. On this sign, it’s referred to as “Brasserie de Haecht.” I also don’t know who the artist is that created this sign.

Beer In Ads #3500: Bieren Van Haecht

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Friday’s ad is for Bieren van Haecht, from perhaps the 1950s. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was created for Brouwerij van Haecht, which I believe was located somewhere in the Netherlands. To confuse matters, there’s also a Brasserie de Haacht in Belgium, and Google appears to keep confusing the two in searches with the “aa” and “ae” seemingly interchangeable, and yet they seem to be different breweries. And on top of that, the Belgian brewery Haacht seems to sometimes use the spelling Haecht, despite being from the town of Haacht, which is located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. So needless to say, I’m just not sure. On this sign, it’s referred to as both “Brasserie de Haecht” and “Bieren van Haecht.” I also don’t know who the artist is that created this sign.

Beer In Ads #3499: Haecht Table Beer

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Thursday’s ad is for Haecht bieres de table, from perhaps the 1950s. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was created for Brouwerij van Haecht, which I believe was located somewhere in the Netherlands. To confuse matters, there’s also a Brasserie de Haacht in Belgium, and Google appears to keep confusing the two in searches with the “aa” and “ae” seemingly interchangeable, and yet they seem to be different breweries. And on top of that, the Belgian brewery Haacht seems to sometimes use the spelling Haecht, despite being from the town of Haacht, which is located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. So needless to say, I’m just not sure. I also don’t know who the artist is that created this sign.

Beer In Ads #3498: Haecht Drinking Man

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Tuesday’s ad is for Haecht, from perhaps the 1950s. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was created for Brouwerij van Haecht, which I believe was located somewhere in the Netherlands. To confuse matters, there’s also a Brasserie de Haacht in Belgium, and Google appears to keep confusing the two in searches with the “aa” and “ae” seemingly interchangeable, and yet they seem to be different breweries. And on top of that, the Belgian brewery Haacht seems to sometimes use the spelling Haecht, despite being from the town of Haacht, which is located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. So needless to say, I’m just not sure. I also don’t know who the artist is that created this sign.

And here’s a closer view of the brewery name portion of the sign.

Beer In Ads #3497: Haecht!

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Tuesday’s ad is for Haecht!, from perhaps the 1950s. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was created for Brouwerij van Haecht, which I believe was located somewhere in the Netherlands. To confuse matters, there’s also a Brasserie de Haacht in Belgium, and Google appears to keep confusing the two in searches with the “aa” and “ae” seemingly interchangeable, and yet they seem to be different breweries. And on top of that, the Belgian brewery Haacht seems to sometimes use the spelling Haecht, despite being from the town of Haacht, which is located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. So needless to say, I’m just not sure. I also don’t know who the artist is that created this sign.

Beer In Ads #3494: Mena Biere S/N Priora

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Saturday’s ad is for Mena Priora, from the 1950s. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was created for Brouwerij Mena, which was located in Rotselaar, a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish-Brabant. It was founded by Eduard Meynckens on his farm in 1896. After he died, his son Valère Meynckens took over the brewery, bringing in a partner, Henri Nackaerts, and the first two letter of each of their names was chosen as the company name, MeNa. In 1969, Brouwerij Artois acquired Mena, and in 1994 the brewery building was declared a protected monument and was converted into a municipal cultural center. I don’t know who the artist was that created this sign.

Beer In Ads #3493: Mena Pils With Cards

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Friday’s ad is for Mena Pils, from 1954. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was created for Brouwerij Mena, which was located in Rotselaar, a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish-Brabant. It was founded by Eduard Meynckens on his farm in 1896. After he died, his son Valère Meynckens took over the brewery, bringing in a partner, Henri Nackaerts, and the first two letter of each of their names was chosen as the company name, MeNa. In 1969, Brouwerij Artois acquired Mena, and in 1994 the brewery building was declared a protected monument and was converted into a municipal cultural center. I don’t know who the artist was that created this poster, but it’s identical to the poster I shared a few days ago, except instead of Pils in the text and written on glass, it reads “Costo.”

Beer In Ads #3492: Mena Pils

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Thursday’s ad is for Mena Pils, from 1954. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was created for Brouwerij Mena, which was located in Rotselaar, a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish-Brabant. It was founded by Eduard Meynckens on his farm in 1896. After he died, his son Valère Meynckens took over the brewery, bringing in a partner, Henri Nackaerts, and the first two letter of each of their names was chosen as the company name, MeNa. In 1969, Brouwerij Artois acquired Mena, and in 1994 the brewery building was declared a protected monument and was converted into a municipal cultural center. I don’t know who the artist was that created this poster.

And here’s another image of it I found.

Beer In Ads #3491: Castar Mena

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Wednesday’s ad is for Priora Mena, from the 1950s. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was created for Brouwerij Mena, which was located in Rotselaar, a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish-Brabant. It was founded by Eduard Meynckens on his farm in 1896. After he died, his son Valère Meynckens took over the brewery, bringing in a partner, Henri Nackaerts, and the first two letter of each of their names was chosen as the company name, MeNa. In 1969, Brouwerij Artois acquired Mena, and in 1994 the brewery building was declared a protected monument and was converted into a municipal cultural center. I don’t know who the artist was that created this poster.