Grote Markt: stadhuis

Mechelen's town hall is home to centuries of valuable history. Less known is its function as a place of resistance against the occupier during the First World War. For example, the furniture of the council chamber of the town hall was made by young men from Mechelen with the aim of keeping them at work and thus protecting them from deportation. When Cardinal Mercier denounced German terror in his pastoral letters, they were printed and distributed by the publishing house Dessain. Civilian father Charles Dessain was sentenced to a fine for this press crime and deported to Germany. After the war, Dessain was overtaken as a hero by his city and knighted. The trial against the war criminals of Breendonk was also conducted in the Mechelen town hall. This town hall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.