Het Zinneke
Brussels has a peeing boy and a peeing girl — meet the bronze dog that completes the set.
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Tom Frantzen created this 1999 bronze in the spirit of zwanze, Brussels' tradition of self-deprecating folk humour. It pairs with Manneken Pis (in place since 1619) and Jeanneke Pis (1987) to form an unlikely civic trio — but unlike them, Het Zinneke has no fountain. The name means "mutt" in Brusselian dialect, a word once used for stray dogs and also for anyone born outside the city.
What to look for
- The dog caught mid-stream against a bollard with no water feature beneath it — a deliberate contrast to its two counterparts
- Frantzen's bronze work up close; the same sculptor made Vaartkapoen in Molenbeek (1985) and Madame Chapeau (2000)
- The Halles Saint-Géry market hall and cultural centre just around the corner
Outdoors and free at the corner of Rue des Chartreux and Rue du Vieux-Marché-aux-Grains, a short walk from Halles Saint-Géry.
Het Zinneke is one of 33 sights worth the detour in Brussels, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Brussels pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Brussels
- Manneken PisA 55.5 cm bronze boy that somehow became the face of an entire country — the joke is entirely intentional.
- Grand-PlaceEvery guildhall surrounding you was rebuilt from rubble — French artillery levelled the square in 1695, and the Town Hall tower survived only because it was the gunners' aiming point.
- AtomiumNine stainless-steel spheres arranged as an iron crystal blown up 165 billion times — built to headline a World's Fair and never taken down.
- Stoclet PalaceA UNESCO World Heritage house you can only see from the pavement — by design, and by the owner's choice.
- King Baudouin StadiumInaugurated for Belgium's 100th birthday in 1930, this 70,000-seat bowl on the Heysel Plateau hosted six European finals — and the night football changed forever.
- Cathedral of St. Michael and St. GudulaBelgium's national church began as a chapel on a trade-route crossroads in the 9th century — eleven centuries of building decisions are now stacked on a hill called "Mount of Sorrow."