The former tavern 'De Jacht' - restaurant '500'

On the corner of the Bierbeekpleindreef and Naamsesteenweg is the former forester's house "De Jacht". It is one of the 13 staff residences that were built at strategic locations on the edge of Heverleebos and Meerdaalwoud. On old forest maps they are referred to as 'garde'. From 1612 to 1914, the Arenberg house employed foresters. The coat of arms of Leopold-Philippe van Arenberg (1690-1754) and his wife Maria Francisca Pignatelli (1692-1766) can be seen in the façade along the Chaussée de Namur. The coat of arms of Arenberg has three medlar flowers. Hartmann de Erberch, a distant ancestor of the Arenberg family, was mortally wounded at the Battle of Unstrut (933). He managed to drag himself under a medlar tree. On his shield, red with his own blood, fell three medlar flowers. The German king for whom he fought gave Hartmann this red shield with the three medlar flowers as his coat of arms. Today, this is still the coat of arms of the ducal family of Arenberg. Leopold-Philippe married Maria Francisca Pignatelli in 1711. The coat of arms of Pignatelli is gold with three black kettles. The name Pignatelli is southern Italian and is derived from 'pignatta', literally a cauldron. Leopold Filip had Heverleebos and Meerdaalwoud divided into block-shaped plots or fences by the construction of lanes, which crossed the forests from north to south and from west to east. This checkerboard pattern facilitated timber exploitation and the organization of drive hunts. The year 1727 probably refers to the construction of the Chaussée de Louvain - Namur. Later, the old forest road pattern was retraced in rectilinear lanes. The building on the other side of the road – Restaurant 500 – already functioned as a tavern for horses in the 18th century. Later it became a hunting lodge, and from 1900 to 1964 it was continuously run as a restaurant by the same family. In 2010, the restaurant operator of the 500 was granted the building across the street as a concession from the Agency for Nature and Forests.

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