Statue of King Leopold II could be melted down as Belgium debates its colonial past

A statue of the controversial king Leopold II in Brussels could be removed and melted down as Belgian authorities consider how to deal with the country’s past colonialism. The bronze statue, from the 19th century, is located in the centre of Brussels, close to the Royal Palace.

A group of historians, architects and other specialists, commissioned by the Brussels regional government, has come up with two suggestions on what can be done with the statue. The statue could be melted down and turned into a monument to those who died during Leopold II’s brutal rule of the Belgian Congo. The alternative suggestion is to create an open-air statue park to house the work, along with other controversial monuments to figures of the colonial past.

The group behind the idea writes: “A decolonised public space is not a space in which all colonial traces have been effaced ” adding, ”but free of material elements that promote then and now the asymmetric relation between the former white ‘civiliser’ and the former colonised black person, perpetuating a racist ideology and inequalities”.

It is not yet known when the city council in Brussel will decide what will happen to the statue. Attempts have been made to destroy the statue several times and it has been daubed with red paint.

Recently Princess Esmeralda of Belgium once again called on her country to apologise for its colonial past in Congo. In an interview with AFP, the Princess said that Belgium must apologise for the atrocities perpetrated during the years when Congo was under European control. She continued: “Apologies are important to restart a balanced relationship,” adding that “Belgium must apologise.”

Many places and streets in Belgium and Brussels are named after men who built Belgium’s empire in the late 19th century. King Leopold also took the title of King of Congo and following the World War One the Belgian colonial empire in Africa extended into former German colonies.