A hundred years of L'Archiduc in Brussels: Johan Ral's new tome brings iconic bar’s history to life

‘We know that David Bowie visited L'Archiduc because rock singer Arno mentioned it, but who can prove it? Jean-Louis, the current owner, didn't witness their encounter.’ Music journalist Johan Ral is keen to dish up this and other anecdotes about the famous Brussels café to Eva Christiaens, our colleague at Brussels media outlet Bruzz.

The journalist, who used to work for this parish and weekly Knack, had already written a book about the Ancienne Belgique concert hall and now it is the turn of the Archiduc bar. Today, it is a popular nightspot for young expats, but it is also a favourite haunt of the Flemings of Brussels, who have been able to meet rock singer Arno (pictured) and film director Marc Didden here since the 1980s.

With its 70-year old piano, L'Archiduc remains popular for an afternoon chat as well as for dancing well into the early hours. In over 200 pages, Ral guides us through lesser-known stories. From the watch shop that once thrived in the building to the private club that moved in in 1943.

While alcohol sales were strictly regulated under the Vandervelde Act during the first half of the last century, the members of the society Les Amis de l'Art Décoratif sought a place in Brussels to enjoy a cognac and a cigar behind closed doors.

‘These friends settled in L'Archiduc in 1943, but their club had been around since 1925,’ says Ral. ‘It was a typical business club that you couldn't just walk into. That naturally fuelled rumours about secret meetings and clandestine affairs.’

The current décor of L'Archiduc is still that of the 1930s and 1940s: the entrance, iconic chairs and armchairs, the massive round bar, the deep alcoves, the mezzanine. ‘This isn’t the only venue in Brussels that is subject to a preservation order, but the fact that a café has existed in this form since 1943 and with the same function since 1985 is unique,’ Ral explains.

Jazz and the war

In the 1940s, in the midst of the Second World War, Les Amis de l'Art Décoratif hired Alice Praxel – popularly known as “Madame Alice” from the café across the street in Dansaertstraat – to serve as manager.

After her death in 1951, jazz musician Constant Brenders, whose stage name was Stan, took over. He had already played piano across the street and took over at L'Archiduc in 1953, together with his wife: it was still a private club, but now for jazz lovers. Clémence Jacqueline Cambien, known to her friends as “Boule”, ran the business until 1985, after Stan's death.

However, during the war years, Brenders worked for Belgian radio, which was controlled by the Nazi occupiers during the war. ‘He did indeed continue to perform with his orchestra, both live and on public radio,’ says Ral.

‘He claims this was mainly to protect his musicians from compulsory labour in Germany. Personally, I don't think Stan Brenders was a collaborator in the political sense of the word. After the war, he was targeted and punished too harshly for continuing his work as a conductor. You see this everywhere: in times of occupation, nightlife simply goes on.’

Nat King Cole to Johan Verminnen

And that nightlife really took off after the war, in the 1950s. Brenders took over L'Archiduc at a time when the theatres and cinemas from the De Brouckèreplein to the Rogierplein were flourishing. ‘Back then, you could also find restaurants and cafés where artists would stay out late. L'Archiduc is one of them,’ says the journalist. American jazz singer and musician Nat King Cole was one of those who played the iconic piano at L'Archiduc during this period, as did countless of Brenders’s fellow musicians.

To this day, the café attracts an audience of artists: sometimes because they have to perform in the city centre later that evening, sometimes because they come for a drink after their concert. This brings us back to the anecdote about David Bowie.

Apart from the international names, the bar also attracts numerous Flemings. In the late 1970s, a very young Johan Verminnen was introduced to L'Archiduc long before he became a famous Flemish star. Later, a circle of Flemish friends grew up in the bar, Arno, actors Josse De Pauw and Jan Decorte, and film directors Dominique Deruddere and Marc Didden. Flemings always associated the “Arno Gang” with this bar.

Life stories of all the punters

‘During my research, I discovered much more than I ever imagined,’ says Ral, who touches on the life stories of all these figures in his book. The anecdotes range from jazz performances in the 1950s to the role of the piano and other art forms today.

Jacqueline, Stan Brenders' widow, also gets her own chapter because she ran the café on her own for 16 years after his death. During the war, she was married to a German and was known among the customers as a somewhat reserved figure. It was Jacqueline who sold the café in 1985 to the current owners, Jean-Louis Hennart and his wife Nathalie Dufour, who subsequently opened it to the general public.

“Not a jazz café”

‘I chose to do justice to history in all its dimensions, from the painters who came to paint at L'Archiduc to the writers who came to write here,’ says Ral. L'Archiduc has never been merely a jazz haunt and it is not to this day. It is a bar, a café but one where performances are regularly organised."

This has led to a wide range of stories, which you don't always discover in your first conversation with café owner Jean-Louis Hennart, says Ral. ‘He is very modest, in all his generosity, and believes that the café belongs to his guests, but he is actually an adventurer, who is constantly building bridges.’ Hennart travelled to Asia in the 1980s and single-handedly organised an exhibition of work by Albert Pepermans, now a renowned Belgian painter.

‘Why did Arno feel so at home at L'Archiduc and why does artist Luc Tuymans continue to speak so respectfully of Jean-Louis? It's all down to that same generosity and the bonds created by Jean-Louis and Nathalie,’ says Johan Ral.

‘When we call L'Archiduc a magical and special place, we are usually referring to the architecture, the piano and the artists who have been here. But its real DNA lies in who has managed and run the business. Jean-Louis and Nathalie were given permission by Jacqueline to take over the café because she felt she could trust them. Jean-Louis was already involved in a political theatre company in the 1970s. He has always continued to express that commitment.'

A foothold in uncertain times

Today, Jean-Louis is 72, but he is still running the business. ‘At the moment, I see no reason to stop,’ he says in the book. His café has changed since the early years, says Ral. ‘After a Frenchification in the 1990s, ironically via Arno's French and French-speaking friends, we now see a young, highly educated international crowd and there are more DJ sets.’

Nevertheless, Ral sees L'Archiduc as a source of stability and continuity. ‘In uncertain times like today, people need that. Valuable heritage, beautiful in the simple definition of the word, can be appealing. I think that the fascination with heritage in the city is nothing more than that: it offers stability.’