Bruges bear from the gatehouse - legend

A large bear made the area around Bruges unsafe. Lonely travelers or even groups venturing outside the walls of the city were attacked by him. The bear was the terror of the region .

Boudewijn 'with the iron arm', so called because he was particularly good with weapons , went to the royal court in France, where he was officially recognized as count of Flanders. Against the king's wishes, he fell in love with his 17-year-old daughter Judith. The king wanted to exchange his daughter for a considerable expansion of his kingdom. Much, against the wishes of the king, Boudewijn left with the iron arm back to Bruges.

Just outside Bruges (in Beernem , hence the name!) he was attacked by a bear . and was engaged in a fierce fight with the bear. As Baudouin faded his attacks, the bear's fury increased. Suddenly the bear straightened up on his hind legs and stood with his back against a tree to put more power behind another lunge.
At the same time , however , Boudewijn leaped forward and pierced the bear with his lance . The thrust was so violent that the lance locked itself immovably in the tree. After a final convulsion, still nailed to the tree, the bear died. The bear was taken and set up in the knight's hall of the castle.

Once back in Bruges, the story of the new feudal lord's heroic behavior got around in no time. When his appointment as new feudal lord was celebrated , the city of Bruges presented Boudewijn with a sculpted, upright bear, which has since become the well-known emblem of the count's city. Now a stone version still watches over all the foreigners who visit Bruges.

The stone version of course means the Bruges bear in the Poortersloge . That is why it is also called the Beertje of the Lodge, because it was the emblem of the association "The Association of the White Bear ". In 1417 that association, whose members were all wealthy citizens, received permission from the city council to place the statue in its niche in the facade of the Poortersloge.

Willem Vandenameele