Garden district 'Het Rad'

Peace, green and a set of identical labourers’ home complete with a front garden. Het Rad boasts all typical characteristics of a garden district.

This British concept flourished in Brussels during the interwar period. The social housing association, Anderlechtse Haard, built almost 700 labourers’ homes here in the 1920s. This made Het Rad one of the city’s first garden districts. Despite the continued need for social housing, several homes are empty, awaiting renovation.

Het Rad was the birthplace of the cyclist Désiré Keteleer. His career as a professional cyclist began just before the Second World War. However, German bombs fell on the district and the home of the Keteleer family, killing his mother. After the war, Keteleer won races including La Flèche Wallonne and a stage in the Tour de France.

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