„Королівська комісія пам’ятників та ландшафтів” як гарант культурної спадщини Бельгії

Abstract

The „Royal Commission on Monuments and Landscapes” of Belgium was one of the first European institutions to emerge in the 19th century and lay the foundations for the systematic protection of cultural heritage. In fact, it was created by decree of King Leopold I on January 7, 1835. The Royal Commission was set up a few years before the adoption of municipal and provincial laws, which became the backbone of the Belgian democratic and decentralized regime. In 1860, the structure of the Royal Commission changed – committees were established at the provincial level under the chairmanship of the governors. The committees were tasked with gathering information on the ground and overseeing the preservation of monuments or works of art. The Royal Commission was commissioned to make a general inventory of artifacts of art and antiquity belonging to public institutions, the preservation of which is important for the history of art and national archeology. Following the enactment of the Landscape Beauty Act of 1911, a section of landscapes appeared in the Royal Commission, approved by a royal decree of May 29, 1912. Since then, it has received its current name, the Royal Commission on Monuments and Landscapes. Members of the Royal Commission have developed an internal classification of monuments, as well as landscapes and places of most interest to the Kingdom. This practice led to the gradual adoption of the concept of classification, which was first approved in the Law of 7 August 1931 on the Preservation of Monuments and Landscapes. The law of 1931 was the culmination of almost a century of efforts by the Royal Commission. Thanks to him, Belgium has acquired a modern legal arsenal that allows for a real policy on heritage protection. Since then, the Commission has become the most important body for dealing with requests for work with classified objects and the official source of requests for classification proposals.