Excerpt from
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand-Place:
King's House
The Brussels City Museum is located in the Maison du Roi (King's House) or Broodhuis (Bread House).
As early as the 12th century, the King's House (French: Maison du Roi) was a wooden building where bread was sold, hence the name it kept in Dutch; Broodhuis (Bread House or Bread Hall).
The original building was replaced in the 15th century by a stone building which housed the administrative services of the Duke of Brabant, which is why it was first called the Duke's House (Middle Dutch: 's Hertogenhuys), and when the same duke became King of Spain, it was renamed the King's House (Middle Dutch: 's Conincxhuys). In the 16th century, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered his court architect Antoon II Keldermans to rebuild it in a late Gothic style very similar to the contemporary design, although without towers or galleries.
The King's House was rebuilt after suffering extensive damage from the bombardment of 1695. A second restoration followed in 1767 when it received a neoclassical portal and a large roof pierced with three oeil-de-boeuf windows. It was reconstructed once again in its current neo-Gothic form by the architect Victor Jamaer between 1874 and 1896, in the style of his mentor Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. On that occasion, Jamaer built two galleries and a central tower. He also adorned the facade with statues and other decorations. At the back, he added a new, much more sober wing in Flemish neo-Renaissance style. The new King's House was officially inaugurated in 1896. The current building, whose interior was renovated in 1985, has housed the Brussels City Museum since 1887, in which, among other things, the Town Hall's original sculptures are shown.
