OLV Hospital - Mechelen

The U-shaped symmetrical hospital wing on Keizerstraat is what remains of the city 's Onze Lieve Vrouw hospital, built by Charles Drossaert junior in 1854-1857 .

The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwgasthuis in Mechelen was founded in the late 12th century , probably in 1198. The original guest house was on the site between the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-over-de-Dijlekerk and the Dyle . The Augustinian nuns of Mechelen provided their services there until the completion of the new hospital in the Keizerstraat in 1857 .

The construction of the new hospital in the Keizerstraat was a direct result of the miserable sanitary conditions in Mechelen around 1850. Malnutrition, poor housing, the high bacterial contamination of the Dyle and the Vliets, the lack of clean drinking water and the general poor sanitary conditions caused various diseases , including the cholera epidemic of 1849.

In the middle of the 19th century people in Mechelen became aware of these problems. The economic upswing in the city that was beginning at the time and the changing scientific knowledge allowed for a more systematic approach. In this regard, the construction of a slaughterhouse on the Guido Gezellelaan, as well as the establishment of the Cellekens Asylum and the completion of a new hospital on the Keizerstraat, all realized in the period 1854-1857, marked the first important steps in the redevelopment of the city

For its time, the Onze-Lieve-Vrouweziekenhuis was a state-of-the-art institution in the field of hygiene and health care

Between 1996 and 2000, a large part of the actual hospital had to make way for a new building. As a result, only the U-shaped wing on Keizerstraat, with a central chapel, remains of the complex, completed in 1857.

Willem Vandenameele