15. Former CGER Headquarters [Hôtel Fleur de Ville]

In our parents’ day, Belgium was very familiar with the Caisse Générale d’Épargne et de Retraite, a financial institution founded in 1865 and privatised in 1990. Opened in 1893, the CGER’s headquarters was built by the architect Henri Beyaert (the figure featured on the 100 Belgian franc notes, to whom we also owe the Hôtel de la Banque Nationale and the reconstruction of the Palais de la Nation). The architect Paul Hankar also contributed to this eclectic masterpiece, notably by designing the ironwork. This elegant corner building, crowned by a dome, now houses the Hôtel Fleur de Ville; the magnificently restored interiors are characterised by a combination of superb parquet flooring and stained-glass windows, fine materials, monumental fireplaces and staircases, exquisite wood panelling, and busts of distinguished gentlemen and other leading figures from the world of finance.