Founded in 1854, the Compagnie des Bronzes moved to rue Ransfort in 1862 and 1863, in the heart of one of the country’s most industrialised districts, in Molenbeek. For around a hundred years, it contributed to the growth of this neighbourhood, nicknamed the “Belgian Little Manchester”. This metalworking company specialised in monumental statues, lighting fixtures and decorative bronze objects. Its rapid success led to prestigious commissions in Belgium and around the world, including the statues of the Petit Sablon, the statue of King Albert I at Mont des Arts, Brabo in Antwerp and the gates of New York’s zoo. Arranged around a courtyard, its factory, built between 1862 and 1912, comprised various workshops and storage areas: a casting hall, turning workshop, assembly hall, lost-wax casting hall and sculptors’ workshop… as well as the management residence. After 1950, activity declined, and the company was eventually declared bankrupt in 1979.

In 1982, the French Community purchased the site to accommodate La Fonderie ASBL, which gradually developed into a continuing education association and the Brussels Museum of Industry and Work. A surprising and peaceful blend of ruins and restored buildings, green spaces and machinery rescued from former Brussels companies, the site of this former foundry reveals how the factory was organised. As a museum of history and society, La Fonderie’s permanent exhibition Made in Brussels offers a fresh perspective on the city’s socioeconomic development, technological innovations from the Industrial Revolution to the present day, and their effects on the daily lives of its residents. (Listed since 22/05/1997)