Historien om Mottoet
Grimbergen Abbey er blevet brændt ned til grunden tre gange og er hver gang kommet tilbage stærkere, hvilket affødte mottoet “ardet nec consumitur”, som betyder "brændt men ikke ødelagt".
Three legendary words that will never be forgotten in the town of Grimbergen. Ardet nec consumitur. It is the monastery motto and has the meaning "burnt but not destroyed" (there may be other local translations).
A true reminder of Grimbergen Abbey's dramatic history. A story that can be dated back to the Middle Ages, when Norbert van Xanten took the name Nobertus and founded the Premonstratensian order.
I 1128 bad Grimbergens herremænd ham om at bygge et kloster, og han opfyldte deres ønske.
I 1142 gjorde Grimbergen herremændene oprør mod Hertugen af Brabant. Dette markerede begyndelsen til Krigen om Grimbergen.
For første gang blev klosteret brændt ned til grunden og således fuldstændig raseret. De stræbsomme munke genopbyggede klosteret - sten for sten. Efter den første genopbygning blomstrede klosteret op - akkurat som de humlemarker, der omgav byen.
But in 1566, during the Wars of Religion, the monastery was destroyed for the second time. The monks were forced to leave their monastery.
They fled to Brussels, where they sought refuge until peace was restored in Grimbergen.
In 1629, the monks laid the last stone on their new monastery, and one can only imagine how it was celebrated when the Brewmaster returned to town.
From that moment, they took the Phoenix Bird as a symbol of rebirth in their coat of arms - together with our slogan and motto: ARDET NEC CONSUMITUR.
