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A la Mort Subite
A la Mort Subite
General information
Status	Listed building
Type	Pub
Architectural style	Néo-Louis XVI
Address	7 Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères
Town or city	Brussels
Country	Belgium
Coordinates	50°50′55″N 4°21′22″E / 50.84861°N 4.35611°E
Construction started	1902
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Paul Hamesse
Website
	alamortsubite.com/en/

À la Mort Subite is a café in Brussels, Belgium, at Rue Montagne-aux-Herbes Potagères 7.^[2] It is known for its early 20th-century decor and Mort Subite beer,^[3] now produced by Heineken subsidiary Alken-Maes. The café was designated a heritage site in 1998.^[4]

The movie The Danish Girl was partly filmed there.^[5]^[6]

History

The name Mort Subite comes from a dice game or a card game: the pitjesbak [nl] (ancestor of the 421 game) played in a Brussels bistro named "La Cour Royale" which stood at the corner of Rue de la Montagne and Rue d'Assaut. "La Cour Royale" was already there in the 1840s. At this time owned by a certain Mr Gérard, it was home of the Société des Droits et Devoirs de l'Ouvrier from 1848 to 1849. This club was involved in the Prado Conspiracy in Molenbeek.^[7] This society quickly left the premises to meet at "L'Ancienne Cour de Bruxelles" in the Fontainas neighbourhood. At the beginning of the 20th century, "La Cour Royale" was taken over by Théophile Vossen.^[8] The establishment was renamed "La Mort Subite". Expropriated due to the work at the junction,^[9] in 1927 the café moved to Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères, officially taking the name "À la Mort Subite" in 1928. Théophile Vossen then gave the name "Mort Subite" to the beer (gueuze, faro, kriek) he was producing.^[10] The Mort Subite brewery was located on the Rue des Capucins (near the Rue Haute) in Brussels. The brewery De Keersmaeker took over the Mort Subite production in the 1960s. The beer is exported to many countries thanks to the fact that the De Keersmaeker brewery was taken over by an important malting group, Alken-Maes. The date, 1684, displayed on the bottles refers to the founding of the De Keersmaeker brewery, with its first brewer Joris Van Der Hasselt, even though the farmhouse of that name had existed since 1604. The brewery was renamed "Mort Subite", but the original date was retained on the label.

René and Jean-Pierre Vossen later took over the café, which is currently held by the fourth generation of Vossens.^[11]

In 2001, the first floor was refurbished and opened to customers.^[12]

Interior decoration

The building, originally the premises of a manufacturer of art bronzes, was transformed into a café in 1910 by Paul Hamesse. It has kept its typical Brussels decor. The main room is in Louis XVI style.^[13] The garland pilasters and mirrors are listed.

References

^ Café-brasserie A la Mort Subite, "Patrimoine protégé 17 septembre 1998, Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères 5-7". Brussels Capital Region, 2016.
^ "La Mort Subite : vous connaissez ? | Bierissima". bierissima.com. Archived from the original on 2020-10-22.
^ Paul F. State, Historical Dictionary of Brussels (Scarecrow Press, 2004), p. 6.
^ Mort Subite, café la, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire de Bruxelles, Collection Dictionnaires, Éditions Proposon Bruxelles, 2013, pp. 569.
^ "Matthias Schoenaerts vous donne rendez-vous à Bruxelles". www.cinetelerevue.be. Archived from the original on 2016-02-13.
^ "The Danish Girl à Bruxelles".
^ Jacques Dubreucq, Bruxelles 1000 une Histoire Capitale, vol. 5, Bruxelles, A compte d'auteur, 1997, p. 345
^ "LISTE DES BIÈRES POUR BRASSERIE MORT SUBITE". Archived from the original on 2016-08-16.
^ Vossen, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire de Bruxelles, Collection Dictionnaires, Éditions Proposon Bruxelles, 2013, p. 858.
^ Gilbert Delos, 101 bière à découvrir, Paris, Dunod, juin 2013
^ "A la Mort Subite - café - brasserie a la mort subite 1000 centre Bruxelles".
^ "Longue vie à la Mort Subite". 17 April 2001.
^ "Art Nouveau et Jugendstil. Courants artistiques et littéraires de 1880 à 1920: Brasseries et cafés VII : A la mort subite, Bruxelles". 21 April 2012.