Burghers’ Lodge

The Burghers’ Lodge on the Grote Markt features a stepped gable and a façade covered in distinctive white sandstone. Originally serving as the meeting place for the city's wealthy merchant class, it acted as the headquarters for the White Bear Society during the fifteenth century. These armed burghers once held enough influence to challenge the Duke of Burgundy himself. When the Duke’s son attempted to consolidate power, the lodge became the site where local leaders debated the city's independence from ducal control.