Rocking horse Sinte-Mette garden
Are you sitting comfortably and enjoying the view? Perfect! Then allow me to introduce myself! My name is Charles, Prince Charles actually. I spent my boyhood in Mechelen and so I know the city like the back of my hand. I was born in 1500 and grew up on Keizerstraat at the court of my aunt Margareta of Austria. That’s the palace with the beautiful inner garden.
Here in Mechelen and all over the world they know me as Emperor Charles V. My empire that was so vast that the sun never set on it. I reigned over more than 27 kingdoms, 13 duchies and 22 counties in Europe, Central America and North Africa. Sadly, I was unable to enjoy them for long. I was just 58 when I died in Yuste in Spain.
Where you rock, I tell stories about the city and in particular about the places I have fond memories of.
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Please note that all rocking horses are currently in the barn for maintenance. Therefore, you won’t be able to visit the horses temporarily. |
Rocking horse Sinte-Mette garden
Our garden on Keizerstraat was larger than this Sinte-Mettetuin where you are sitting now. Horsing around in the garden with my sisters Eleonora, Isabella and Maria was one of my favourite activities. I had a total of four sisters and one brother. My brother Ferdinand and my sister Catharina were not with us in Mechelen. They lived in Spain. I was 17 when we saw each other for the first time. My Austrian grandfather looked for a marriage partner for each of us. So we couldn’t choose who we married.
Princess Eleonora was two years older than me. She was very beautiful, clever and madly in love with a handsome nobleman. As you can imagine, I teased her endlessly about him. Princess Isabella was a year younger than me. She was my favourite sister. My grandfather also sought a husband for her and when she was thirteen, she married the king of Denmark. Princess Maria was five years younger than me and really wanted to be a boy. She loved horse riding and liked to go hunting, just like me.
- You will also find this walk in the Visit Mechelen app. That way you can follow the horses on a map without having to scan the QR code each time. Download the app here.
- Free
- Available in 4 languages: Dutch, French, German & English.
