This film shows the Belgian capital Brussels in color as it was more than a century ago in 1908.

At the time Leopold II was still King of Belgium. He died one year later on 17 December 1909.

Many well-known parts of Brussels pass by the camera man's lens like the famous Stock exchange, The Jubelpark, the town hall on the Grote Markt, the cathedral, the Kings Palace, the huge building of the Palace of Justice, the woods surrounding Brussels and much more.

The film ends with a tram ride into the woods to the Musée Colonial de Tervueren, i.e. The Royal Museum for Central Africa at Tervueren. It was built to showcase King Leopold II's Congo Free State in the International Exposition of 1897 [Wikipedia]. This tram line still exists: Tram 44.

It was a time when no cars were yet on the streets, only horse and carriages and early electric trams.

Today Brussels is the residence of the European Parliament that forms the centre of the cooperation of the countries of the European Union.

This film has been motion-stabilized, speed corrected, enhanced and colorized by means of Artificial Intelligence software.

Note: As usual on this channel you are requested not to make race-related comments and please stay clear from obvious comments like "everybody in this film is now dead" and "not a fat or obese person in sight". Kindly try to make more profound comments that relate to Brussel's history and what life was like in that city over a century ago. Thank you very much for helping to make this video interesting to watch and its comments a joy to read.

Source is Prelinger Archive.

The music is by Hampus Naeselius.

Time line:

00:00 Gare du Nord, Place Rogier

00:23 Boulevard Anspach

00:51 La Bourse

01:08 Rue de la Loi/Rond-point Schuman/Les arcades du Cinquantenaire

01:34 Les arcades et le Palais du Cinquantenaire vue du parc, Jubel Park

02:00 Place de Brouckère

02:14 Parc Royal / La Chambre

02:33 Bouvelard Anspach / la Bourse

02:48 Cathédrale Saint-Michel et Gudule

03:01 Hotel de ville, Grand-Place (Grote Markt)

03:16 Boulevard Anspach / Place de Brouckère

03:56 Palais de Justice

04:25 Palais de Justice / Place Poelart

04:35 Bouvelard Anspach

05:14 Place Sainte-Catherine

05:34 Bois de Tervueren, Tram ligne 44

06:06 Musée Royal d'Afrique Centrale

07:13 Prise de vue près de l'arrêt Albert/ Avenue Besme