Artikel

De recente veranderingswerken in de rijksgevangenis te Gent in het perspectief van de historiek der Belgische gevangenissen

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Abstract

Recent reconstruction work in the State Prison of Ghent in the perspective of Belgian prison history - There is no doubt that the town of Ghent has played an important part in the history of the prison system. Indeed, as early as 1775, Ghent had a vast penal establishment where people were confined by way of punitive measure too, and not only for the purpose of preventing the accused from escaping pending the inquiry. This establishment, the so-called „prison manufacture” or „maison de force”, was a model for prisons all over the world, and as the „livre des visites” shows, architects and prison governors came even from St. Petersburg, Stockholm and Tokio to visit the institution. Little by little the „maison de force” became subject to pitiful decay until, in 1935, the government decided to close it down, especially on account of safety problems. In the meantime, after the independence of Belgium, a new generation of prisons, the so-called „Ducpétiaux prisons”, had appeared (Edouard Ducpétiaux was the first inspector-general of the Belgian prison administration). In Ghent, next to the „maison de force”, a new prison was built in what were then rural surroundings, along a broad avenue, named „Nieuwe Wandeling”. This establishment, built between 1859 and 1862, is still in use today. Some years ago large-scale rebuilding activities started with the purpose of meeting contemporary living conditions. The aims were to humanize contacts with inmates and visitors, to make the prison internally a more open community, to provide quartering worthy of a human being inside a tolerable architecture, to personalize cells, to obtain a collectivization of labour and free time, to create an adequate reception of the handicapped, the unlearned and the young, and last but not least to provide agreeable working conditions for the prison staff. Impressions of convicts, visitors and staff seem to be positive so far, although there is still much that remains to be done. We are hoping that, within a few years, the „Nieuwe Wandeling” will be not only one of the most modern prisons in Belgium, but also an establishment where inmates are assured of good conditions of living, and staff can find a pleasant working atmosphere.

How to Cite:

Vervust, L. & Swinnen, E., (1985) “De recente veranderingswerken in de rijksgevangenis te Gent in het perspectief van de historiek der Belgische gevangenissen”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 30(4), 261–294. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.94910