Former cadet school - Namur

The long main facade of this monumental complex in eclectic style is dominated by a projecting entrance, with the year 1882 stamped on the curved pediment at the top.

This used to be the cadet school, now an educational institute for social advancement.

The Royal Cadet School (ERC) was a training institute of the Belgian army. Until 1991, the school provided general and academic training in the military field with a view to preparing for the entrance exams for the Royal Military School.

Cadet schools existed in France under the Ancien Régime. These were schools that prepared the sons of the aristocracy for their positions as officers in the king's armies .

The origins of the Belgian cadet school can be traced back to institutions established to care for the children of military personnel, orphans of fallen soldiers, and abandoned and neglected children . From 1687 onwards, soldiers' sons aged ten and over and orphans aged seven were taken care of in army schools, one in Ostend and the other in Lier.

In 1859 , the "School for Troop Children" was founded in a converted former prison in Aalst . In 1883 the “School for Troop Children” became the “School for Army Departments”. It consisted of a primary education department for children from ten to thirteen years old in Aalst and a secondary education department for children from thirteen to sixteen years old in Namur.

The Cadet School was founded in 1897 on the grounds of the Pupilles School in Namur to prepare the sons of officers for the entrance examination for the Military School. Forty Dutch speakers and forty French speakers, aged at least eleven and younger than seventeen, could be admitted to the Cadet School after a medical examination and on the condition that they had passed the competitive examination.

After the First World War, a Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Cadet School for upper secondary education was opened in Namur. Six hundred students could be recruited, two hundred in each of the three school years.

According to the language law, the Dutch-speaking department of the Cadet School could not remain in Namur and moved to Saffraanberg in 1933.

The school in Namur was partially damaged by the American bombings on August 18, 1944. After the Second World War, the number of students was limited to 135 Dutch speakers and 105 French speakers.

In 1989 it was decided to close the cadet schools. After the cycle ended, the schools were effectively closed in 1991.

Willem Vandenameele