Profile - Fundación Carlos de Amberes

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Profile - Fundación Carlos de Amberes

The Fundación Carlos de Amberes is the realisation of the dream of the Flemish man who donated all his fortune to the city of Madrid to create this institution, which continues to exist after 400 years. Bolstered by the reorganisation of its original purpose (a hospital for pilgrims), the Foundation entered the 21st century ready to dedicate itself to safekeeping the historical ties among the territories that once belonged to the Spanish Crown in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Foundation cooperates via all sorts of cultural, political and scientific initiatives with those countries - Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and northern France - in the adventure of building a common space: a united Europe.

The history of the "Real Diputación San Andrés de los Flamencos-Foundation Carlos de Amberes" dates back to 1594, the year in which Charles of Antwerp, a native of this city in the Duchy of Brabant, transferred by public deed a series of buildings that on his death might serve as shelter and lodging for the poor and pilgrims from the Seventeen Provinces who were visiting Madrid. The establishment of the Hospital of St. Andrew of the Flemish coincided with the founding of other private charity institutions especially set up for members of the same nationality, corporation or guild. On the death of Charles of Antwerp in 1604, the Royal archer Miguel de Frene took it upon himself to implement the founder's idea dedicating the new Hospital, temporarily set up in one of the bequeathed houses, to St. Andrew, patron saint of the people of Burgundy.

In 1609, King Philip III accepted the patronage of the "Diputación" for himself and his successors, it being stipulated in the Constitutions that were ratified by Philip IV that the board that would govern the Hospital should be made up of natives of the Seventeen Provinces of Flanders or their descendants.

In 1621, the architect Juan Gómez de Mora was given the task of making a new building in Calle San Marcos that would lodge the Hospital and church. In 1638 "The martyrdom of Saint Andrew" that Rubens had been commissioned to paint by Jan Van Vuchr (one of the benefactors that with his legacies and donations contributed to the fulfilment of the Foundation's charitable aims) was hung. The 1798 Sale of Church Property Laws, that ordered the sale of the assets of hospitals and workhouses, left the Foundation without resources, causing a crisis that almost led to the disappearance of the work of Charles of Antwerp and ended up with the caving in of the church of St. Andrew in 1848.

The timely intervention of Belgian diplomats supporting the Hospital of St. Andrew and the work of its deputies seeking help from politicians and the Crown bore results, and in 1877 the Princess of Asturias inaugurated a new Church and Hospital in Calle Claudio Coello, the Foundation’s current location.

The Hospital of St. Andrew of the Flemish is one of those rare institutions that has remained alive, after various vicissitudes, for more than four hundred years as well as being able to develop a project for the future, thanks to the determination of its deputies. This change was speeded up in 1988, when His Majesty the King was asked for permission to change its aims and to transform its welfare nature into a charitable-cultural one, more in line with modern times. The Statutes were modified on 22 January 1988 and the Foundation was enrolled in the Protectorate of the Ministry of Culture as a non-profit making private Cultural Foundation.

On 25 November 1992, Their Majesties Juan Carlos and Sofía, in the presence of King Baldouin I of Belgium and Queen Fabiola, inaugurated the restored and enlarged seat of the Fundación Carlos de Amberes, which has been converted into one of the best managed cultural centres in Madrid. From that time the Foundation has begun a new course aimed at encouraging historical, cultural and scientific exchanges between Spain and the former seventeen provinces of Flanders, territories which today are part of Belgium, Luxembourg, The Low Countries and the north of France.

Cultural activity takes the shape of multiple programmes, functions, exhibitions, courses, seminars, concerts, lectures, book presentations and the publication of its own titles. Moreover, the paintings "The Martyrdom of St. Andrew", a work by Peter Paul Rubens, painted c.1635, and "The Second Marquis of Casa Riera" by Raimundo de Madrazo, donated by Queen Fabiola in 1997, are on permanent display and can be visited by the public.

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