Hansa Huis

Antwerp. On the corner of Suikerrui 1-11 and Ernest Van Dijckkaai 9, 10 stands the Hansahuis, one of the first office buildings in Antwerp, built in the Neo-Baroque style to the design of the architect Joseph Hertogs, between 1897 and 1901, in collaboration with the sculptor Jef Lambeaux (also creator of the Brabo monument on the Grote Markt) whose sculptures of symbolic figures adorn the facades. In 1981, the building was entered on the list of monuments protected by law. A monumental edifice in the Neo-Baroque style, accentuated in the corners by semicircular towers divided by columns around the perimeter, with domes crowned with lanterns and balconies with iron balconies. Perimeter cornices, interrupted by an avant-corps, flanked by Ionic columns, finished with a broken, curved pediment. On the top floor, a mezzanine is covered with a gallery made of double columns connected by railings. In the roof, the dormers are symmetrical in relation to the pediment separating them. Sculptures of naked women by Jef Lambeaux, decorating the facades. The figure from the Suikerrui side symbolizes the Weser (Vizier) River. Her naked friend with an outstretched arm symbolizes Transport on the façade facing Kaasstraat. A half-naked old man, with a face framed by a beard resembling water waves with seaweed on his head instead of hair, holding an oar in his outstretched right hand and a horn of plenty in the other, resting on a knee - symbolizing the river Rhine. A naked old man with a matted beard, a laurel wreath on his head, holding a harpoon and floating on the waves - symbolizing the Scheldt River, on which Antwerp is located.