"The Statue
This monument, erected in 1958 and completely restored in 1999, symbolizes the door through which the king entered Belgium.
The Latin inscription tells us that the monument was erected on the occasion of a visit by the king to the city, and how much this visit was celebrated and appreciated.
The Leopold I monument is the work of architect Victor Martiny and sculptor René Cliquet; it was erected thanks to the ‘National Committee of the Leopold I Monument in De Panne’, chaired by Lieutenant-General Nyssens. On October 5, 1958, Mayor Gevaert inaugurated the monument in the presence of King Baudouin and Prime Minister Gaston Eyskens.
The statue is in bronze, it is about 3m high, and Leopold is in full uniform.
The character
Leopold I was born on December 16, 1790, in Coburg, Bavaria, the son of Duke Francis of Saxe-Coburg Saalfeld. Widowed in the first marriage of Princess Charlotte, Princess of Wales, this skilful political strategist and diplomat refused the throne of Greece, but a year later accepted that of Belgium, proposed by the regent Surlet de Chokier.
He was elected King of the Belgians on June 4, 1831 by the National Congress. On July 16, he embarked in Dover on the yacht Crusader, bound for the continent. He was welcomed in Calais by the Prime Minister of France in Brussels who accompanied him to La Panne on 17 July.
The seaside resort of La Panne in Belgium near the French border was the first Belgian town visited by King Leopold I. He then continued his journey with his retinue to La Panne in a carriage before continuing the journey to Laeken, passing via Veurne, Ostend, Bruges, Ghent and Aalst.
On July 21, in the afternoon, the first King of the Belgians took the oath on the Constitution of the young State, from the top of a platform set up against the church of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg, on the Place Royale. He becomes Leopold I, King of the Belgians.
During the 125th anniversary of the Belgian dynasty in 1958, this monument with King Leopold I in its center was inaugurated in the presence of King Baudouin and the authorities. It still stands at the end of the La Panne dyke and is the work of sculptor René Cliquet and architect Victor Martiny.
Symbolically, the first king of the Belgians turns his back on the sea and on his former homeland (England). He looks at his new destiny and his new homeland (Belgium)."